Search Pytheas   use Pytheas SiteSearch   need help searching?  

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Maurice Ravel, composerFrench composer Maurice Ravel is ranked, with Debussy, as one of the most influential composers at the turn of the twentieth century. Like Debussy he used the rich harmonies and new scales that are usually associated with musical impressionism, and both had an interest in the exotic. But where Debussy was a sensualist, influenced by the symbolist and decadent movements, Ravel was more of a craftsman and traditionalist, creating a style that was almost neoclassical. As so many French composers, Ravel received his training at the Paris Conservatory. After long study and five attempts to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, Ravel set off on his own. This was a time of great productivity for the composer in which he honed his craft and developed the meticulous qualities for which he would be known. One of these is his skill as an orchestrator. His most popular piece, Boléro, is in many ways a grand set of variations based on orchestration. A number of his pieces began as piano works, which he later orchestrated, and he is justly famous for a piece he didn't write, his masterful orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. He also was drawn to the music of other cultures. While he showed some interest in musical Orientalism (his Sheherazade being a fine example), his real love was the music of Spain, and he created a number of works (Rapsodie espagnole and Boléro being the best known) that have a distinctly Spanish flavor. In the 1910s and 1920s, Ravel was influenced by the presence in Paris of the Russian Igor Stravinsky and the activities of the Ballets Russes. His music took on a sharper edge and, along with Stravinsky, returned to older principles. That resulted in what is often referred to as a neoclassical style. After World War I, Ravel traveled extensively as a conductor. He was especially appreciated in the United States, and during his visits to this country he was exposed to American jazz. This too found its way into some of his later pieces, most notably the slow movement of his sonata for violin, which incorporates elements of blues style.
-  Essentials of Music

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Ravel Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre
La parade, piano (1892-98)
Ballade de la reine morte d'aimer, piano (1893)
Sérénade grotesque, piano (1892-93)
Un grand sommeil noir, voice and piano (1895)
Menuet antique, piano (1895; arr. for orchestra 1929)
Habanera, 2 pianos (1895) [Sites auriculaires no. 1]
Sainte, voice and piano (1896)
D'Anne jouant de l'espinette, voice and piano (1896)
Deux epigrammes de Clemont Marot (2 songs), voice and piano (1896-99)
Sonate No. 1 (Allegro), violin and piano (1897)
Entres cloches, 2 pianos (1897) [Sites auriculaires no. 2]
Valse in D major, piano (1898)
Chanson du rouet, voice and piano (1898)
Si morne!, voice and piano (1898)
Schéhérazade, fairy overture, orchestra (1898)
Olympia, opera (1898-99; incomplete?)
Pavane pour une infante défunte, piano (1899) (arr. for orch, 1910)
D'Anne qui me jecta de la neige, voice and piano (1899)
Fugue, piano (1899, lost) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Callerhoe, cantata (1900, lost) [Pièce pour le concours d'essai au prix de Rome]
Fugue à quatre voix, F major, piano (1900)
Les Bayadères, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1900) – [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Fugue,  D major, piano (1900) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Prelude and Fugue, piano (1900, lost) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Fugue,  F major, piano (1900) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Tout est lumière, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1901) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Myrrha, cantata, soprano, tenor, baritone and orchestra (1901) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Jeux d'eau, piano (1901)
Semiramis, cantata (1902, lost) [Pièce pour le prix de composition du conservatoire]
La nuit, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1902) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Alcyone, cantata, soprano, tenor, baritone and orchestra (1902) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Fugue,  Eb major, piano (1902) [for Le Prix de Rome]
String Quartet, F major (1902-03)
Matinée de Provence, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1903) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Alyssa, cantata, soprano, tenor, batitone and orchestra (1903) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Fugue,  E minor, piano (1903) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Manteau de fleurs, voice and piano (or orchestra) (1903)
Schéhérazade, song cycle (3 songs), voice and orchestra (1903)
Menuet en ut diése mineur (in C# minor) (1904)
Sonatine pour piano (1903-05)
Miroirs, piano (1904-05) [#3: Une barque sur l'océan, arr. for orch, 1906/1926; #4: Alborada del gracioso, arr. for orch, 1918]
L'aurore, tenor, chorus and orchestra (1905) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Fugue,  C major, piano (1904-05) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Introduction et allegro, harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet (1905)
Noël des jouets, voice and piano (1905; orchestral versions, 1906; 1913)
Cinq melodies populaire grecques (5 songs), voice and piano (1904-06; orchestral versions of # 1 & 5)
Les grands vents venus d'outremer, voice and piano (1906)
La cloche engloutie, opera (1906-12, incomplete)
Histoires naturelles (5 songs), voice and piano (1906)
Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera, voice and piano (1907)
L'heure espagnole, opera (1907)
Sur l'herbe, voice and piano (1907)
Rhapsodie espagnole, orchestra (1907)
Gaspard de la nuit, piano (1908)
Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant, piano 4-hands (1908)
Menuet sur le nom de Haydn, piano (1909)
Tripatos, voice and piano (1909)
Saint François d'Assise, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1909-10, lost)
Ma mère l'oye, piano 4-hands (1908-10) (arr. for orch, 1911)
Quatre chants populaire (4 songs), voice and piano (1910)
Valses nobles et sentimentales, piano (1911) (arr. for orch, 1912, for ballet: Adélaïde ou le langage des fleurs)
Daphnis et Chloé, ballet (1909-12) (Suite No. 1, 1911; Suite No. 2, 1913)
À la manière de... piano (1912-13) [a la Borodin; a la Chabrier]
Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé (3 songs), voice and chamber ensemble (1913)
Prélude, piano (1913)
Zaspiak-Bat, piano and orchestra (1913-14; sketches only)
Deux mélodies hébraïques (2 songs), voice and piano (1914) (orchestral version, 1919-20)
Trio, violin, cello and piano (1914)
Le tombeau de Couperin, piano (1914-17) (mvts. 1, 3, 5, 4 arr. for orch, 1919)
Trois chansons (3 songs), chorus (1914-15) (also arr. for voice and piano)
Frontispice, 2 pianos, 5-hands (1918)
L'enfant et les sortileges, opera (1919-25)
La valse, poème chorégraphique, orchestra (1919-20)
Sonata for violin and cello (1920-22)
Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré, violin and piano (1922)
Pictures at a Exhibition (Mussorgsky) – orchestration (1922)
Ronsard à son âme, voice and piano (1923-24) (orchestral version, 1935)
Tzigane, violin and piano (or orchestra) (1922-24)
Sonata for violin and piano (1923-27)
Chansons madécasses (3 songs), voice, flute, cello and piano (1925-26)
Rêves, voice and piano (1927)
Fanfare - prélude à "L'évantail de Jeanne" ballet (1927)
Boléro, ballet (1928)
Concerto, D major, piano (left hand) and orchestra (1929-30)
Concerto, G major, piano and orchestra (1929-31)
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, song cycle (3 songs), baritone and orchestra (1932-33)
Morgiane, oratorio- ballet (1932, incomplete)


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Ravel Links     ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Olympia, opera (1898-1899; incomplete?)
La cloche engloutie, opera (1906-1912, incomplete)
L'heure espagnole, opera (1907)
Daphnis et Chloé, ballet (1909-12) (Suite No. 1, 1911; Suite No. 2, 1913)
L'enfant et les sortileges, opera (1919-25)
Fanfare - prélude à "L'évantail de Jeanne" ballet (1927)
Boléro, ballet (1928)
Morgiane, oratorio- ballet (1932, incomplete)

Orchestra
Menuet antique, piano (1895; arr. for orchestra 1929)
Schéhérazade, fairy overture, orchestra (1898)
Pavane pour une infante défunte, piano (1899) (arr. for orch, 1910)
Une barque sur l'océan [from Miroirs, 1904-1905; arr. for orch, 1906/1926]
Alborada del gracioso [from Miroirs, 1904-1905; arr. for orch, 1918]
Rhapsodie espagnole, orchestra (1907)
Ma mère l'oye, piano 4-hands (1908-10) (arr. for orch, 1911)
Valses nobles et sentimentales, piano (1911) (arr. for orch, 1912, for ballet: Adélaïde ou le langage des fleurs)
Le tombeau de Couperin, piano (1914-17) (mvts. 1, 3, 5, 4 arr. for orch, 1919)
La valse, poème chorégraphique, orchestra (1919-20)
Pictures at a Exhibition (Mussorgsky) – orchestration (1922)
Fanfare - prélude à "L'évantail de Jeanne" ballet (1927)
Boléro, ballet (1928)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Zaspiak-Bat, piano and orchestra (1913-14; sketches only)
Tzigane, violin and piano (or orchestra) (1922-24)
Concerto, D major, piano (left hand) and orchestra (1929-30)
Concerto, G major, piano and orchestra (1929-31)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Callerhoe, cantata (1900, lost) [Pièce pour le concours d'essai au prix de Rome]
Les Bayadères, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1900) – [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Tout est lumière, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1901) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Semiramis, cantata (1902, lost) [Pièce pour le prix de composition du conservatoire]
La nuit, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1902) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Matinée de Provence, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1903) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
L'aurore, tenor, chorus and orchestra (1905) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Saint François d'Assise, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1909-10, lost)

Choral
3 chansons, chorus (1914-15) (also arr. for voice and piano)
    - Nicolette
    - Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis
    - Ronde

Chamber
String Quartet, F major (1902-1903)
Introduction et allegro, harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet (1905)
Trio, violin, cello and piano (1914)
Sonata for violin and cello (1920-22)

Solo Instrument
Sonate No. 1 (Allegro), violin and piano (1897)
Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré, violin and piano (1922)
Tzigane, violin and piano (or orchestra) (1922-24)
Sonata for violin and piano (1923-27)

Piano
La parade, piano (1892-98)
Ballade de la reine morte d'aimer, piano (1893)
Sérénade grotesque, piano (1892-1893)
Menuet antique, piano (1895; arr. for orchestra 1929)
Habanera, 2 pianos (1895) [Sites auriculaires no. 1]
Entres cloches, 2 pianos (1897) [Sites auriculaires no. 2]
Valse in D major, piano (1898)
Pavane pour une infante défunte, piano (1899) (arr. for orch, 1910)
Fugue, piano (1899, lost) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Fugue à quatre voix, F major, piano (1900)
Fugue,  D major, piano (1900) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Prelude and Fugue, piano (1900, lost) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Fugue,  F major, piano (1900) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Jeux d'eau, piano (1901)
Fugue,  Eb major, piano (1902) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Fugue,  E minor, piano (1903) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Menuet en ut diése mineur (in C# minor) (1904)
Sonatine pour piano (1903-1905)
Fugue,  C major, piano (1904-05) [for Le Prix de Rome]
Miroirs, piano (1904-1905) [#3: Une barque sur l'océan, arr. for orch, 1906/1926; #4: Alborada del gracioso, arr. for orch, 1918]
Gaspard de la nuit, piano (1908)
Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant, piano 4-hands (1908)
Menuet sur le nom de Haydn, piano (1909)
Ma mère l'oye, piano 4-hands (1908-10) (arr. for orch, 1911)
Valses nobles et sentimentales, piano (1911) (arr. for orch, 1912, for ballet: Adélaïde ou le langage des fleurs)
À la manière de... piano (1912-13) [a la Borodin; a la Chabrier]
Prélude, piano (1913)
Le tombeau de Couperin, piano (1914-17) (mvts. 1, 3, 5, 4 arr. for orch, 1919)
Frontispice, 2 pianos, 5-hands (1918)

Vocal
Un grand sommeil noir, voice and piano (1895)
Sainte, voice and piano (1896)
D'Anne jouant de l'espinette, voice and piano (1896)
Deux epigrammes de Clemont Marot (2 songs), voice and piano (1896-99)
    - D'Anne qui me jecta de la neige
    - D'Anne jouant de l'espinette
Chanson du rouet, voice and piano (1898)
Si morne!, voice and piano (1898)
D'Anne qui me jecta de la neige, voice and piano (1899)
Myrrha, cantata, soprano, tenor, baritone and orchestra (1901) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Alcyone, cantata, soprano, tenor, baritone and orchestra (1902) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Alyssa, cantata, soprano, tenor, batitone and orchestra (1903) [Pièce de concours pour le prix de Rome]
Manteau de fleurs, voice and piano (or orchestra) (1903)
Schéhérazade, song cycle (3 songs), voice and orchestra (1903)
    - Asie
    - La flûte enchantée
    - L'Indifférent
Noël des jouets, voice and piano (1905; orchestral versions, 1906; 1913)
Cinq melodies populaire grecques (5 songs), voice and piano (1904-06; orchestral versions of # 1 & 5)
    - Chanson de la mariée
    - Là-bas, vers l'église
    - Quel Galant m'est comparable
    - Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques
    - Tout gai!
Les grands vents venus d'outremer, voice and piano (1906)
Histoires naturelles (5 songs), voice and piano (1906)
    - Le paon
    - Le grillon
    - Le cygne
    - Le martin-pêcheur
    - Le pintade
Vocalise-étude en forme de habanera, voice and piano (1907)
Sur l'herbe, voice and piano (1907)
Tripatos, voice and piano (1909)
Quatre chants populaire (4 songs), voice and piano (1910)
    - Chanson espagnole
    - Chanson française
    - Canzone italiana
    - Chanson hébraïque
Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé (3 songs), voice and chamber ensemble (1913)
    - Soupir
    - Placet futile
    - Surgi de la croupe et du bond
Deux mélodies hébraïques (2 songs), voice and piano (1914) (orchestral version, 1919-20)
    - Kaddish
    - L'énigme éternelle
Trois chansons (3 songs), chorus (1914-15) (also arr. for voice and piano)
    - Nicolette
    - Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis
    - Ronde
Ronsard à son âme, voice and piano (1923-24) (orchestral version, 1935)
Chansons madécasses (3 songs), voice, flute, cello and piano (1925-26)
    - Nahandove
    - Aoua!
    - Il est doux
Rêves, voice and piano (1927)
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, song cycle (3 songs), baritone and orchestra (1932-33)
    - Chanson romanesque
    - Chanson épique
    - Chanson à boire


RAVEL  LINKS                                                            Works by Genre      ~ top of page ~
Aphasia in Maurice Ravel (Richard E. Cytowic, M.D.)
The Ballets of Maurice Ravel: Creation and Interpretation (Deborah Mawer, Ballet-Dance Magazine)
'Bolero' by Maurice Ravel (BBC/h2g2)
Brain Disease Shaped Boléro (John Whitfield, Nature)
Ciboure House of Maurice Ravel Composer South West of France
L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (DePauw University Opera)
Groundbreaking Composer Maurice Ravel (Shawna S. Ruppert, ezinearticles.com)
Maurice Ravel, 62, Composer, Is Dead - Obituary (The New York Times)
Maurice Ravel (How Stuff Works)
    - Maurice Ravel: An  Overview of His Works
    - Family And Childhood
    - The Early Works
    - Education
    - Personal Life
    - Ravel And The Great War
    - The Death Of Ravel's Mother
    - A New Direction
    - Later Life And Legacy
    - The Death Of Ravel
Maurice Ravel Obituary (M.-D. Calvocoressi, The Musical Times)
Ravel's Bolero (Frogsmoke.com)
Maurice Ravel's 'Introduction and Allegro for Harp' (Peter Gutmann, Classical Notes)
Maurice Ravel's La Valse (Classy Classical)
Maurice Ravel's Sonatine (1903-05) (Richard Dowling)

Books
The Cambridge Companion to Ravel (Deborah Mawer, Cambridge Univ Pr, books.google.com)

Composer website -  Maurice Ravel Frontispice
Composer website - MauriceRavel.com

Ravel @ Wikipedia
Ravel @ About.com
Ravel @ Answers.com
Ravel @ Art + Culture
Ravel @ Artissimo
Ravel @ Arts Alive    also    here
Ravel @ biographybase
Ravel @ Blogcritics Music
Ravel @ Boosey & Hawkes
Ravel @ Boston Symphony Orchestra
Ravel @ Classic Cat
Ravel @ Classical.com
Ravel @ Classical Archives
Ravel @ Classical Composers Database
Ravel @ Classical Music Pages
Ravel @ Classical Net
Ravel @ ClassicsToday
Ravel @ composition:today
Ravel @ Daily Kos
Ravel @ Dilettante Music
Ravel @ Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers
Ravel @ eclassical.com
Ravel @ 8notes
Ravel @ Ensemble Sospeso
Ravel @ Epitonic
Ravel @ Essentials of Music
Ravel @ essortment
Ravel @ Everything2
Ravel @ Facebook
Ravel @ Favorite Classical Composers
Ravel @ Find a Grave
Ravel @ Fuguemasters
Ravel @ glbtq.com
Ravel @ GMN Classical Plus
Ravel @ History of Art/History of Classical Music
Ravel @ Humanities Web
Ravel @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Ravel @ IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library
Ravel @ Infoplease
Ravel @ InstantEncore
Ravel @ Karadar Classical Music
Ravel @ Kennedy Center
Ravel @ Kunst der Fuge
Ravel @ Lesson Tutor
Ravel @ Los Angeles Philharmonic
Ravel @ Mahalo
Ravel @ Mercury Orchestra
Ravel @ Midori
Ravel @ MSN Music
Ravel @ Music Academy Online
Ravel @ Music and Vision
Ravel @ MusicBrainz
Ravel @ The Music Chamber
Ravel @ MUSIClassical.com
Ravel @ MusicWeb International
Ravel @ musicianguide.com
Ravel @ Music With Ease
Ravel @ MySpaceMusic (1)
Ravel @ MySpaceMusic (2)
Ravel @ Naxos
Ravel @ New York Review of Books/David Levine Gallery
Ravel @ The New York Times
Ravel @ NNDB
Ravel @ W.W. Norton
Ravel @ NPRmusic
Ravel @ Ondine
Ravel @ PBS/Great Performances
Ravel @ Phoenix USA
Ravel @ Piano Society
Ravel @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Ravel @ San Francisco Classical Voice
Ravel @ Squidoo
Ravel @ StateUniversity.com
Ravel @ Suite101.com
Ravel @ The Timid Soul's Guide to Classical Music - no longer functioning
Ravel @ TopSynergy.com
Ravel @ Werner Icking Music Archive

Streaming Audio
Ravel @ The Classical MIDI Connection
Ravel @ Classical Archives
Ravel @ Classical Masterpieces
Ravel @ Classical Midi Files by David Siu
Ravel @ Epitonic
Ravel @ Essentials of Music
Ravel @ Favorite Classical Composers
Ravel @ GMN Classical Plus
Ravel @ Internet Archive
Ravel @ Kunst der Fuge
Ravel @ last.fm
Ravel @ Lesson Tutor
Ravel @ Linn Records/Artur Pizarro discusses Maurice Ravel
Ravel @ MidiWorld
Ravel @ MSR Classics/Gwendolyn Mok Interview: Ravel Revealed
Ravel @ MySpaceMusic
Ravel @ W.W. Norton
Ravel @ NPRmusic
Ravel @ PRX (Public Radio Exchange)
Ravel @ Rhapsody
Ravel @ Werner Icking Music Archive

Recordings
Ravel @ ArkivMusic
Ravel @ ClassicsOnline
Ravel @ Discogs
Ravel @ Linn Records/Artur Pizarro discusses Maurice Ravel
Ravel @ Ondine
Ravel @ Phoenix USA

Videos
Ravel @ YouTube
Ravel @ Dailymotion
Ravel @ VideoSift
Ravel @ Vimeo
Ravel @ HowStuffWorks
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HOME           ABOUT           RESOURCES           COMPOSERS           PERFORMANCES           20/21 ENSEMBLE           CONTACT US