Polka which hosts/produces the Grammy Awards, announced that it was eliminating the polka category. The Academy's official reason for eliminating the polka award was “to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape.” The Academy's decision stems from the declining number of popular polka albums considered for an award in recent years. For example, out of the five polka albums nominated for an award in 2006, only one album was widely distributed in the mainstream. Polka The polka is originally a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the
Pavane pour une infante défunte Pavane pour une infante défunte Pavane pour une infante défunte ("Pavane for a Dead Infanta") is piece for solo piano by the French composer Maurice Ravel in 1899 when he was studying composition at the Conservatoire de Paris under Gabriel Fauré. Ravel also published an orchestrated version of the "Pavane" in 1910; it is scored for two flutes, oboe, two clarinets (in B-flat), two bassoons, two horns, harp, and strings. A typical performance of the piece lasts between six and seven minutes. It is widely considered a masterpiece. Ravel described the piece as "an evocation of a pavane that a