A Ravel Reader: Correspondence, Articles, Interviews

A Ravel Reader: Correspondence, Articles, Interviews, compiled and edited by dint of Arbie Orenstein. Dover Publications (31 E 2nd St Mineola, NY 11501) 2003 617pp $3495

A Ravel Reader provides provacative readings into the life and times of Maurice Ravel by the agency of presenting the composer in is hold words, both written and oral The clarity, elegance, polish and sophistication we have approach to appreciate in Ravel's music are abundantly clear in his alphabetic characters articles and press interviews as well. A Ravel Reader is an offshoot of author Arbie Orenstein's previous application of mind Ravel: Man and Musician, published in 1975 through Columbia University Press.

A Ravel Reader is organized into four main sections. The first section is comprised of three pitch uponed documents, which give insight into Ravel's career and musical thought: an autobiographical design in outline dictated by Ravel to his biographer Roland-Manuel; a brief statement upon his own aesthetic entitled "Some Reflections upon Music"; and the only formal prelection Ravel is known to have at any time given, "Contemporary Music," which was delivered in 1928 in Houston, Texas.

The next to the first section of the book includes a selection of 346 alphabetic characters from the approximately 1,500 Ravel is known to have written during his lifetime. These correspondences give us an invaluable insight into Ravel's attitudes, emotions, travels and personal interests above a span of thirty-nine years. The earliest alphabetic character dates from Ravel's days as a scholar at the Paris Conservatoire, and the last was written single weeks before his death in 1937

The third section comprises the full collection of known articles written by dint of Ravel. These nineteen articles range in control matter from a discussion of "Nijinsky as Ballet-Master" to critical reviews of contemporary composer and friends Falla, Faure and Stravinsky. It may surprise a certain number of to hear Ravel roundly criticize like works as Brahms's Second consonance or Brahms's Second Piano Concerto. In another article, it is particularly interesting to appreciate Ravel's perspective in stating that his greatest teacher for compositional technique was "certainly Edgar Allan Poe"!

The fourth section of A Ravel Reader includes thirty fix uponed press interviews, which were published between 1911 and 1933 These interviews appeared in a variety of publications from the U Argentina, Austria, Great Britain, Denmark, Holland, France, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Ravel replys in a frank and make open manner to a wide array of questions upon many topics, including American composer Bolero and lucky piano concerti.

The nine appendixes provide additional fascinating glimpses into Ravel. These include like entries as a short selection of Ravel's clean edition of Mendelssohn's Piano Works, Ravel analyses of examples from his have works and a catalogue of his hold personal record collection.

Orenstein's contribution is a portentous resource for both amateurs and scholars alike. It provides the reader with an insight into Ravel, the man and the musician, directly from the composer's be in possession of words. Reviewed by David Northington, Knoxville, Tennessee

COPYRIGHT 2004 Music Teachers National Association, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group