Piano Suite Honors Friends Killed in WWI

Eugene Gaub, associate professor of music, will perform Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin: A Memorial to Friends Killed in the Great War” at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28. This free concert will take place in the Faulconer Gallery.

Ravel, a 20th century French composer, drove an ambulance for France during the Great War and saw action at the Battle of Verdun, which is considered the greatest and lengthiest battle in world history. France eventually defeated Germany in this battle, which lasted from Feb. 21 through Dec. 19, 1916, and produced an estimated 700,000 casualties (dead, wounded and missing).

The horrors and carnage Ravel witnessed in the trench warfare and use of poison gas at Verdun found expression in his music, notably in the suite of six pieces for piano titled “Le Tombeau de Couperin.” This work began in 1914 in homage to French music of the past (composer François Couperin, 1668-1733), but became a dual tribute as Ravel dedicated each movement to one of his friends killed in action.

In addition to performing the suite that Ravel finished in 1917, Gaub will introduce the men whose memory the suite honors, and describe the contexts — musical and political — from which the work emerged.

The concert is part of the Grinnell College Center for the Humanities’ year-long focus on “A Century of War: 1914 and Beyond.” Faulconer Gallery and the music department are co-sponsors of the concert.

Grinnell welcomes and encourages the participation of people with disabilities. You can request accommodations from Conference Operations.