According to Ravel himself, the strange title of the little piano piece composed in 1899, “Pavane for a dead princess”, should not be ascribed too much importance. He chose it mainly because he liked the alliteration it contained. At the same time he did, however, agree that the music evokes “a pavane that a little princess once might have danced at the Spanish court”. Following its premiere in 1902 the simple but effective piece gained unparalleled popularity, not least reflected in the numerous arrangements made of it, one of which, for small orchestra, was by Ravel himself. We are publishing the work in its original version as a fitting addition to our works by Ravel.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French