Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin, No. 5, Menuet

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin, No. 5, Menuet
Where did all these scores go…….where?…

Well anyways…the piece is in composite ternary form. The A section contains an “a” and “b” making it a simple closed binary form. The “a” is just an eight bar phrase that is played twice before continuing on to the “b” section. The “b” section seems to have the same length as the “a” section with 16 bars of the usual expository section, and then the last 16 feel more of a transitional or developmental.

That leads us into the B section which is a rounded binary form. The “a” of the B consist of two 8 m. phrases ending on a PAC in d minor. In m. 49 the “b” section takes over. It is fairly similar to the “a” section…just develops it as a developmental section should. Then in m. 65 the “a” section takes back over to close the B section, but instead of going straight back to the A section, there is an eight bar transitional phrase that combines the B section with some from the A section which then flows right into the return in measure 81.

The “a” in the return of the A section is 16 bars long and is separated from the “b” section by a transitional phrase. The transitional section contains some sequences working our way into “b” so we can close the piece. The texture is getting thinner and more spread out in the “b” section. Bringin the piece to a close.