The spirit of Emanuel Chabrier lies behind the central section of the Menuet antique of 1895, the first of Ravel’s works to be published (in 1898). The piece’s ‘antiquity’ comes out in the flattened leading notes of cadences. Altogether more modern, and Ravelian, are the harmonic scrunches, beginning with the very first chord, that lend impetus to the imitative lines which follow. Rhythmically too, Ravel plays games with the minuet form, often grouping his phrases in twos rather than threes. This arrangement for flute ensemble scored for 4 flutes, 2 alto flutes, 2 bass flutes and 1 contrabass flute gives some challenges for all players and utilizes the low flutes very prominently.