Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
Pavane pour une Infante defunte

Ravel was always slightly irritated by the success of his early piano piece, Pavane pour une Infante defunte, because he later came to consider it formally poor, and derived from Chabrier's piano style. The musical public has not agreed with him! He wrote it for piano in 1899; it was one of his earliest works, and his first significant success. He orchestrated it in 1910 for a small orchestra of woodwind, strings, horns and harp, in which form it has become even more widely known.

When asked the identity of the deceased princess of the title, Ravel claimed to have chosen the title for its sound only. He dedicated it to the very much alive Princess Edmond de Polignac, a major patron of the arts in France at that time.