Maurice Ravel

Impressionism

Ravel himself thought little of the label: his music is more precise and classically built than Debussy's.

💡 Did you know? Ravel is often lumped with Debussy but was the clearer, more precise craftsman; his music is like a fine clockwork.

Basque Country

His Basque mother and Swiss engineer father shaped him in equal measure.

💡 Did you know? Ravel was born in the French Basque Country near the Spanish border: Spanish rhythms and colours run through his work.

Boléro

One theme, one rhythm, one enormous build-up: written in 1928 for the dancer Ida Rubinstein.

💡 Did you know? The „Boléro“ is a single 15-minute crescendo over the same melody: Ravel himself thought it a mere experiment „with no music in it“.

an orchestral piece without music

No one was more astonished than Ravel at the experiment's worldwide success.

💡 Did you know? Torvill and Dean's 1984 figure-skating gold introduced the Boléro to an audience of billions.

Swiss watchmaker

Ravel's father really was a Swiss engineer: the love of mechanics ran in the family.

💡 Did you know? Stravinsky admiringly called Ravel a „Swiss watchmaker“: so precise and finely crafted was his music.

Pictures at an Exhibition

His 1922 orchestration is now better known than the original: Ravel is considered the greatest orchestrator of all time.

💡 Did you know? Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's piano work „Pictures at an Exhibition“ is today more famous than the original.

the Affaire Ravel

The already famous Ravel was eliminated in the preliminary round: the press erupted, director Dubois resigned.

💡 Did you know? That the already famous Ravel repeatedly failed the Prix de Rome caused such a scandal that the Conservatoire's director had to resign.

Paul Wittgenstein

The philosopher's brother had lost his right arm in the First World War.

💡 Did you know? Ravel wrote the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand for the pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm in the First World War.

truck driver

The slight Ravel was too light for the air force; he named his truck 'Adélaïde'.

💡 Did you know? The war experience produced 'Le Tombeau de Couperin': each movement remembers a fallen friend.

Pavane pour une infante défunte

By his own account Ravel chose the title mainly for its beautiful sound.

💡 Did you know? The elegiac „Pavane pour une infante défunte“ mourns no real death: Ravel chose the title mainly for its beautiful sound.

a brain disease

The music stayed locked inside his head; he died in Paris in 1937 after a risky brain operation.

💡 Did you know? From 1932 a brain disease slowly destroyed Ravel's ability to write and speak; the music was in his head, but he could no longer put it on paper.

Le Belvédère

In Montfort-l'Amaury: crammed with mechanical toys and Japanese art treasures; today a museum.

💡 Did you know? Ravel never married: his Siamese cats were his constant companions.

Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel was a French composer whose precise, colourful music (above all the „Boléro“) is among the most beloved of the 20th century.

💡 Did you know? His „Boléro“ is a single 15-minute crescendo: he himself thought it a mere experiment.

Boléro

A single theme, endlessly repeated over a hypnotic drum rhythm, building for fifteen minutes.

💡 Did you know? Ravel himself half-jokingly called the Boléro ‘a piece with no music in it at all’.