Ravel, Maurice

(1875-1937)

   composer

   one of the most influential 20th-century composers, Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, where his parents encouraged his musical career. He entered the Paris Conservatory in 1889 and had influential teachers, the most important being Gabriel fauré. Ravel won only second place in the Prix de Rome, but many friends, including igor Stravinsky and Sergey Diaghilev, saw in him a talent equal to that of his contemporary claude debussy. At this point, Ravel had already composed his Habanera for two pianos (1895), the overture for Schéhérazade (1898), the Pavane pour une infante défunte (1898), Jeu d'eau (1901), and other important pieces. other works include Gaspard de la Nuit (1908), Rhapsodie espagnole (1908), and the celebrated orchestral piece Boléro (1928). He also composed impressionistic ballets (Ma Mère l'Oye, 1910; Daphnis et Chloé, 1912) commissioned by Diaghilev. Besides these, Ravel wrote compositions in all areas except religious music. For voice there are three Poèmes de Mallarmé (1913), the Mélodies hébraïques (1914), Chansons madécasses (1925-26), Rêves (1927), and Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (1932). For piano, Menuet sur le nom de Haydn (1909); for chamber music, Introduction et Allegro (1906), Trio en la mineur (1914), Sonate (1920), Berceuse sur le nom de Fauré (1922); and many other pieces including numerous orchestrations. in 1931, Ravel composed Concerto pour la main gauche, his last work, for the Viennese pianist Paul Wittgenstein. Ravel's vivid, transparent orchestral colors rank him as one of the modern masters of orchestration, and his art has found a permanent place in the annals of modern music, with critics noting that he has "reached the limits of the impossible."