CELEBRATING RAVEL AT 150 YEARS
By Judith Eckelmeyer
(GRACE WOODS MUSIC SESSION JUNE 7, 2025)
Ravel in 1925
Maurice Ravel was born 150 years ago in the Basque region of France, 11 miles from the border with Spain, nearly at the Atlantic coast. His father, Pierre-Joseph, from the Swiss-French border near Geneva, was a well-educated engineer, manufacturer and inventor, married Marie, a Basque and, according to a Geneaster article on the web, illegitimate and nearly illiterate. (No clue how they met!) The disparity of their backgrounds is an amazing prototype of the dichotomy one might observe in Maurice’s personality: John Wiser sees a balance as clear “as Robert Schumann’s Eusebius and Florestan” (notes for the RCA Victor recording recording by Alicia DeLarrocha with Leonard Slatkin and the St.Louis S.O., 1993). The family moved to Paris shortly after Maurice’s birth. His parents recognized his musical abilities early and, deliberately furthering his talent, placed him with a fine piano teacher when he was 7 years old.
Joseph Ravel (1875), Marie Delouart (1870) and Maurice Ravel aged four (1879)
From there, Maurice’s musical development took off in a kind of inconsistent way. His 6 years (1889-1895) at the Paris Conservatoire held no success in the traditional attempts at prizes. Taking a year away from that formal education he began a serious compositional career. In 1897 he returned to the Conservatoire and entered the composition class of Fauré. During this stint at the Conservatoire he made a number of attempts at winning major prizes in composition but failed in all of them. All during this period he composed numerous and varied works. They were being performed and published, while he enjoyed aesthetic support of allies among the musical, visual and literary arts called “Les Apaches”—The Hooligans. The group disbanded with the start of WWI.
East façade of the Conservatoire building at 15 rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière (state in 1907, demolished after 1911)
Experiences outside the conservatory would be significant to Ravel’s compositional thinking. He encountered the South-east Asian gamelan at the 1889 Paris World’s Fair; he heard a wide variety of music in concerts, including that of Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Chabrier, Satie, Spain via the pianist Ricardo Viñes, and of course Debussy. He also became an associate of Boudelaire, Mallarmé and Edgar Allen Poe. Tours to other European countries and to America further broadened his musical ear.
Although he created numerous original compositions in varied genres, Ravel is widely recognized for his superb mastery of orchestration. Most often this was displayed in his orchestral arrangements of piano music not only of his own but especially that of that of a number of other composers: Rimsky-Korsakov, Musorgsky, Robert Schumann, Satie, Chabrier and Debussy. The most famous example is his orchestration of Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, originally written for two pianos. The music for this evening will further our enjoyment of his orchestration.
Although he created numerous original compositions in varied genres, Ravel is widely recognized for his superb mastery of orchestration. Most often this was displayed in his orchestral arrangements of piano music not only of his own but especially that of that of a number of other composers: Rimsky-Korsakov, Musorgsky, Robert Schumann, Satie, Chabrier and Debussy. The most famous example is his orchestration of Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, originally written for two pianos. The music for this evening will further our enjoyment of his orchestration.
The Oslo Philharmonic with conductor Semyon Bychkov perform Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel) in Oslo Concert Hall
Paul Wittgenstein playing the piano
The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand Alone in D and the Piano Concerto in G were composed within the same time frame—1928-1931. Their very different contours and general spirits reflect the persona dichotomy in Raval’s music mentioned earlier. The Concerto for the Left Hand had been commissioned by concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who, like Ravel, had served in WWI but had lost his right arm in that conflict. Ravel created a full sonic environment for the performer who would be employing only one hand; that it was the left in particular (usually the “accompanying” hand) that is remarkable in that both melody and harmony, multiple textures and wide ranges gave the impression of two hands at work. The resulting music is astoundingly rich and varied, with clear jazz elements mixed among traditional sounds. Ravel, a perfectionist and slow and careful worker, balanced the piano against a large orchestra consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, piccolo clarinet in E-flat, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets in C, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, snare drum, cymbals, bas drum, wood block, tam-tam, harp and strings.
The concerto is cast in a single movement in a slow-fast-slow progression of tempi. The orchestra begins the work in a very dark, very quiet passage for double basses and contrabassoon; this grows gradually through a crescendo for the full orchestra and the piano’s entrance in a cadenza. As the work progresses, rhythmic complexities emerge, further suggesting jazz influence. A march of military character enters and fades away. The piano’s cadenza ends the work.
The concerto is cast in a single movement in a slow-fast-slow progression of tempi. The orchestra begins the work in a very dark, very quiet passage for double basses and contrabassoon; this grows gradually through a crescendo for the full orchestra and the piano’s entrance in a cadenza. As the work progresses, rhythmic complexities emerge, further suggesting jazz influence. A march of military character enters and fades away. The piano’s cadenza ends the work.
Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, M. 82
Yuja Wang, piano | Klaus Mäkelä, conductor | Orchestre de Paris
Yuja Wang, piano | Klaus Mäkelä, conductor | Orchestre de Paris
Ravel’s Rhapsode Espagnole is an early work for orchestra, written between 1907 and 1908. Ravel had written a Habanera for 2 pianos in 1895; in 1907 he added three more pieces for 2 pianos, and then orchestrated them all later that year, completing the suite in 1908. Ravel’s Spanish heritage shines through, continuing his Spanish-themed composition in his opera L’heure espagnole and the “Vocalise-Etude en forme de habanera”, also of 1907.
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Ravel's L' Heure Espagnole
Adrien Perruchon | direction | Isabelle Druet: mezzo-soprano | Benoît Rameau: ténor | Loïc Félix: ténor | Thomas Dolié: baryton | Nicolas Cavallier: basse |
Ravel’s Vocalise-Étude en forme de Habanera
Vocals: Sylvia McNair | Piano: Roger Vignoles |
Ravel’s orchestra for this suite is large and colorful: 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 soprano clarinets, bass clarinet, sarrusophone/contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, castanets, tambourine, gong, snare drum, xylophone, celesta, 2 harps and strings. Nevertheless, Ravel’s use of this ensemble is characteristically nuanced and distinctive in each of the movements, befitting their particular spirit.
1. Prélude à la nuit uses themes that recur in subsequent movements. It is generally a quiet moment.
2. Malagueña in a lively flamenco style represents a dance from the south of Spain. Ravel conveys the essence of the dance with the triple meter and orchestration.
3. Habanera, the genesis of this suite, is marked “rather slow and with a drowsy rhythm”. (Think of Carmen dancing among her friends.)
4. Feria means festival, and as one would expect, suggests a carnival atmosphere—excited, exuberant, colorful.
1. Prélude à la nuit uses themes that recur in subsequent movements. It is generally a quiet moment.
2. Malagueña in a lively flamenco style represents a dance from the south of Spain. Ravel conveys the essence of the dance with the triple meter and orchestration.
3. Habanera, the genesis of this suite, is marked “rather slow and with a drowsy rhythm”. (Think of Carmen dancing among her friends.)
4. Feria means festival, and as one would expect, suggests a carnival atmosphere—excited, exuberant, colorful.
Ravel's Rapsodie espagnol
Queensland Symphony Orchestra | Alondra de la Parra, conductor
Queensland Symphony Orchestra | Alondra de la Parra, conductor
The Piano Concerto in G, as remarked earlier, is a kind of companion piece to the Concerto for the Left Hand, written slowly and with great care for detail between 1929 and 1931, interrupted by his composing his work for Wittgenstein. This concerto is more traditional in its 3-movement structure (fast, slow, fast), but here Ravel truly and clearly includes jazz elements that often appear to reflect Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Ravel and Gershwin had indeed met during Ravel’s only visit to America in 1928; while in New York he saw a Gershwin musical and heard Gershwin play the Rhapsody in Blue and other jazz works. Ravel soaked up a number of jazz experiences: in Harlem, where he heard among other things Duke Ellington and hot jazz. He even sat in on a recording session of Paul Whiteman and his orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke on the trumpet. It will be hard to miss the jazz features in the G-major concerto.
Ravel, in his fastidious workmanship, orchestrated this concerto more lightly for the brass and woodwinds and reduced the string section somewhat. But he did employ a surprising variety percussion, including timpani, triangle, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, wood block and whip.
In fact, the first movement begins and ends with a whip-like sound, currently produced by a slapstick. (YouTube has a number of videos of the concerto.) Writer Arbie Orenstein comments that the first theme of the movement “suggests a Basque folk melody, the second the influence of Spain, and the other three derive from the idiom of jazz”. (Wikipedia, ‘Piano Concerto in G major) And in footnote 2, Jonathan Swain “suggests that a theme in [this]movement…is reminiscent of “Jai deux amours”, a song made famous in Paris by Josephine Baker” (African-American entertainer, ex-pat living in France. For further on her, see Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis, 1922.) Cadenzas by harp, woodwind and piano occur successively. The movement ends brilliantly.
The memorable second movement is long, serene, song-like. Ravel said “How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!” (Ibid.) After an extended exposition by the piano, the melody is taken by the English horn while the piano weaves filigree around it. I encourage you to explore different videos of this beautiful movement on YouTube; do you have a favorite?
The finale is fast, brilliant in orchestral sound and piano technique. This appears to me to be a formidable challenge for any pianist, and only heroically virtuoso performers manage it successfully. Enjoy!
Ravel, in his fastidious workmanship, orchestrated this concerto more lightly for the brass and woodwinds and reduced the string section somewhat. But he did employ a surprising variety percussion, including timpani, triangle, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, tamtam, wood block and whip.
In fact, the first movement begins and ends with a whip-like sound, currently produced by a slapstick. (YouTube has a number of videos of the concerto.) Writer Arbie Orenstein comments that the first theme of the movement “suggests a Basque folk melody, the second the influence of Spain, and the other three derive from the idiom of jazz”. (Wikipedia, ‘Piano Concerto in G major) And in footnote 2, Jonathan Swain “suggests that a theme in [this]movement…is reminiscent of “Jai deux amours”, a song made famous in Paris by Josephine Baker” (African-American entertainer, ex-pat living in France. For further on her, see Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis, 1922.) Cadenzas by harp, woodwind and piano occur successively. The movement ends brilliantly.
The memorable second movement is long, serene, song-like. Ravel said “How I worked over it bar by bar! It nearly killed me!” (Ibid.) After an extended exposition by the piano, the melody is taken by the English horn while the piano weaves filigree around it. I encourage you to explore different videos of this beautiful movement on YouTube; do you have a favorite?
The finale is fast, brilliant in orchestral sound and piano technique. This appears to me to be a formidable challenge for any pianist, and only heroically virtuoso performers manage it successfully. Enjoy!
Ravel's piano concerto in G minor | Yuja Wang, piano
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | Lionel Bringuier conductor
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | Lionel Bringuier conductor
Judith Eckelmeyer ©2025
Choose Your Direction
The Magic Flute, II,28.
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"(Die Liebe) mag den Weg mit Rosen streun, weil Rosen stets bei Dornen sein"
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