Date/Place of Birth:

7 March, 1875 in Ciboure in the Basses-Pyrénées

Personality:

A short, thin and dark man with the large head and prominent nose. He was a dandy throughout his life, who dressed natily and was extremely keen at the lastest fashions. Ravel was friendly and generous among his friends. However, he did not reveal his true feelings easily - in fact, there was a darker side to him: solemn, remote, reserved and solitary. Therefore, his life and personality remained enigmatic, even to few of his close friends. Despite small stature and uncertain state of health, Ravel, in his forties, even joined the French armed forces, as a truck driver; to show his strong patriotism to his own country. It implied that he was determined in doing whatever he aimed to achieve, no matter how difficult it was. A typical example showing his strong determination and dignity is challenging hte judges to make amends for their scornful insults of his compositions by taking part in the Prix de Rome competition for 5 times - and he was only awarded 3rd prize in 1901.

Piano-Playing Style:

Like Schubert, Ravel was no virtuoso, it probably explained why he remained in the Conservatoire for 14 years, an unusually long duration. Another possible reason is that he had very small hands. However, he was still a capable pianist; he could play most of his own works, and he even won annual competitions at the Conservatoire. Therefore, he turned his attention to composing.

Music:

Ravel's music is generally clear, lucid, aesthetic and spontaneous. Nevertheless, his music is so ironic that his compositions were often misinterpreted. For example, his 'Pavane pour une infante defunte' is misconceived as a pavan for a dead child and it is often played very slowly like a funeral piece, but it is rather an old pavan dance performed by a princess in ancient period. Unlike Tchaikovsky and other composers, Ravel seldom expressed his feelings in his music, it was not uncommon that he was condemned for being too detached during his time. Therefore, his music is objective and full of sentiment: solemn and dark (eg. Histoires Naturelles); charming, simple and childlike (eg. Ma Mère L'Oye); elegant, classical and spontaneous (eg. Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn); complex, macabre and menacing (eg. Gaspard de la nuit); In conclusion, Ravel's music always contains precise and clear outline, and it is usually different from 'atmospheric', blurry music of Debussy with more innovative harmony, although there is occasional coincidence in some of their works.

Composing Habit:

Since Ravel always composed at the piano, it was not uncommon that he composed most of his compositions in piano solo versions before he orchestrated them. In his original piano works, he often worked out on miniature in a framework of clear texture and occasional classical form. Besides that, Ravel threw in dissonant, complex and unconventional harmony in most of his large-scale orchestral works with exception of those miniatures. While composing, Ravel usually gained the main inspiration from literature, poems, novels, his deep fascination with old French and Spanish dances; and great influence from delicate tastes of Chabrier and Satie; Liszt virtuosity and of course, his great idol - Mozart. Ravel was also a great orchestrator, who produced several brilliant orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at the Exhibition, Schumann's Carnaval etc.

Ravel's Quote:

"I look like a Moor" Ravel's last words, while taking a look at his bandaged head in the mirror, before his death "For Debussy the musician and the man I have had profound admiration, but by nature I'm different from him...I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of the symbolism of Debussy" Ravel in denying that he imitated Debussy's style in his music "It is beautiful; it is beautiful after all; I have said nothing; I leave nothing. I have not said what I wanted to say. I have so much more to say" Ravel in despair, during the performance of his 'Daphnis et Chloë', as he could not compose anything during his declining late years "The only love affair I have ever had was with music" Ravel, 1928 "Another significant influence, other than Chabrier - is from Satie, who had a notable effect on Debussy, on myself and, to tell the truh, on the majority of modern French composers" Ravel, 1928

Ravel's Death:

Ravel's last years were excruciating painful. Since he faced the accident when he served as the French army, he had a nervous breakdown. Eventually, he began to lose control of his arms and legs; followed by memory loss and inability to coordinate his body. Since then, he could not compose anything. In 1937, he underwent a brain operation in the clinic on the rue Boileau in Paris but died peacefully without regaining consciousness on 28 December, 1937. The cause of Ravel's physical disease remained a mystery.