MIROIRS by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Arranged by Ernestine Stoop. A4 Set of performing parts and study score

Ernestine was asked by a friend to play ‘La vallée des cloches’. When she saw the whole cycle ‘Miroirs’ she was fascinated by the music and wanted to play the music using two harps. Once she started arranging the duet she got so involved in the beautiful notes that she almost forgot to sleep. 

The five different compositions of the cycle have very figurative titles and Ravel placed these in different times of the day:

‘Noctuelles’ at midnight
‘Les oiseaux tristes’ during the siesta
‘Une barque sur l’océan’ in the twilight
‘Alborada del gracioso’ at sunrise
‘La vallée des cloches’ at noon

The HarpDuo Ravel went to Montfort l’Amaury, the village near Paris where Ravel used to live and played the cycle at the times mentioned and this can be seen on YouTube.

HarpDuo Ravel:
Ernestine Stoop and Astrid Haring, harp

Photograph taken in Montfort l’Amaury by Hans Hijmering (May 2012)