Maurice Ravel

Stravinsky compared Ravel’s mind to that of a Swiss watchmaker. But behind its exquisite, super-refined surface, Ravel’s music can also convey strange dark passions and profound melancholy. He was born in Ciboure, France, near the Spanish border, in 1875, of half-Basque parentage—a fact of which he remained intensely proud. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but succeeded only in annoying his teachers, leading to his expulsion in 1895. He was readmitted two years later, however, and his new teacher, Fauré, proved both understanding and inspiring. Along with his contemporary Debussy he formed an artistic group called Les Apaches (“The Hooligans”) who caused controversy, but his failure, after five attempts, to win the coveted Prix de Rome became a national scandal. Ravel remained emotionally guarded, and the nature of his sexuality remains a mystery. Though he composed slowly, Ravel produced a steady stream of masterpieces in several genres, especially opera (including the weirdly magical L’enfant et les sortilèges [1925]), chamber and orchestral music (notably two piano concertos, La Valse [1920] and the famous Boléro[1928]), songs, and solo piano pieces. His fondness for exotic, fragile, dreamlike atmospheres earned him the label “Impressionist,” though he strongly disliked it. In the 1930s, Ravel began to suffer from dementia, and his final years were a story of pitiful, lonely mental decline. He died in 1937.