Donationware - How it works

Copyright: we retain the copy right on our arrangements for public performance or any other commercial application but grant you the right to download it free of charge for your own personal use.  Donation: If you enjoy the music I would be grateful if you would make a donation to the charitable Trust Fund run by Croydon Whitgift Rotary Club.

Maurice Ravel

Ravel was a major figure in the French Impressionist composers - somewhat younger than  Debussy and Satie who were both significant influences. He was a student of Faure  and his early career was surrounded by controversy as an avant garde member of the Apaches. The three works included in this selection span his career with the Introduction and Allegro and the third movement, Scarbo, from Gapard de la nuit as relatively early works from 1905 and 1908 respectively. While Bolero was a relatively late “experiment” written for a ballet in 1928. In addition to his ability as a composer Ravel was also recognised for skill in transcribing his own and other people’s compositions from piano to orchestral arrangements. So these arrangements of his work have an extra piquancy. Introduction and Allegro arranged here with the Harps accompanied by Steel Drums, Ocarina, Pan Flute and Marimba. Scarbo is the third and final movement from the Gaspard de la nuit (Demons of the Night) Suite and our arrangement on Steel Drums, Vibraphone, Gamelan, harp and Marimba seems to suit the eerie quality of the original piano composition. Bolero seems to positively benefit from our percussion based orchestra, although the dynamic range is a challenge for our digital recording system.