RAVEL, Maurice
b Ciboure, 7 March 1875
d Paris, 28 December 1937, aged sixty-two

He was the son of a railway engineer. He began piano lessons at the age of seven, and in 1889 enrolled at the Paris Conservatory, remaining there as a student for 10 years, but failing to gain the Prix de Rome. He volunteered for service in the 1914-18 war, but was rejected as medically unfit - though he went to the front in 1916 as a driver. After the war he suffered from insomnia and nervous debility, but his career went well; he travelled to Vienna, Stockholm and London between 1920 and 1922 and to Italy, Scandinavia and the USA from 1923 to 1928. In 1928 he received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University. From 1933 his recurring insomnia made him increasingly ill. It was thought he had a brain tumour, but an operation in December 1937 showed no sign of one. He lingered on unconscious for a few days before he died.

1893 (18)

Sérénade grotesque, for piano

1895 (20)

Menuet antique

1896 (21)

'Sainte', song

1899 (24)

Pavane pour une Infante défunte, for piano

1901 (26)

Jeux d'eau, for piano

Myrrha, cantata

1902 (27)

Alcyone, cantata

1903 (28)

Schéhérezade, three songs with orchestra

String Quartet in F major

Alyssa, cantata

1905 (30)

Miroirs, for piano

Sonatina for piano

1906 (31)

Introduction and Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet

1907 (32)

Rhapsodie espagnole, for orchestra

Cinq melodies populaires greques, for voice and piano

Piece en forme de Habanera

'Sur l'herbe', song

1908 (33)

Ma mère l'oye, suite for piano

Gaspard de la nuit, for piano

1909 (34)

Menuet sur le nom d'Haydn, for piano

1911 (36)

L'heure espagnole, opera

Valses nobles et sentimentales, for piano or orchestra

1912 (37)

Daphnis et Chloe, ballet with chorus

1914 (39)

Two Hebrew Songs, for soprano and orchestra

Piano Trio in A minor

1915 (40)

Three Songs for unaccompanied choir

1917 (42)

Le Tombeau de Couperin, for piano

1920 (45)

La Valse, choreographic poem for orchestra

Sonata for violin and cello (1920-2)

1922 (47)

Berceuse sur le nom Fauré

1924 (49)

Tzigane, for violin and piano

1925 (50)

L'enfant et les sortilèges, opera

1926 (51)

Chansons madécasses, for voice, flute, cello and piano

1928 (53)

Bolero, for orchestra

1931 (56)

Piano Concerto in G major

Piano Concerto for the left hand