While we are going back in time

Today is the anniversary of the premiere of Beethoven's 5th Symphony and the post below talks about it some.  Vienna, where it was written and performed, was coming out of the Napoleonic siege and occupation - post war so to speak.  A hundred years  or so later, Maurice Ravel sat in Paris within a world equally as creative as Vienna a hundred years before. Chagall, the Ballet Russe, Stravinsky, Debussy, the Impressionist then realist school, poetry at center stage - a blossoming of creativity the only comes about here and there in history. 

In the midst of this Ravel (you know him from Bolero more than likely) wrote a little masterpiece for kids -  A Suite based on Mother Goose. (Ma mère l'oye).  It is an amazingly gentle set of pieces (a suite).  I think of the tunes often and can "play" the suite in my brain and do when the need for zen overtakes me.  Not a bad idea if you are stressed out for the holidays.

it was also composed the year my father was born - actually premiered the month he was born - so it has some meaning.

(PS - when this pops up you'll get a prompt to where you can go to hear the whole thing...think of this as as a sampler)