“Musique française” is a series designed for students and teachers as well as professionals. These editions offer masterworks in French music, with performance suggestions and historical and stylistic commentary by noted scholars. Maurice Ravel wrote Pavane pour une infante défunte in Paris, early in 1899. The piece was dedicated to Winnaretta Singer (1875 – 1943), the wife of Prince Edmond de Polignac and the daughter of the American manufacturer of Singer sewing machines. The popularity of the Pavane was immediate and enduring and the numerous arrangements it generated are testament to the interest of a musical public.