Maurice Ravel played a decisive role in the history of modern French music. This reader captures the essence of this enigmatic man through his own words, both written and spoken. This compilation of articles by Ravel (who was a brilliant critic) features reviews, interviews, and some 350 letters from Cocteau, Colette, de Falla, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, and others.

A Ravel Reader: Correspondence, Articles, Interviews

Arts & Photography

Ravel, Maurice

Music

Columbia Univ. Pr.

"Ravel is one of the rare French composers who have left so strong an imprint on their art that music after them can never be the same." — Alexis Roland-Manuel. Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) ranks as one of the most original French composers of his time, a consummate craftsman who continually sought perfection of form and style, and whose unique harmonic language was unmistakably his own. Along with Debussy, he stands in the front rank of great modern composers for the piano and his piano music includes a number of masterpieces considered vital to the repertoire of any serious pianist. This handsome, affordable volume reprints a rich selection of his compositions: "Pavane pour une infante défunte," "Jeux d'eau," "Sonatine," "Miroirs," "Menuet antique," "Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn," "Gaspard de la nuit," and more. From the dazzling "Jeux d'eau," whose inventiveness and harmonic ingenuity opened a whole new era in sound, to the beloved "Pavane pour une infante défunte," to the suite "Gaspard de la nuit," music of legendary difficulty that every serious pianist eventually attempts, the piano music of Ravel is among the most recorded and performed in the repertoire. This inexpensive Dover edition makes that music available, at a reasonable price, to pianists who wish to play and study the works of a composer in the vanguard of "the new order of post-Lisztian piano writing."

Piano Masterpieces of Maurice Ravel (Dover Classical Piano Music)

Dover Publications

Few composers of the 20th century have wielded more influence in the musical world than the two "impressionist" masters represented in this volume. Such composers as Webern, Bartók, Varèse, Messianen, and even John Cage owe a debt to Debussy's innovations in harmony, coloring, and psychological penetration. Similarly, Ravel's achievements in pianistic style, sophisticated harmonies, and bold experiments with form had a profound effect on both contemporary and later musicians. Each composer wrote only one string quartet, but by virtue of their individuality, unique interpretations of the medium and delicate and subtle beauties, both compositions enjoy a special place in the chamber music repertoire. This attractive, high-quality volume, based on authoritative French editions, brings both influential masterpieces together in one inexpensive resource. Clearly printed and sturdily bound for long life on the music stand, this book will enable musicians and music lovers to study, compare, and delight in two landmarks of the string quartet genre.

String Quartets by Debussy and Ravel: Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10/Debussy; Quartet in F Major/Ravel (Dover Chamber Music Scores)

Debussy, CLaude

Often described as Ravel's orchestral masterpiece, Daphnis and Chloe is a 20th-century classic, a rich musical setting of the Greek novel by Langus. Commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes, it premiered in Paris in 1912, with Nijinsky in the role of Daphnis, and Anna Pablova and Tamara Karsavina alternating in the role of Chloe. Ravel's lush scoring for this Greek pastoral dramatically displays his genius for transmuting a traditional musical idiom into a fresh and stirring language of his own — now audacious and driving, now softly and hauntingly beautiful. It reveals, too, in the logic and sweep of its technical effects, Ravel's constant striving for perfection of form and style. (Stravinsky compared him to "the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers.") This definitive full-score edition, reprinted from the original French edition, duplicates the full ballet score, not merely the orchestral suites adapted from it.

Daphnis and Chloe in Full Score (Dover Orchestral Music Scores)

Although the moods may vary throughout these evocative works, the elegance and subtly shifting energies of their musical language could only be those of Maurice Ravel. To study them in this full-score edition is to become more fully aware not only of his great originality but also of the constant striving for perfection of form and style that prompted Stravinsky to compare him admiringly to "the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers." The Rapsodie Espagnole was Ravel's first entirely orchestral composition. A work whose exotic fantasy and subtle craftsmanship clearly express Ravel's distinctive musical personality, it was first performed publicly at the Théâtre du Châlet in Paris in 1908, confirming the young composer's reputation as an orchestral poet of scintillating originality. In 1911 Ravel re-created for orchestra his highly successful composition for two pianos, the Mother Goose Suite, a truly magical work whose moods range from haunting desolation to tender exaltation. Similarly, Ravel recast his brilliant 1911 piano composition Valses Nobles et Sentimentales as an orchestral score in 1912 (a ballet based on its premiere that year in Paris) and arranged his evocative 1899 piano work Pavane for a Dead Princess for orchestra in 1910. The rich orchestral settings of all four works have made them popular favorites on concert stages worldwide. This superbly prepared edition brings together in one volume authoritative full scores of these four works, reprinted from original French editions.

Four Orchestral Works in Full Score: Rapsodie Espagnole, Mother Goose Suite, Valses Nobles Et Sentimentales, and Pavane for a Dead Princess (Dover Orchestral Music Scores)

As a young composer in the years preceding World War I, Maurice Ravel brought to the art of the song that distinctive fusion of classicism and the modern spirt that characterized all his musical works and helped earn him a reputation as one of the most important modern French song composers. This superb collection includes many of his most admired and performed songs and song cycles, edited and introduced by Arbie Orenstein, the world's leading Ravel scholar, and eloquently displays the artistry that has made Ravel a favorite of 20th-century singers and their audiences. Many of the songs are settings of texts by such major poets as Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé. Reprinted here from authoritative French editions and provided with new English translations of the original French texts, they include: Sainte; Epigrammes de Clément Marot; Manteau de fleurs; Shéhérazade; Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques; Noël des jouets; Histories naturelles; Vocalise-Etude en forme de Hababera; Les Grands Vents venus d'outremer; Sur l'herbe; Chants popularizes; Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé; and Deux Mélodies hébraĭgues.

Songs, 1896-1914 (Dover Song Collections)

Lighthearted musical romp, full of orchestral color and evocative sound effects, concerns a clockmaker and his unfaithful wife. Grove's Dictionary calls it one of Ravel's "most brilliantly successful achievements in a light vein." Reproduced here from an authoritative 1911 French edition. List of Characters. Instrumentation.

L'Heure Espagnole in Full Score

Ravel originally conceived of his "choreographic poem" La Valse (The Waltz) as a tribute to Johann Strauss and "a sort of apotheosis of the Viennese waltz." But this is a waltz far removed from the urbane gaiety of old Vienna. A masterpiece of lush and brilliant orchestration, it is a work of considerable emotional depth in which the initial series of elegant waltzes are transformed into what Ravel describes as "a fantastic and fatal whirling" loading to a powerful, turbulent climax. Now musicians, music students, conductors — any music lover — can study La Valse in this high-quality edition, reproduced from the authoritative Durand original.

La Valse in Full Score (Dover Orchestral Music Scores)

The consummate craftsmanship, elegance, and originality of Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) define this collection of masterly compositions for the piano. Here, in one volume are Ma mère l'Oye ("Mother Goose"), Valse nobles et sentimentales, Le Tombeau de Couperin, and three shorter pieces for piano: Prèlude, A la manière de Borodine (Valse,) and A la manière de Emmanuel Chabrier. Ravel's own piano transcription of his world-famous La Valse completes this attractive edition of the master's most famous compositions. Intermediate and advanced pianists will welcome this superb compilation of piano classics, reproduced from authoritative French sources. Notes throughout introduce the works, their origins, and their context within the composer's output.

Le Tombeau de Couperin and Other Works for Solo Piano

This 20th-century orchestral masterpiece offers a rich musical setting of a pastoral Greek fable by Longus. Commissioned by Diaghilev for the Ballet Russes, the work premiered in Paris in 1912. The lush scoring dramatically displays the composer's genius for transmuting a traditional musical idiom into a fresh and stirring language of his own, ranging from audacious and driving to softly and hauntingly beautiful. Reproduced here from the original French edition, the score appears with rehearsal-numbered movements. Ideal for study in the classroom, at home, or in the concert hall, this affordable, high-quality, conveniently sized volume will be the edition of choice for music students and music lovers alike.

Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2 (Dover Miniature Scores: Orchestral)

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