Four Centuries of Great Music March 09, 2025 Sesquicentennial of the Birth of Maurice Ravel

FCGM-02-09-25. Ravel Sesquicentennial

Today on Four Centuries of Great Music I am celebrating the sesquicentennial of the birth of Maurice Ravel which was two days ago on March 7th.  We will open with his  Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major which was written for his friend Paul Wittgenstein, a concert pianist who had lost his right arm in the First World War.

Ravel is quoted in one source as saying that the piece is in only one movement:  and in another as saying the piece is divided into two movements linked together.  According to Marie-Noëlle Masson, the piece has a tripartite structure: slow–fast–slow, instead of the usual fast–slow–fast.  Whatever the internal structure may be, the 18–19 minute piece negotiates several sections in various tempi and keys without pause. Towards the end of the piece, some of the music of the early slow sections is overlaid with the faster music, so that two tempi occur simultaneously.

The concerto begins with the double basses softly arpeggiating an ambiguous harmony (E-A-D-G) being the background to an unusual solo of the contrabassoon. Although these notes are later given great structural weight, they are also the four open strings on the double bass, creating the illusion at the start that the orchestra is still tuning up. As is traditional in a concerto, the thematic material is presented first in the orchestra and then echoed by the piano. Not so traditional is the dramatic piano cadenza which first introduces the soloist and prefigures the piano's statement of the opening material. This material includes both an A and a B theme, though the B theme receives little exposure. An additional theme introduced at the beginning exhibits several similarities to the Dies irae chant.



Seong-Jin Cho, piano;  Andris Nelsons & Boston Symphony Orchestra
Ravel - Piano Concertos
Deutsche Gramophone

Maurice RAVEL:  Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82 - I.  Lento
Maurice RAVEL:  Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82 - II.  Allegro
Maurice RAVEL:  Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, M. 82 - III.  Tempo I


That Ravel wanted to identify with Franz Schubert is clear. As he said himself, "The title sufficiently indicates my intention to compose a succession of waltzes, after Schubert's example.” However, unlike Schubert (who actually wrote separately-grouped noble and sentimental waltzes that, while originally published separately, are frequently published together), Ravel did not differentiate the noble waltzes from the sentimental ones. Other than the name and the waltz form, there is little similarity between Ravel's and Schubert's works of corse because this suite contains an eclectic blend of Impressionist and Modernist music

Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - I. Modéré, Adélaide
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - II. Assez lent
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - III. Modéré
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - IV. Assez animé
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - V. Presque lent
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - VI. Vif
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - VII. Moins vif
Maurice RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales, M. 61 - VIII. Epilogue. Lent

Louis Lortie, piano
Ravel: Complete Works for Solo Piano
Chandos records


Maurice RAVEL: Sonatine: I. Modéré
Maurice RAVEL: Sonatine: II. Mouvement de menuet
Maurice RAVEL: Sonatine: III. Animé

Claudio Colombo
Ravel : Piano Music (Sonatine, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Pavane, Ma mère l'oye, 5 mélodies grecques, Concerto pour la main gauche)
Self released

Maurice RAVEL: Pavane pour une infante défunte
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Yoel Levi
Ravel: Daphnis & Chloe - Pavanne For A Dead Princess
Telarc Records

Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges is the second of two operas composed by Ravel.

Part 1
This is the story of a rude child who is reprimanded by the objects in his room, which he has been destroying. After being scolded by his mother in the beginning of the opera, the child throws a tantrum, destroying the room around him and harming the animals nearby. He is then surprised to find that the unhappy objects in his room come to life. The furniture and decorations begin to talk; even his homework takes shape as it becomes an old man and a chorus of numbers. They all sing out the pain and misery that the child inflicts on them and their wishes to punish him for his misdeeds.

Part 2
The bedroom becomes a garden filled with singing animals and plants which have been tortured by the child. The child attempts to make friends with the animals and plants, but they shun him because of the injuries he did to them earlier, before they could talk. They leave him aside, and in his loneliness, he eventually cries out "Maman". At this, the animals turn on him and attack him in an act of vengeance, but they wind up jostling among each other as the child is tossed aside. At the culmination, a squirrel is hurt, which causes the other animals to stop fighting. The child bandages the squirrel's wound and collapses exhausted. Seeing this act of kindness, the animals have a change of heart toward the child, and decide to try to help him home. They mimic the cry of "Maman", carry the child back to his house, and sing in praise of the child. The opera ends with the child singing "Maman", as he greets his mother, in the very last bar of the score.


Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - J'ai Pas Envie de Faire Ma Page (L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Bebe a Ete Sage_ (Mama)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Ca M'est Egal (L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Votre Serviteur, Humble Bergere (The Armchair, the Bergere)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding (The Clock, L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - How's Your Mug_ (The Tea Pot, the Chinese Cup)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Keng-ca-fou, Mah-jong (The Chinese Cup)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Oh! Ma Belle Tasse Chinoise (L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Arriere! Je Rechauffe Les Bons (The Fire, L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Adieu, Pastourelles (Chorus)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Ah! C'est Elle! C'est Elle! (L'enfant, the Princess)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Toi, Le Coeur de la Rose (L’Enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Deux Robinets Coulent Dans un Reservoir! (Arithmetic Man, L'enfant, Chorus)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Oh! Ma Tete! Ma Tete! (L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Musical Duet of Mewings (The White Cat, the Black Cat)
Maurice RAVEL:  L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Music of Insects, of Frogs, of Toads, … (Chorus)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Ah! Quelle Joie de Te Retrouver, Jardin! (L'enfant, the Tree, Chorus)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Ou Est Tu_ Je Te Cherche… (The Dragonfly, L'enfant, the Bat)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Rends-la-moi (Another Voice, L'enfant, the Bat)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Round of the Bats
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Sauve-toi, Sotte! Et la Cage_ la Cage_ (The Squirrel, the Frog)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - La Cage, C'etait Pour Mieux Voir Ta Prestesse (L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Ah! C'est L'enfant Au Couteau! (Chorus)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges - Il a Panse la Plaie (Chorus, L’enfant)
Maurice RAVEL:   L'enfant Et Les Sortileges -  Il Est Bon, L'enfant, Il Est Sage (Chorus, L’enfant]

Agathe Martel, Nashville Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Nashville Symphony, Alastair Willis, Kirsten Gunlogson, Kevin Short, Julie Boulianne, Genevieve Despres, Philippe Castagner, Ian Greenlaw, Cassandre Prevost, Julie Cox & Chattanooga Boys Choir
Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges (Complete Opera)
Naxos


Ravel: Alborada Del Gracioso
Lorin Maazel: New Philharmonia Orchestra
Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition; Ravel: Boléro
Sony

We are concluding our celebration of the music of Maurice Ravel to honor the sesquicentennial of his birth which was two days ago on March 7th with his Alborada del gracioso.

Alborada del gracioso is the fourth of the five movements of Maurice Ravel's piano suite Miroirs, written in 1905. As part of the suite, has always been regularly played and recorded by pianists. Alborada was orchestrated by Ravel fourteen years later at the request of Sergei Diaghilev, the impresario of the Ballets Russes, for use as a ballet. In this form, as a standalone orchestral piece, it is often played in concert. And that is the form that we will be listening to today.

The music consists of two sections of lively dance music, separated by a rhapsodic, extended song.   The opening is marked assez vif (fairly quick), ♩ = 92.  Like the piano original, the piece begins with imitations of guitar music. In the orchestral version they are produced by the harp, played close to the sound board, along with precisely arranged pizzicato violins and violas.   The basic metre of the opening section is 6/8 but Ravel varies it with occasional bars of 3/8 and 9/8.  

The music is mainly quiet for the first 28 bars as the themes are established. They are then brought together in what the commentator Eric Bromberger describes as "a great explosion of sound, subtly tinted by Ravel's use of castanets, tambourine, cymbals and harp” and then a fortissimo chord introduces the central episode, a plaintive 3/4 melody for solo bassoon alternating with shimmering string sonorities.   To represent the sounds of the extreme treble of the piano original, the accompaniment to the bassoon melody is scored for 24-part strings, some instruments bowed, others plucked, and deploying a range of harmonics, multiple stops and sul tasto effects.  The music makes a gradual return to the original tempo; Ravel added four bars to the original score here, making use of woodwind tremolos.   The piece builds to a conclusion and ends in what critics have variously described as "a blaze of orchestral color", "an exhilarating climax”, or  "a grand and glorious racket”.

Here is a performance of Maurice Ravel’s Alborada Del Gracioso by Lorin Maazel conducting the  New Philharmonia Orchestra from the album
Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition; Ravel: Bolero, Alborada Del Gracioso
Sony