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First Sunday Music - Ravel
Posted on 02/01/2009 11:58:06 AM PST by HoosierHawk
Maurice Ravel
Born on March 7, 1875, in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, Ravel studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1899 to 1905, where his most influential teacher was the French composer Gabriel Fauré. Because of the tonal color, harmonies, mood, and extramusical associations of much of his music, Ravel is often associated with the French impressionistic composer Claude Debussy. Unlike Debussy, however, he was strongly attracted to abstract, logical musical structures. His vivid, transparent orchestral colors rank him as one of the modern masters of orchestration.
Ravel's impressionistic leanings are foremost in the piano suites Miroirs and Gaspard de la nuit, and in the Rhapsodie espagnole for orchestra written in 1908. He was gifted at evoking past eras in works such as the "Pavane pour une infante défunte", "Valses nobles et sentimentales", and "Le Tombeau de Couperin", all written for piano and later orchestrated. His classicism is also evident in the important String Quartet, the Sonatina for piano, and later chamber works such as the Sonata for Violin and Cello.
Ravel's stage works include the operas L'heure espagnole and L'enfant et les sortilèges, the celebrated orchestral Boléro, originally for solo dancer; and the impressionistic ballet Daphnis et Chloé, commissioned by the Russian impresario Sergey Diaghilev, who also staged arrangements of earlier Ravel pieces such as the suite Ma Mere l'Oye (Mother Goose). Ravel's last major work was the Piano Concerto in D, for the left hand, written in 1931 for the Viennese pianist Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961), who had lost his right arm in World War I. Stricken with a neurological disorder in 1932, Ravel died in Paris on December 28, 1937. Interestingly, the royalties from the movie, Bolero, help make his estate, (at nearly two million pounds), one of the wealthiest ever left by a composer.
Ravel - Part I Bolero
Miroirs
Alborada del Gracioso
Une barque sur l'ocean
Rapsodie espagnole
Ravel - Part II
La Valse
Pavane pour una infante defunte
Menuet antique
Daphnis et Chloe (Suite No. 2)
Lever du jour
Pantomime
Danse generale
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TOPICS: History; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: classicalmusic; firstsundaymusic
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Prayers for our troops, veterans, families, friends, and allies.
Classical Music presented on the first Sunday of every month.
To be added to or removed from the First Sunday Music ping list, FReepmail HoosierHawk.
Keyword: firstsundaymusic
To: Brad's Gramma; Cincinna; curmudgeonII; Duke Nukum; EveningStar; laurenmarlowe; LucyT; sitetest; ...
Ping to First Sunday Music with Ravel.
To: HoosierHawk; .30Carbine; 1rudeboy; 2nd Bn, 11th Mar; 31R1O; ADemocratNoMore; ...
Dear HoosierHawk,
Thanks for the ping!
Classical Music Ping List ping!
If you want on or off this list, let me know via FR e-mail.
Thanks,
sitetest
3
posted on
02/01/2009 12:13:14 PM PST
by
sitetest
(If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
To: HoosierHawk
There are no film or audio recordings of the man. Suprirsing considering that he lived till 1937 and was an international celebrity.
4
posted on
02/01/2009 12:16:12 PM PST
by
Borges
To: sitetest
I have tried and tried to enjoy Ravel’s music, but I just can’t; I guess it’s too modern for me. Thanks for the ping, anyway.
5
posted on
02/01/2009 12:17:19 PM PST
by
MrsPatriot
(How many more corrupt politicians will the Rep party allow into our government?)
To: HoosierHawk
Splended ping. Thanks much.
6
posted on
02/01/2009 12:17:28 PM PST
by
JoeProBono
(A closed mouth gathers no feet)
To: HoosierHawk
Oh, thank you so much my wonderful friend.
I just came across it.
I am going to put it good and loud so my brain-dead neighbors can hear it.
My best regards.
To: MrsPatriot
Ravel is pretty easy to take compared to some of Mahler and Debussy.
8
posted on
02/01/2009 12:22:57 PM PST
by
Borges
To: HoosierHawk
9
posted on
02/01/2009 12:28:35 PM PST
by
curmudgeonII
(Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit.)
To: curmudgeonII; Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer); JoeProBono
To: Borges
I’m no expert, but some of Mahler is brutal.
To: Borges
Well, now, I’ll agree with you on Mahler, but I do love some of Debussy.
12
posted on
02/01/2009 12:39:23 PM PST
by
MrsPatriot
(How many more corrupt politicians will the Rep party allow into our government?)
To: HoosierHawk
Daphnis et Chloé was a transformative experience for me the first time I heard it.
13
posted on
02/01/2009 12:47:40 PM PST
by
Mr. Jeeves
("One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering. 'Supernatural' is a null word." -- Robert Heinlein)
To: HoosierHawk
You should find a link to his String Quartet in F. It’s the best thing he ever wrote.
14
posted on
02/01/2009 12:48:41 PM PST
by
Publius
(The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
To: HoosierHawk
15
posted on
02/01/2009 12:49:47 PM PST
by
Gone_Postal
("Men who say it cannot be done, should not interupt those doing it.")
To: Publius
I agree, but it isn't typical. Emotionally raw, as if he let his guard down.
16
posted on
02/01/2009 12:55:01 PM PST
by
vimto
(To do the right thing you don't have to be intelligent - you have to be brave (Sasz))
To: MrsPatriot
I have tried and tried to enjoy Ravels music, but I just cant; I guess its too modern for me. Thanks for the ping, anyway.Well, if you like the orchestra version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition that is in large part due to Ravel's superb orchestration. I am not a huge Ravel fan, and consider him quite a minor composer, but I do like a few of his pieces.
If you find him too modern, I recommend a suite called Le Tombeau de Couperin, which is probably my favorite Ravel piece. Also, Pavane pour une infante defunte is pretty classical sounding.
More modern, but still nice are Alborada del gracioso amd Rhapsodie Espagnole. I never cared for Bolero. One of the boringest things ever written as music. Ravel intended it to be ballet music. However, it is often performed at orchestra concerts where its repetitiveness is quite apparent. I once had a choreographer describe how she would stage Bolero. It would be the arrival of a desert caravan, beginning with a few personages, and ending with the entire caravan filling up the stage at the end. Performed that way, it would work.
To: Publius
To: HoosierHawk
Bump for listening later.
19
posted on
02/01/2009 1:39:17 PM PST
by
parisa
To: HoosierHawk
The scherzo movement is magnificent.
20
posted on
02/01/2009 1:45:20 PM PST
by
Publius
(The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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