Beschreibung
Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess) was composed by Ravel in 1899, published in 1900 and republished in an orchestrated version in 1910: a typical performance of the piece lasts six minutes. The work expresses a nostalgic enthusiasm for Spanish customs, which Ravel shared with many of his contemporaries. He intended the piece to be played extremely slowly and gave the lead melody to the horn (the teaching of the valveless horn had persisted in the Paris conservatory, only in 1903 did they change to valved-horn). In addition to numerous recorded performances within the classical repertoire, the Pavane has a significant presence in popular music: the song The Lamp Is Low was adapted from it, and it appears in dozens of popular albums under both French and English forms of its title. It was recorded by Pedro Aznar in 1982, making use of synthesizers instead of acoustic instruments. Edgar Meyer recorded a version for double bass and piano on his CD "Work in Progress" a solo bass guitar version by Jimmy Earl. An orchestrated Pavane can be heard in the 2012 film, The Dark Knight Rises.