Pavane pour une infante défunte little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court". The pavane was a slow processional dance that enjoyed great popularity in the courts of Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This antique miniature is not meant to pay tribute to any particular princess from history, but rather expresses a nostalgic enthusiasm for Spanish customs and sensibilities, which Ravel shared with many of his contemporaries (most notably Debussy and Albéniz) and which is evident in some of his other works such as the "Rapsodie espagnole" and the "Boléro". Ravel dedicated the "Pavane" to his patron, the Princesse
Pavane pour une infante défunte his eponymous album (1982), in which he made use of synthesizers instead of acoustic instruments. Some unusual interpretations include another electronic versions by William Orbit in "Pieces in a Modern Style" (2000) and by Isao Tomita (1979), Edgar Meyer recorded a version for double bass and piano on his CD "Work in Progress" (1990), a solo bass guitar version by Jimmy Earl (1995), Ali Aiman's minimalist/electronic adaptation in his Overture EP (2014) and Hayley Westenra's vocal adaptation "Never Say Goodbye", which appears in her album "Pure" (2004). Pavane pour une infante défunte Pavane pour une infante défunte ("Pavane for a