Trois beaux oiseaux de paradis - Trois chansons / Ravel, Maurice

Trois beaux oiseaux de paradis - is part II of Trois chansons, M 69. It is a composition by Maurice Ravel for a cappella choir, set to his own texts. Ravel began the composition in December 1914 in response to the outbreak of World War I, in which he hoped to be enlisted to fight for France. While he waited for months, he wrote text and music of the three songs in the tradition of 16th-century French chansons. He completed the work in 1915, and it was published by Éditions Durand in 1916. The songs were premiered in 1917, performed by a choral ensemble conducted by Louis Aubert. They remained his only composition for a cappella choir.