During World War I, French composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) wrote a six-movement suite for solo piano titled Le tombeau de Couperin. A “tombeau” (“tomb” in French) is a musical tribute to someone who has passed away.
The musical world was deeply affected by the War because composers and musicians were among those serving in the military. Orchestras lost members, and many composers shifted focus from large-scale works to smaller somber pieces.
Ravel, who worked as an ambulance driver in the war, was profoundly changed by the experience, and he wrote a piece to commemorate some of the lives affected by the war. Although a tombeau was most often written for one person, Ravel dedicated the individual movements to his contemporaries.
Ravel later orchestrated four of the six movements in 1919, and the piece received its premiere the following year.
Here is pianist Yeol Eum Son to perform the original piano version of this music for you:
