| By Peter Lawrence Alexander
TO ORDER: While Alexander Publishing is still under construction please click on the links below to order from TrueSpec Systems, our sister site. Paperback $49.95 PDF SAMPLE PAGESNB: If you lack a fast download connection, you can order the color coded scores on CD for $10US plus shipping. REVIEW:All I can say is fantastic! My students, and I were completely enthralled by the analysis you provided, as well as the score with the included piano part. Two of the students are jazz majors and were very excited about how Ravel was approaching harmonization from a chord/scale jazz harmony perspective. They really started to make a connection with Ravel's approach and what they have been learning in arranging class for big band; especially the jazz harmonization and line writing aspect of the score. The piano part at the bottom of the score is a great teaching tool for orchestration students. All of my students stated that they would like to see more scores presented in this format. They all felt that they were gaining a better understanding on how Ravel approached orchestrating this movement because of the piano part that was included in the score. The next time I teach my orchestration class, this will be required reading for all of my students, it is that good. I love the new approach. Dr. Rik Pfenninger
About Mother Goose SuiteHow Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose Suite started out life as a piano suite for the two children of one of French composer Maurice Ravel's friends. To create the Mother Goose Suite, Ravel went to the original short stories. Two of the story names we recognize from their Disney adaptations, like Beauty and The Beast, and Sleeping Beauty. But when you read the originals, you're shocked to see how different, and in some cases for society today, how violent the stories are. Even so, from these stories, which film/TV and other dramatic composers can look at as a type of script, comes all sorts of situations to be described musically. A partial list includes scoring such moods as stateliness, unsureness, animal effects without synthesizers, romantic anxiety, joy, emotional rising without the basses, happily ever after, the sound of the Orient, and much more. (All of these are discussed in the book!) Once published, it was widely received and so began the requests for Ravel to orchestrate it. Which he did. And later expanded it for a ballet.And by reading the stories, you get an amazing set of devices you can apply and use today. And with the color-coded bonus score you can readily see how Ravel went from piano to orchestra. But the suites are our concern, because from them, we not only see how Ravel orchestrated from piano to orchestra, but where within his own composition he changed things! At first blush, this may not seem like a big deal until you realize that there are two approaches for transcribing a score from piano to orchestra (or other ensemble). One approach is to score as close to the piano part as possible to preserve the composer's intent. The other, is to change as you go. Ravel did both. In his own compositions, he changed them to better the music to the medium of the larger ensemble. But when it came to another composer's work, like Pictures At an Exhibition by Moussorgsky, Ravel altered voicings and fillers, but didn't rewrite the work.
About How Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose SuiteAlexander Publishing’s How Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose Suite is a breakthrough in orchestration instruction. For the first time ever, an American publishing company has completely re-engraved the classic work with the condensed piano part at page bottom in an oversized 8x14 format packaged with a complete Naxos Recording of Mother Goose Suite by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Jean. Said American Record Guide about this performance, "This is a treasurable collection excellently conducted by Kenneth Jean."Including the Naxos recorded performance on the enclosed CD gives you a complete learning package. And since you have a CD of the recorded performance, you can create an MP3 of it on your system to put on your iPod or other MP3 player. Combine that with the bonus PDF scores, and you have a total portable learning package that lets you learn on-the-go, anytime, anywhere. For fast referencing, each bar is numbered at the bottom of the page (original rehearsal marks are also included). By including the piano part at page bottom, students of counterpoint will see specific devices that Ravel used, where, and how he orchestrated them. Jazz musicians and composers will also see how Ravel composed and orchestrated using altered DOM7 chords, mixolydian chord scales, and triads with the added 9 th. How Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose Suite is a good read. Preceding each movement is the complete short story that movement was based on. Now you can look at Mother Goose Suite to better understand the dramatic composition and scoring techniques that went into each work. By comparing back to the original story, you gain a better understanding of Ravel’s approach. Following each movement is a brief orchestration analysis based on the Eight Keys To Learning Professional Orchestration as taught in the Professional Orchestration Series. Supporting the 8 Keys analysis are two extra copies of Mother Goose Suite in PDF format that the student can download. The first extra score is an exact duplicate of the original so the student can mark on it with notes and impressions. The second, again for the first time, is a color coded version graphically illustrating how Ravel orchestrated. Third, How Ravel Orchestrated: Mother Goose Suite goes beyond traditional analysis by including two literary works by Poe which greatly impacted Ravel, The Poetic Principle and The Philosophy of Composition. In a visual society, it’s important for students to know that Ravel was influenced by what he read Also included is a brief on Ravel’s method of working which goes a long way to taking the mystery out of orchestral scoring. Two things worth noting are that Ravel 1) had a professional concert violinist mark the string bowings 2) that Ravel learned a lot about writing for the individual instruments because he was constantly asking musicians questions. Simply put, there has never been a practical analysis like this before, written in an engaging, accessible read/apply style for the, "working composer." If you ever wanted to know where Hollywood pros get their orchestral colorations from, you'll find it here.
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