Maurice Ravel, an Unsung Hero of Music

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In this video I aim to discuss and dissect the composer Maurice Ravel’s life, and evaluate his influence on the wider world of music, both classical and popular.
Maurice Ravel was an early 20th century composer, known primarily nowadays for the development of the Impressionist movement in music, a movement which he helped to advance alongside his older contemporary, Debussy. Maurice Ravel is also well known for his influence on the art of orchestration, having produced many seminal works which now influence composers and classical musicians in their own instrumental arrangement, even to this day.

Ravel was born in the Basque region of France in the town of Ciboure in 1875, to artistic parents, who got him into playing the piano and composing from a young age, and he had his first composition performed publicly at just age 14.
Ravel entered the Paris conservatoire in 1889 to study piano, having chosen to play Chopin for his entrance examination.

Ravel is widely considered to be a master of orchestration- his ability to consistently balance every single instrument in the orchestra in a way that is not only technically proficient but also avoids sounding mechanical is actually quite brilliant to listen to.
In addition, I think Ravel’s, and perhaps more widely, Impressionism’s approach to emotion is particularly relevant today. Impressionism in music means a lot of things, but perhaps the most important characteristic of the movement is emotional distance, or detachment. The listener isn’t meant to empathise with the music directly or put themselves into the story; instead, it should feel like you’re watching from afar- only able to get an Impression of what’s going on. Impressionism’s cooler approach to emotion came as a response to the Romantic period which came before it

As a character, I think Ravel specifically captures my attention because he wasn’t special. He wasn’t born a prodigy or an icon. In life, he eventually did become very famous, and to anyone familiar with classical music Ravel is actually very well known- but it seems that the course of history has decided that other composers- like his friend Debussy- were much more influential. And maybe that’s true! He was- at least compared to his contemporaries- unspectacular, but not only is that really relatable, but it’s also really important in its own way.

Gaspard de la nuit
   • Ravel - Gaspard de la nuit (Full)  

Daphnis et Chloe
   • Daphnis et Chloé - Ravel - Dutoit  

Introduction et allegro pour harpe, flûte, clarinette et quatuor à cordes
   • Ravel - Introduction et allegro pour ...  


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