Ma Mère l'Oye

One may well wonder why Ravel never composed for the organ. That eternally unanswered and unanswerable question keeps puzzling organists ... Yet did the composer even appreciate the instrument? Could his graceful, so endlessly fluid music fit the apparent austerity of the organ? One may also fantasize about Ravel's possible relationship with the instrument, had the organ music of his time been more in tune with the early 20th century musical scene. Or had he known our modern instruments... One could carry on and on with such endless and fruitless debates and speculations. Transcriptions help fill part of the gap, of course. But the ultimate question is: do we have the right to di vert a piece from the original purpose and soundscape of the composer 's vision, Just to overcome our frustration? I hesitated a long time before embarking on this adventure. Yet in the course of my work, I realized it opened up new avenues for organ writing so as to be able to go beyond the mere transcription of the musical text and conjure up the fluid, atmospheric quality of Ravel's music. I based my work and reflection on the two versions ofMa Mère l'Oye: the 1910 piano 4-hand version and the 1911 orchestrated version. Because of the so distinctive and elusive sound quality of the piano, transcribing piano pieces for another instrument is never an easy task. In that respect, Ravel's own orchestration ofMa Mère l'Oye was a great help in finding how to deal with resonance or texture issues. The great organ of Saint-Eustache, Paris, proved an invaluable partner, a kind of sound lab to try and translate the orchestral sound colors to the organ. The choice of registrations was inspired by the tonal quality of this particular instrument albeit codified for a three-manual organ. In consequence, it is important not to be too strict when following these directions. On the whole, make sure to keep some balance and clarity throughout the diffèrent sound planes. Do not hesitate to leave out some foundation stops for greater clarity and transparency of the musical discourse. Finally, a moderate adjunction of harmonies will add color to your registration. Thomas Ospital