Composer Study: Ravel

2009-2010 TERM 3 Maurice Ravel (1915)

Ravel was an atheist... sad.  And single...  real sad.  Like many composers he was unique, borderline strange.  But we like this about him:

"From childhood he had a particular liking for minute objects, miniatures, the tiny world of figurines, little things that worked by clockwork, mechanical birds 'whose heart-beats he felt' and miniscule Japanese gardens which evoked for him the giants of the forest." 
   (Marguerite Long, At the piano with Ravel)

Here's a timeline of his life... 

Some additional somewhat interesting facts about him are, that he was French.  After an experimental brain surgery as a result of a brain injury as a result of a car accident... the result was, he died.  On April 8, 2008, the New York Times published an article saying Ravel may have been in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia in 1928, and this might account for the repetitive nature of Boléro. (I did actually think this was funny. [sorry... not in the laugh at someone while they're down kind of way... just the fact that the song IS rather repetitive and this would explain it!])  Despite that last fact, Stravinsky did once call Ravel the "Swiss Watchmaker", for the intricacy and precision of his works.**

Listening selections for this term:

    Daphne et Chloe - selections
    Bolero (read more about Bolero here) & (the wiki here - *WARNING image at top right hand of page)
    Mother Goose Suite
    Pavane pour une infante dufunte
    Piano Concerto in D for left hand, (part 1) and (part 2)

    Rhapsody espagnole


Ravel's Bolero:

Listen to the music:

See the ice skating:
(thanks to Susan in PA for pointing this one out)

Here is another version of Bolero for comparison (in two parts):

Yes, they ARE different, see if you can tell how?

Part One

Part Two

(thanks for this one Janet!)

Here are the instruments in order of appearance:
snare drum
flute
soprano clarinet
bassoon
E-flat sopranino clarinet
oboe d'amore
muted trumpet & flute
B-flat tenor saxophone
B-flat soprano saxophone
piccolo & french horn & celesta
various woodwinds
tenor trombone
woodwind section
strings, strings & winds in various combos to end...

(thanks bassoonlady!)

Ravel's Mother Goose Suite:

A very nice performance of Ravel's Mother Goose Suite for Piano 4-Hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8TrlHUSJnE&feature=fvw

(thank you KayP)

Here are the CDs we're enjoying this term:

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We also use: Composer Response Questions by Jimmie
More Composer Study links

**Random information gathered from classicalcat.net & maurice-ravel.net