Maurice Ravel Biography - A Very Quick Guide
Artist:
Maurice Ravel
Born:
1875, Cibourne
Died:
1937, Paris
Who was Maurice Ravel?
French composer Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, a small town in the French Basque region on March 7, 1875. His Swiss father, Pierre-Joseph Ravel was a noted engineer, inventor and automotive pioneer. His mother was Basque, but had grown up in Madrid. His Spanish roots would influence some of his later works, both in terms of programatic elements (e.g Rapsodie espagnole) and in their use of Spanish rhythm and colour.
What was Ravel’s early life like?
Something of a loner, Ravel was a sensitive child, spending much of his childhood reading, drawing and listening to music. He showed early promise as a musician, beginning piano lessons at the age of seven, though was never considered a child prodigy. At the age of twelve he received composition lessons from Charles-René. Though only fragments of these early works survive, they show signs of the meticulousness that would mark his adult oeuvre.
Why was his time at the Paris Conservatoire turbulent?
Ravel successfully entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1889 and, despite winning prizes for his piano playing, was a lazy student of the instrument, being much more drawn to composition. In this he made significant advances, but his unconventional style was considered too modern and adventurous, leading him eventually to be expelled. He was readmitted in 1897, but further hostility led to him being expelled a second time.
In the years after leaving the Conservatoire, Ravel tried to win France’s top composition prize, the Prix de Rome, five times. His final, unsuccessful, attempt was the cause of a national scandal, the ‘Ravel Affair,’ after it became suspected that the jury was favouring students of senior Conservatoire professor and fellow panel member, Charles Lenepveu.
How was he as a person?
Ravel the man was not so far removed from Ravel the boy—meticulous, private and a perfectionist. Though still sensitive, he was certainly not thin-skinned; he was immune to criticism, not least because he felt himself to the best, and harshest critic of his own work. He was known for his elegant dress, outward reserve but amongst friends for his dry wit, charm and kindness.
What types of music did he write?
Though a meticulous and generally slow composer, Ravel nevertheless contributed to many genres, including orchestral pieces, chamber music, solo piano pieces, ballets, songs and opera. He was also known as a master orchestrator both of his own music and of other composers’ works, the supreme example of which is his 1922 version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Was Ravel an Impressionist?
Ravel and fellow composer Claude Debussy were often called ‘Impressionst’ composers. This term that derives from painters such as Monet, Manet and Degas, who prioritised mood, colour and atmosphere over form. Whilst Ravel, like Debussy, was known for his use of ambiguous and colourful harmony, Ravel nevertheless objected to the term being applied to his art. He considered himself a ‘Classicist,’ prioritising formal clarity and balance. In this he differed from Debussy (whom Ravel nevertheless admired), whose forms are more ambiguous.
What was his most famous piece?
Ravel’s most famous composition is his ‘Bolero’ (1928), which was conceived as a ballet but is nowadays generally performed as an orchestral work. It consists of a melody that is repeated multiple times over a simple ostinato pattern with gradually larger orchestration and (at least until the end) no variation in harmony. The effect is hypnotic, proving wildly popular with audiences both at the time and ever since, even though Ravel himself is known to have called it ‘a piece for orchestra without music.’
And apart from Bolero?
Other famous works by Ravel include:
Daphnis et Chloé (ballet)
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Rapsodie espagnole
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Miroirs (piano suite)
Gaspard de la nuit (piano suite)
String Quartet in F major
Piano Concerto in G major
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite)
What is the most unusual fact about his life?
During World War I, Ravel had wanted to train as a pilot, but was considered too old and suffered from a minor heart condition. He instead joined the Thirteenth Artillery as a lorry driver, a position that frequently put him in mortal danger as he ferried munitions under German mortar fire.
His patriotism never deteriorated into petty nationalism—he refused, for example, to endorse an effort by fellow composers Saint-Saëns, Dubois and d’Indy to ban the performance of contemporary German composers saying that ‘It would be dangerous for French composers to ignore systematically the productions of their foreign colleagues.’
How did Ravel die?
In his later years, Ravel developed a neurological illness that affected his speech, memory, and ability to write music, possibly frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease or Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. By 1937 this condition was causing pain and, on the advice of neurosurgeon Clovis Vincent, he was operated upon. Despite initial signs of improvement, however, Ravel fell into a coma and never recovered. He died on 28th September, 1937 at the age of 62. He is buried in Paris’s Levallois-Perret cemetery.
French composer Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, a small town in the French Basque region on March 7, 1875. His Swiss father, Pierre-Joseph Ravel was a noted engineer, inventor and automotive pioneer. His mother was Basque, but had grown up in Madrid. His Spanish roots would influence some of his later works, both in terms of programatic elements (e.g Rapsodie espagnole) and in their use of Spanish rhythm and colour.
What was Ravel’s early life like?
Something of a loner, Ravel was a sensitive child, spending much of his childhood reading, drawing and listening to music. He showed early promise as a musician, beginning piano lessons at the age of seven, though was never considered a child prodigy. At the age of twelve he received composition lessons from Charles-René. Though only fragments of these early works survive, they show signs of the meticulousness that would mark his adult oeuvre.
Why was his time at the Paris Conservatoire turbulent?
Ravel successfully entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1889 and, despite winning prizes for his piano playing, was a lazy student of the instrument, being much more drawn to composition. In this he made significant advances, but his unconventional style was considered too modern and adventurous, leading him eventually to be expelled. He was readmitted in 1897, but further hostility led to him being expelled a second time.
In the years after leaving the Conservatoire, Ravel tried to win France’s top composition prize, the Prix de Rome, five times. His final, unsuccessful, attempt was the cause of a national scandal, the ‘Ravel Affair,’ after it became suspected that the jury was favouring students of senior Conservatoire professor and fellow panel member, Charles Lenepveu.
How was he as a person?
Ravel the man was not so far removed from Ravel the boy—meticulous, private and a perfectionist. Though still sensitive, he was certainly not thin-skinned; he was immune to criticism, not least because he felt himself to the best, and harshest critic of his own work. He was known for his elegant dress, outward reserve but amongst friends for his dry wit, charm and kindness.
What types of music did he write?
Though a meticulous and generally slow composer, Ravel nevertheless contributed to many genres, including orchestral pieces, chamber music, solo piano pieces, ballets, songs and opera. He was also known as a master orchestrator both of his own music and of other composers’ works, the supreme example of which is his 1922 version of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Was Ravel an Impressionist?
Ravel and fellow composer Claude Debussy were often called ‘Impressionst’ composers. This term that derives from painters such as Monet, Manet and Degas, who prioritised mood, colour and atmosphere over form. Whilst Ravel, like Debussy, was known for his use of ambiguous and colourful harmony, Ravel nevertheless objected to the term being applied to his art. He considered himself a ‘Classicist,’ prioritising formal clarity and balance. In this he differed from Debussy (whom Ravel nevertheless admired), whose forms are more ambiguous.
What was his most famous piece?
Ravel’s most famous composition is his ‘Bolero’ (1928), which was conceived as a ballet but is nowadays generally performed as an orchestral work. It consists of a melody that is repeated multiple times over a simple ostinato pattern with gradually larger orchestration and (at least until the end) no variation in harmony. The effect is hypnotic, proving wildly popular with audiences both at the time and ever since, even though Ravel himself is known to have called it ‘a piece for orchestra without music.’
And apart from Bolero?
Other famous works by Ravel include:
Daphnis et Chloé (ballet)
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Rapsodie espagnole
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Miroirs (piano suite)
Gaspard de la nuit (piano suite)
String Quartet in F major
Piano Concerto in G major
Piano Concerto for the Left Hand
Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite)
What is the most unusual fact about his life?
During World War I, Ravel had wanted to train as a pilot, but was considered too old and suffered from a minor heart condition. He instead joined the Thirteenth Artillery as a lorry driver, a position that frequently put him in mortal danger as he ferried munitions under German mortar fire.
His patriotism never deteriorated into petty nationalism—he refused, for example, to endorse an effort by fellow composers Saint-Saëns, Dubois and d’Indy to ban the performance of contemporary German composers saying that ‘It would be dangerous for French composers to ignore systematically the productions of their foreign colleagues.’
How did Ravel die?
In his later years, Ravel developed a neurological illness that affected his speech, memory, and ability to write music, possibly frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease or Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. By 1937 this condition was causing pain and, on the advice of neurosurgeon Clovis Vincent, he was operated upon. Despite initial signs of improvement, however, Ravel fell into a coma and never recovered. He died on 28th September, 1937 at the age of 62. He is buried in Paris’s Levallois-Perret cemetery.
Useful Resources:
Encyclopaedia Britannica –Ravel
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Education Page –Ravel
8notes Collection – Free Ravel Sheet Music
Top Pieces on 8notes by Maurice Ravel