![]() Their director Diaghilev asked Ravel to write a ballet for them Ravel took about three years to compose the music for Daphnis et Chloé. They were the world’s most famous ballet group. In 1909 the Ballets Russes visited Paris. In Paris the music critics continued to argue about Ravel’s music. These included Introduction and Allegro for seven instruments including harp, the Rapsodie espagnole for orchestra, his first opera L’heure espagnole and Gaspard de la Nuit, a virtuoso piece for the piano. Meanwhile Ravel left Paris for a time with some friends and started writing some of his best compositions. There was a big argument at the Conservatoire which led to the director, Dubois, resigning and Fauré taking his place. However, the judges liked traditional music and did not understand Ravel’s style. He tried to win the Prix de Rome in 1904 and again in 1905. He always dressed very smartly, and got to know people with similar tastes. Ravel was starting to live the life of a dandy. However, Ravel never got a prize for composition, so he left Fauré’s class in 1903. Fauré had been a very good teacher for Ravel, who dedicated his virtuoso piano piece Jeux d’eau (meaning “Play of water” or “Fountains”) and his String Quartet to Fauré. His first work that was to become very well-known was the short piece for orchestra called Pavane pour une infante défunte. At this stage Ravel was not sure of himself as a composer. He left the Conservatoire in 1895, but went back in 1897 to study composition with Gabriel Fauré and counterpoint and orchestration with Andreé Gédalge. He heard the music of Richard Wagner and got to know the composers Chabrier and Satie. ![]() He also made friends with a very talented Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes who was in the same class at the Conservatoire. Ravel also heard Russian music at concerts given by Rimsky-Korsakov. They were both influenced by it, especially Debussy. Ravel and Debussy both heard gamelan music from Java at this exhibition. In 1889 there was a big international exhibition: the Paris World Exhibition. In 1889 he entered the Paris Conservatoire. ![]() It soon became clear that Maurice was musically gifted, so his father arranged for him to have piano lessons with a well-known teacher. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |