Ravel - Pavane pour une Infante Defunte

Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une Infante Defunte

An online question whether Ravel’s Pavane was actually a Pavane spurred me to make an arrangement of this very romantic piece.

Scored for nine recorders SAATBBGGC this piece works miraculously well on recorders. Something about the thick romantic chords makes this sound very different from your ordinary renaissance recorder ensemble pieces.

The symmetry of SAA vs TBB suggests that here we have multiple subensembles, capable of playing one phrase both high and low. Overall, this piece offers no insurmountable technical difficulties, and rewards with gloriously thick sounds.