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Maurice Ravel

Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel was internationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.

Born to a music-loving family, Ravel attended France's premier music college, the Paris Conservatoire; he was not well regarded by its conservative establishment, whose biased treatment of him caused a scandal. After leaving the conservatoire, Ravel found his own way as a composer, developing a style of great clarity and incorporating elements of modernism, baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. He liked to experiment with musical form, as in his best-known work, Boléro (1928), in which repetition takes the place of development. Renowned for his abilities in orchestration, Ravel made some orchestral arrangements of other composers' piano music, of which his 1922 version of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is the best known.

A slow and painstaking worker, Ravel composed fewer pieces than many of his contemporaries. Among his works to enter the repertoire are pieces for piano, chamber music, two piano concertos, ballet music, two operas and eight song cycles; he wrote no symphonies or church music. Many of his works exist in two versions: first, a piano score and later an orchestration. Some of his piano music, such as Gaspard de la nuit (1908), is exceptionally difficult to play, and his complex orchestral works such as Daphnis et Chloé (1912) require skilful balance in performance.

Ravel was among the first composers to recognise the potential of recording to bring their music to a wider public. From the 1920s, despite limited technique as a pianist or conductor, he took part in recordings of several of his works; others were made under his supervision.

Birth and Death Data: Born March 7, 1875 (Ciboure), Died December 28, 1937 (Paris)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1915 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, orchestrator, conductor, arranger, piano

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 76-100 of 166 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor D7RC-7163 12-in. 1/24/1947 Pavane for a dead princess E. Robert Schmitz PIano solo composer  
Columbia W141726 10-in. 2/25/1926 Kaddisch Georges Enesco Violin solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W145545 10-in. 1/19/1928 Pavane pour une infante defunte Dame Myra Hess Piano solo composer  
Columbia W145546 10-in. 1/19/1928 Pavane pour une infante defunte Dame Myra Hess Piano solo composer  
Columbia W149653 10-in. 11/29/1929 Pièce en forme de habanera Josef Adler ; Horace Britt Cello solo, with piano composer  
Columbia W98363 12-in. 6/7/1927 Mother Goose suite (Ma mere l'oye) Walter Damrosch ; New York Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia W98364 12-in. 6/7/1927 Mother Goose suite (Ma mere l'oye) Walter Damrosch ; New York Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia W98365 12-in. 6/7/1927 Mother Goose suite (Ma mere l'oye) Walter Damrosch ; New York Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia W98366 12-in. 6/9/1927 Mother Goose suite (Ma mere l'oye) Walter Damrosch ; New York Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia W98368 12-in. 6/9/1927 Mother Goose suite (Ma mere l'oye) Walter Damrosch ; New York Symphony Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Columbia 6634 12-in. approximately 1915 Quartet in F (unspecified movement) London String Quartet String quartet composer  
Columbia 74389 12-in. 10/20/1921 Empress of the pagodas Hallé Orchestra ; Hamilton Harty Orchestra composer  
Columbia 74390 12-in. 10/20/1921 The fairy garden Hallé Orchestra ; Hamilton Harty Orchestra composer  
Columbia 75363 12-in. approximately 1917 Quartet in F, 3rd movement London String Quartet String quartet composer  
Columbia 75364 12-in. approximately 1917 Quartet in F, 4th movement London String Quartet String quartet composer  
Brunswick 703bi 12-in. 1928 Jeux d’eau Maria Theresa Brazeau Piano solo composer  
Brunswick 704bi 12-in. 1928 Feu d’artifice Maria Theresa Brazeau Piano solo composer  
Brunswick 1030bm 12-in. 1928 Pavane for a dead princess Philharmonic Orchestra of Berlin, The ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 1810bmp 12-in. 1930 Menuet antique Orchestra of Association des Lamoureaux, Paris ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 1811bmp 12-in. 1930 Menuet antique Orchestra of Association des Lamoureaux, Paris ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 1812bm 12-in. 1930 Boléro Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Maurice Ravel Orchestra composer, conductor  
Brunswick 1813bm 12-in. 1930 Boléro Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Maurice Ravel Orchestra composer, conductor  
Brunswick 1814bm 12-in. 1930 Boléro Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Maurice Ravel Orchestra composer, conductor  
Brunswick 1815½bm 12-in. 1930 Boléro Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Maurice Ravel Orchestra composer, conductor  
Brunswick 1936bmp 10-in. 1930 La valse, pt. 1 Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
(Results 76-100 of 166 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Ravel, Maurice," accessed November 22, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102534.

Ravel, Maurice. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 22, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102534.

"Ravel, Maurice." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 22 November 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102534

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