LDV109

26 RAVEL ∙ THE SOLO PIANO WORKS What interest do you find in the short pieces – Sérénade grotesque , the Menuets , the Prélude , the two À la manière de . . .? They’re absolute gems! Even if the Sérénade grotesque and the Pavane pour une infante défunte show the influence of others, they are already quintessentially Ravelian. The Sérénade grotesque has a temperament all its own. Its tongue- in-cheek humour and sentimentality make it a delight. The tiny Prélude has a touching poetry, like a far-off memory. Ravel shows us that the value of a work does not depend on its dimensions. The Menuet antique , aside from its vigorous, grating harmonies, also charms us with the grace of its slightly sugary Trio section. The poetry of the Menuet in C sharp minor and the timelessness of the Menuet sur le nom de Haydn are irresistible. So is the chic of the two À la manière de . . . , stylistic exercises of utter perfection. These late pearls, tributes to two composers Ravel venerated, have a delicious superficiality, a disarming lightness and grace. Ravel has fun here indulging in pastiche with the greatest of artistry. Nothing could be more Russian than À la manière de . . . Borodine , while À la manière de . . . Chabrier , a paraphrase of an aria from Gounod’s Faust , is a wheel within a wheel: it pastiches Chabrier by imagining how Chabrier might have pastiched Gounod!