Radio KAOM: Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte" Seiji Ozawa and the BSO

 GLORIOUSLY LUSH BEAUTY!!!

Maurice Ravel 

"Pavane pour une infante défunte"

Boston Symphony Orchestra

Conducted by

Seiji Ozawa

This music opens with a Gorgeous French Horn solo. 

I've always thought this was music for a funeral but upon further thought I think I was wrong. A Pavane  is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century (Renaissance). Perhaps similar to a bridal procession. In fact, I think this music might be a wonderful choice for a wedding procession. The dance may have had its origins in Northern Italy around the area where Call Me By Your Name was filmed. Because it is a dance, I think we get the meaning of the title wrong - "Pavane pour une infante défunte" or "Pavane for a dead princess". I now don't think it is music for a funeral but rather music that evokes the memory of princesses of far away times - perhaps like the princesses we might see in old paintings. So this music seems to me to be more reminiscing of the past than sorrow for the dead. Regardless of its title or its meaning, this is a masterpiece of gloriously luscious beauty.

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