When and where was Maurice Ravel born?
Maurice Ravel was born on the 7th of March 1875 in Ciboure, a Basque town in France approximately 18 kilometres from the Spanish border. His family moved to Paris three months after his birth.
Questions about Maurice Ravel
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is Bolero by Maurice Ravel and when was it composed?
Boléro (1928) is a ballet score Ravel composed for Ida Rubinstein's company. It consists of a single gradual crescendo lasting approximately seventeen minutes, with no harmonic development and themes Ravel himself described as "altogether impersonal." It became his most famous work and has been recorded several hundred times.
Why was Maurice Ravel expelled from the Paris Conservatoire?
Ravel was expelled twice: first in 1895 for winning no prizes, and again in 1900 because the Conservatoire's director Théodore Dubois was hostile to his progressive musical and political outlook. His 1905 Prix de Rome elimination triggered a national scandal that led to Dubois's replacement by Gabriel Fauré.
What was the relationship between Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy?
Ravel and Debussy maintained a friendship from the 1890s that cooled into personal estrangement by the middle of the 1900s. Both rejected the label of Impressionism, but Ravel distinguished his own approach as opposed to Debussy's symbolism. Competing critical factions and a personal dispute connected to Debussy's separation from his wife contributed to the rift.
Who commissioned Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand?
The Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right arm during the First World War. Wittgenstein premiered the work in Vienna in January 1932.
What illness affected Maurice Ravel in his final years?
Ravel developed a progressive neurological condition whose exact nature remains disputed; proposed diagnoses include frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. A taxi accident in October 1932 may have worsened an existing cerebral condition. He composed nothing after completing Don Quichotte à Dulcinée and died on the 28th of December 1937.