This lively programme of works by three great composers, from the most classical European to the most recent American, offers a moment of timeless escape.

For Maurice Ravel, the imaginary was often a source of inspiration. Ma mère l'Oye, based on the tales of Charles Perrault, is a good example. Some of the texts from the stories are given in the score to help the performer find the right atmosphere. Sleeping Beauty, Hop o' My Thumb, The Empress of the Pagodas and Beauty and the Beast are set to music of great humour, picturesque wit and nostalgia. The melodies, rhythms, harmonies and specific instrumental colouring convey all the emotions felt when listening to the stories.

Summer Music by Samuel Barber, the American composer best known for his famous Adagio, immerses us in a summer atmosphere that encourages sleepiness and dreamy escapism. It is a single-movement work with varied tempos and atmospheres that feels like a waking dream. Barber received musical advice from members of the New York Wind Quintet and the work was premiered in 1956 at the Detroit Institute of the Arts by soloists from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.  Finally, let us stay on the other side of the Atlantic with Dvorak, who crossed the ocean and left old Europe behind for the New York Conservatory. He thoroughly enjoyed mixing the diverse atmospheres of that city to those of his so different native Bohemia. Antonin Dvorak drew inspiration from Native American and African American music for two of his major works, his 9th Symphony, "New World", and his "American Quartet", the latter here transcribed for wind quintet. 

From the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, revisited by Maurice Ravel, to Dvorak's American Quartet or Summer Music by the American Samuel Barber, inspiration is a powerful driving force of creation!

Text from Sophie Gaillot Miczka