Maurice ravel (1875 March 7th-1937 65438+February 28th), born in the small town of Sibun in the Pyrenees, is one of the most outstanding representatives of French famous composers and impressionist composers.

Maurice ravel pursues the freedom to express his musical thoughts, but at the same time, he almost always stays within the framework of classical forms and strict artistic rules, and always keeps a firm connection with classical traditions.

Chinese name: maurice ravel.

Maurice ravel

Nationality: France

Date of birth: 1875 March 7th.

Date of death:1937 65438+February 28th.

Occupation: composer

Representative works: Daphne and Croix, Mother Goose, Tzgang, Bolero Dance, Water Play.

Personal experience

Maurice ravel was born on March 7th, 1985 in 1875 in an engineer's family in Ciboure, a mountain town near Spain in the south of France. His mother is of Basque descent, and his family moved to Paris shortly after Ravel was born.

Ravel was exposed to music since childhood: he began to learn piano at the age of seven and entered the Paris Conservatory of Music at the age of fourteen (1889).

Like Debussy, Ravel has a tendency to pursue unconventional creative ideas and unusual new acoustics in the university environment of his youth, and his spiritual temperament is also deeply influenced by symbolic poets such as Malamei. But even so, the obsession with modernism did not lead Ravel into a dead end. On the contrary, people think that Ravel is good at finding an open door to a beautiful new field at the end of a dead end. In other words, in the struggle to liberate French music from Wagner's "hegemony", Debussy was the first to attack, and Ravel was his young comrade-in-arms.

Ravel's early works were strongly influenced by Debussy's innovative ideas, and his works reflected Impressionism and the thoughts at the end of the century. But in his mature period, especially after the First World War, his creation was more rigorous and simple. Due to the strong influence of Chabri and Sadie, his passion for French classical piano music, Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration and Liszt's piano writing, Ravel turned to pursue a clearer musical language. Therefore, he resolutely abandoned the ideal of Impressionism, returned to the more ancient and pure French music tradition, kept closer contact with national folk music, especially Spanish folk music, and formed the so-called "French neoclassical music school", which enriched French music at that time with some original chord vocabulary, orchestral timbre, theme and image, and boldly introduced jazz factors.

Ravel's band can often see the broad melody as an important pillar of the music structure of the whole work, and his band color is much more certain and more brilliant.

The rhythm of Ravel's music is mostly inseparable from the beat. In Stravinsky's words, he is as accurate as a "Swiss watchmaker". In addition, Ravel's works are more tonal, although his exquisite and bold transposition is sometimes as close to out of tune as Debussy's. However, some people think that although some of Ravel's techniques look like Debussy on the surface, his creative tendency is closer to Stravinsky, Mi Yue and Sadie, and his later works run counter to Debussy.

Ravel's creation was not immediately recognized by the public. During the period of 190 1- 1903, he participated in three Rome Grand Prix competitions and lost unexpectedly again and again. Due to the sectarianism of the selection committee, his fourth application to participate in the 1905 competition was rejected. To this end, the art and publishing circles in Paris at that time expressed great indignation. Some composers, writers, painters and ordinary music lovers came forward to support it, and finally forced the Conservatory of Music to reorganize. Frye, who has always appreciated and supported Ravel most, became the dean. At this time, Ravel has actually become a winner in the music industry, and his reputation is growing.

In fact, in 1905, Ravel has created many well-known works, including the piano piece Pavan Dance for the Late Little Princess (1899) and the string quartet in F major (1902-1999). His piano piece The Game of Water (or translated Fountain) created in 190 1 is undoubtedly the first masterpiece depicting "water" by using neo-impressionism's piano technique, which occupies a very important position in the history of modern piano music, but it appeared two years earlier than Garden in the Rain in the famous print collection of western countries. From then until 19 14, ravel's famous works include orchestral rhapsody in Spain (1907), piano duet goose (1908), luxurious and passionate waltzes and ballet Daphne and Chloe (/kloc).

His piano trio composed in 19 15 and his piano suite "Mourning Coubertin" conceived during the war and completed after leaving the army are generally regarded as the author's most affectionate masterpieces. After the war, his creations mainly included the dance waltz (1920), the concert rhapsody tzigang (1924), the exquisite and exotic collection of Madagascar songs (1926) and an orchestral Bole, which was regarded as the most precious contemporary music. His last works are two piano concertos written in 193 1

Ravel is a famous teacher. Among his few private students, there are A. Roland-Manuel (189 1- 1966) and R.VaughanWilliams (1872-), a famous British composer. In the early 1930s, Ravel suffered from a severe brain tumor and could hardly write. He only wrote three songs for the film Don Quixote in 1934, but died in Paris after the operation in 1937.

He began to learn piano at the age of seven and made rapid progress. Fourteen-year-old, admitted to the piano preparatory course of Paris Conservatory of Music. Two years later, he was promoted to a piano class in Beriau and studied harmony with Peisar. In class, I met Ricardo Yiqi Yao, a Spanish student his age. He deeply admired Yiqi Yao's excellent piano playing skills and tried to catch up with them. However, because he is often dominated by lazy emotions, his enthusiasm failed to achieve the expected results. From then on, Yiqi Yao became his lifelong friend, always playing his new works enthusiastically. At this time, Ravel was very enthusiastic about composing music. His first two piano pieces "minuets in ancient style" and the first "Habanella" (1895) have already shown his personality. 1897, he went to Gaidar Japanese School and asked Foley to learn composition.

Shortly after entering the Conservatory of Music, Ravel was influenced by symbolic poetry and loved Baudelaire Malamei's poems and Poe's works. Rimsky Kosakov's wonderful orchestral works and the oriental music played by the Javanese Camerland Band at the international exposition held in Paris from 65438 to 0889 deeply attracted this 14, 15-year-old conservatory student. Later, I came into contact with the color harmony of French composer Chabrill and Eric Saadi's novel and grotesque music thoughts and music creation. In his own works, he also began to explore some new musical languages and expressions, which made him "have a bad reputation" in the conservative conservatory of music. Peisar is a good teacher. He always encourages students' creativity. Foley also fully realized Ravel's extraordinary creative talent. Even these two enlightened teachers think that his musical ideas are too presumptuous and his harmony techniques are too novel.

Ravel always tirelessly participates in the annual competition held by the Conservatory of Music. 190 1 year, he decided to take part in the Rome prize competition. The Rome Prize was established by the French government to reward outstanding talents in the fields of painting, sculpture, printmaking, architecture and music. After passing the exam, the winner of the Rome Prize can go to the Medici Manor in Rome for further study for three years. Since 1803 established the Music Award, Berlioz, Cournot, Bicai, Debussy and other musicians have enjoyed this kind of treatment. But in this year's competition, Ravel only won the second place. Convinced that he could win the grand prize, Mr. Welfare suggested that he try again the next year. Surprisingly, he failed again the next year. When 1903 lost again, Foley was shocked, and it was useless to protest with several other famous musicians who were convinced of Ravel's talent. By 1905, Ravel almost exceeded the age limit for the participants of the Rome Prize and decided to try again. At this time, he has published such works as "minuet in ancient style", "Pafan Dance in memory of the dead princess" and "Playing in the water".

During the years when he won the Rome Prize, he composed string quartets and sonatas in F major, and he has become a famous young composer in China and even Europe. However, he missed out on Sun Shan again and was eliminated in the primary election. To this end, progressive musicians all over France expressed their opposition, and newspapers and intellectuals were unable to speak for him. Romain rolland wrote, "I am not a friend of Ravel. I can even say that I personally don't like Ravel's elusive and elaborate art. But justice drives me to say that Ravel is not only a promising student, but also one of the most outstanding young masters in China Conservatory of Music. Ravel entered the competition not as a student, but as a composer whose identity has been determined. I admire those composers who dare to evaluate him. Who will judge them? " This incident triggered a social storm, forcing Theol Dubois, dean of the Conservatory of Music, to resign and be replaced by Foley.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the artistic life in Paris was very active, and there were many young artists in Montmartre and La Chateau who were dissatisfied with reality. Ravel also made friends with a group of artists who opposed the conservative forces of art and pursued novelty. They call themselves "Troublemakers Association", and its members include composers Floren Schmidt, Maurice Deraze, Andrei Kaplet, Calvo Corisi, Spanish composer De Fa Ya, pianist Ricardo Yiqi Yao and later Stravinsky, as well as some painters, writers and critics. They often have long and serious discussions on art, music, literature and politics in the studio of painter Salder. They play the piano and make noise all night, which makes their neighbors restless. Soon they move to a secluded Deraze home for a party. Ravel's piano suite Mirror is dedicated to the members of this association. 1908, his Spanish Rhapsody premiered at a concert, and all the troublemakers came out to cheer for it, for fear that the work would not be treated fairly. In fact, Ravel's views are far less intense than those of other members of this association. He is always gentle and gentle, and is called "Baudelaire's dude."

Debussy's opera Pereas and Meiyu Sander was staged in Paris on 1902, which deeply touched Ravel. At this time, the two composers met for the first time. 1903, ravel wrote three songs with orchestral music, and we can see Debussy's influence on him. Some critics think that he is Debussy's faithful successor. Indeed, they accepted the influence of similar literary thoughts and pursued colorful musical effects. But judging from the development after Ravel, their aesthetic views are not consistent. Ravel even protested that his Water Wedding was influenced by Debussy. His main creative period was after 1905, and he composed the suite Goose, Ghost of the Night, Some Songs and the comedy opera Spanish Time. From 65438 to 0909, the Russian ballet swept through Paris, leaving a deep impression on Ravel. He immediately handed over the job to the manager, Dia Gilev, and undertook the task of writing a ballet based on the Greek mythology Daphne and Chloe. In order to write this exquisite music score, he spent amazing efforts, and wrote it for a year at the last Dionysian banquet alone. The next work "Waltz of Elegance and Sadness" was not well premiered, but at the request of the dancer Trucha Nova, it was made into a ballet "Adelaide or the Language of Flowers" similar to La Traviata, which was a sensation. This success prompted him to adapt the "Mother Goose" suite with the story of sleeping beauty as the theme, and also made it into a ballet.

The first world war also affected the musician. He joined the army as a truck driver in the army. The war was a terrible experience for him, and he gradually hated the murderous imperialism. He felt that it was meaningless to involve the people of Germany and France in the war, so he refused to sign up for an organization aimed at preventing France from playing German music, regardless of public criticism. 19 17 His mother's death plunged him into severe depression and his health deteriorated sharply. He retired this summer.

Personal life

My father is a French engineer of Swiss descent. He once applied for railway construction in Spain, where he met a girl from the Basque country of Spain, Mary Draut, and married her. Little Ravel was born only a few months ago, and his family moved to Paris. Three years later, I added my brother Edward. My father loves music and wants to train his two sons to be musicians. As a result, only Morris embarked on this road.

He was injured in a car accident. Soon, signs of hemiplegia appeared. I tried to take a vacation and travel to Spain and Milo, but I still didn't get better, and I lost my ability to work. 1937 12 19 died in the hospital in the early morning of 28th. At the age of 62.

Main work

Maurice ravel's masterpieces include the opera Daphne and Croix, the ballet The Goose, the violin Tzgang and the orchestra Bolero. In addition, he adapted Musorgskiy's piano solo "Photo Exhibition" into an orchestra suite with the same name, which made it widely circulated.

Polero

1928, Spanish ballet dancer Ida Rubinstein invited ravel (1875-1937) to write a dance music for her. At first, Ravel didn't want to create new works for this purpose, but promised to arrange several piano pieces by Spanish composer Albeni (1860- 1909) for orchestra. Later, Ravel knew that the orchestration right of Albeni's works belonged to Fernandez Albos (1863- 1939), and he had adapted Albeni's works into an Argentine dance suite, so Ravel had to create a new orchestra. He has an idea of orchestration in his mind, and he wants to write this work as a band etude. The whole song is a huge "gradual strengthening". Under the background of the endless three-beat rhythm of the snare drum, two melodies of 17 bar played by various musical instruments are repeated constantly. Before playing the conclusion with overwhelming force, the music suddenly slipped into e major (melody major), which caused a unique effect that was completely disproportionate to the simple technique.

Ravel's masterpiece is the famous Bolero. Bolero was directed by Neri Kinska and premiered in Paris on1October 22nd, 1928 165438. The scene is in a smoky Spanish hotel. Rubinstein is dressed as gypsy woman, with a comb on his head and a scarf, standing on the table and dancing. The audience cheers around her. The more and more popular dance aroused the more and more fanatical emotions of onlookers. Finally, they arrested her and held her above her head. Bolero's performance in Paris attracted the attention of many dancers and choreographers. Irish dancer Doreen (1904-) has always regarded it as her solo program and has been performing for many years. Bolero, performed by Russian dancer Lifar (1905- 1986), is still regarded as a Spanish theme, but it avoids the traditional Spanish dance. Because Ravel's music with fixed melody and rhythm has little in common with the real Bolero. Its stage design and setting are white arcades and blood-red sky. Lifar disguised himself as a bullfighter and just got back from the bullring, teasing a woman who admired him with funny gestures. His enemy appeared in front of him and took the woman away. The matador was so disappointed that he fell to the ground and was seriously injured. The people who celebrated the festival continued their carnival as if nothing had happened. The stage was gradually crowded with people, and the band's final "gradual strength" was accompanied by the death of the matador.

Children's Suite Mother Goose

The French composer Ravel's "Goose" suite was originally a piano suite with four hands playing, and it is a veritable children's suite-a suite with children as the theme, created for children and played by children. Children's themes are adopted-the contents are drawn from French writers Bello (1628- 1703), Madame Hornois (about 1650- 1705) and Madame Beaumont (17/kloc-0). Creation for children-This suite was created by Ravel in 1909 for two children of his good friend Goldberg, and this work is dedicated to them; For children to play-19 10 In April, when this suite was first played at the concert of the Paris Independent Music Association, six-year-old Wedge and ten-year-old Lamy played the piano with four hands. As an authentic children's suite, Mother Goose seems to be composed by only one composer who is not a child. But Ravel told us: "I wrote this suite to arouse the poetry of my childhood, so the technique must be simple and all superficial effects must be abandoned." It can be seen that composers also create with a childlike innocence. 19 1 1 year, ravel adapted mother goose into an orchestra suite, and later added two movements, changed the order of the movements, and connected them with interludes to become ballet music. This ballet was written by Ravel based on Bello's story about Mother Goose and choreographed by Jenny Hugard. It premiered in Paris on June 19 12. This is an interesting children's dance drama. Ravel specially designed a small stage to perform the fairy tale of Princess Luo Lina's dream, which was very delicate and childish. Two black children wearing yellow headscarves acted as curtain raisers and changed the scene. This story is based on sleeping beauty, a kind of rotating dance.

The princess is dancing in the garden, and her nanny is sitting by the spinning wheel. The princess fell on the spinning wheel and the spindle stung her waist. When she was possessed by the sandman and fell asleep on the couch, court officials danced the Simone Pavan dance of Sleeping Beauty in the forest around her. Then came a series of dreams: with the slow little waltz, the dialogue between beauty and beast began, and later the beast became a beautiful prince. Two black children changed channels to the music of an episode. The next dream is Littlefinger (Shorty) and his little brothers walking through the Woods, scattering bread crumbs all the way as a guide sign to go home. But when the children were asleep, the birds ate all the crumbs on the road. The following scene is a palace decorated with18th century China antiques. The Queen of Pagoda (ugly girl) is with her lover, Green Snake. The jingle and gong of the pentatonic scale are accompanied by dances full of oriental flavor. The prince appeared and found Princess Luo Lina sleeping in the fairy's garden. He kissed her and the princess woke up. When the ballet "Goose" is performed in Britain and the United States, two movements and interludes written by Ravel for ballet dance music are often deleted, which are completely in accordance with the layout of the five movements of the suite "Goose": Simone Pavan Dance-Magic Garden-Little Finger-Sleeping Princess-Beauty and the Beast. It's an adventure in a little girl's dream, and every action takes her as the protagonist.

The clown's morning song

The morning song of the clown was written on 1905. Originally, it was one of the piano suites "Mirror", which was arranged by the author as an orchestra in 19 18. Morning song refers to a kind of poetic style with songs as its words, describing the scene of a young man in love saying goodbye to his lover at dawn. Simone Pavan Dance in Memory of the Dead Princess written by 1899 was originally a piano piece, and 19 12 was adapted as a orchestral piece. This is the dance music used in the mourning ceremony of the Spanish court, which can make people imagine the sad atmosphere when a princess dies.

According to Ravel himself, he chose this song only because he liked the pronunciation of the name, and it didn't really show some sadness. This is Reina's first-class interpretation. Rhapsody in Spain contains a strong fragrance and breath. Morning Song of the Clown is a mixture of lovers' farewell and sadness, which enables people to capture the beauty of hearing like Lai Na. It was recorded 30 years ago, but the sound effect is still first-class. This edition of CD was rated as a three-star business card with flowers by Penguin Record Guide.

Left-handed piano concerto

Kolar piano

Ma Zeer conducts the French National Symphony Orchestra.

Introduction: The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand was written by the Austrian pianist Wittgenstein who was specially appointed by Ravel as a one-armed pianist. This concerto has the effect of jazz. The whole song has only one coherent single movement, which is divided into three balanced paragraphs. The first part is the presentation of the theme, and the piano solo has thunderous cadenza. The second part is the jazz expression of the opening theme. The third part is the climax paragraph, which ends with the theme of Allegro after emphasizing the glory of the piano. This version of kolar has excellent recording, transparent orchestral music and gorgeous and bright piano timbre, and Ma Zeer's conductor is also quite keen. This edition of CD was rated as a three-star business card with flowers by Penguin Record Guide.

Orchestral music: Spanish rhapsody, bolero and waltz.

Dance drama: Daphne and Chloe

Opera: Spanish moment, children and magic

Chamber Music: Introduction and Allegro, String Quartet in F Major, Piano, Violin and Cello Trio, Violin and Cello Sonata.

Piano: playing in water (fountain), mother goose suite, mirror, Pavan dance in memory of the princess, ancient minuet.

Concerto: left-handed piano concerto and piano concerto in G major.

Voice and piano: a history of nature (two Hebrew songs)

Personality assessment

Early impressionist music was keen on the contrast between light and shade, the mysterious game of light and shadow, and intoxicated with lengthy impressions; As an impressionist musician, Ravel greatly developed the expressive force of impressionist music. He likes to spray colorful and dazzling artificial fireworks and poetic loud voice. He is not only a master of music form, but also gives music rich colors. In addition, he strictly abides by the precepts of Vienna Classical Music School, and creatively uses these traditional precepts to form his own unique musical language and work form. As for the description of music, he advocates not paying attention to the exterior of things, but to the essence and rich colors of things, and thinks that real poetry can't be a long speech, but a real feeling.