To commemorate this milestone, I
will dedicate three posts to reviewing the recently released collection of
Ravel’s complete piano works, presented on three discs by the Danacord label.
Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) was a French composer renowned for his precision, innovation, and mastery of orchestration. Born on 7 March 1875 in Ciboure, France, to a Swiss father and Basque mother, Ravel's upbringing was steeped in cultural richness. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his modernist tendencies clashed with the institution's conservative ethos. Despite this, he developed a distinctive style blending clarity, baroque influences, neoclassicism, and jazz.
Ravel's works include the
hypnotic Boléro (1928), the evocative Daphnis et Chloé (1912), and the
virtuosic piano suite Gaspard de la nuit (1908). His orchestration of
Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition remains iconic. A meticulous craftsman,
Ravel composed fewer works than his contemporaries but left an indelible mark
on music. His fascination with Spanish culture and exotic sounds often colored
his compositions. Though sometimes labeled an Impressionist, Ravel's music
defies strict categorization, embodying elegance, and innovation.
A new survey of Maurice Ravel’s piano music is always welcome. When the plan is to record everything that the composer wrote for the instrument that is extant, it is even more of a significant event. This is a major “first.” And when it is performed by Danacord’s superstar pianist Oleg Marshev it is simply perfect.
What is the added value of this present disc? Firstly, the programme is chronological. This allows for an informed and progressive appreciation of Ravel’s development as a composer. And secondly, there are several pieces that rarely make it onto surveys of his piano music. The cases in point here are La Parade, the Menuet in C sharp minor and the Fugue in F major.
The first novelty is Le Parade (1896). This was devised for Antonine Meunier of the Paris Opera to accompany her interpretive dancing. Le Parade features several dances, including two marches, two waltzes and a mazurka. It was composed under the pseudonym “Jacques Dream” and remained unpublished until 2008. Certainly, no masterwork, it retains interest simply because it is by Ravel. That said, I enjoyed it, and I recognise that it is an essential part of any “complete” survey of his music.
Menuet in C sharp minor dates from 1904. Ravel wrote it on the back of a composition exercise by his pupil Maurice Delage (1879-1961). It is unknown whether this was created for the student’s benefit or for his own amusement. Whatever the genesis, this is a gorgeous miniature that deserves to be better known. It lasts just over a minute but is full of beauty and charm. It is not a fragment, but a well-constructed piece complete with a climax and an ideal equilibrium of harmony and melody.
The Fugue in F major is a rarity indeed. Along with several others (possibly now lost) it was composed as part of Ravel’s “serial and unsuccessful attempts” to win the Prix de Rome between 1900 and 1905. The holograph is written on four staves, reflecting the practice of Bach in his Art of the Fugue. Oleg Marshev has arranged this for two hands at the keyboard. It is a wonderful fugue that has no whiff of the pedantic about it, even if it is not typically Ravelian in style.
The CD opens with the earliest surviving piano piece. The Sérénade Grotesque was completed around 1893. It combines hints of the “fantastic irony” of the composer’s future style (such as Scarbo from the Gaspard de la nuit) and nods to the past, with echoes of Chabrier’s Bourrée fantasque.
The Menuet Antique foreshadows Ravel’s true genius. Once again Emanuel Chabrier was the inspiration. It is a beautifully organized pastiche, where the composer plays with the “antique” minuet form. That said, there are some wonderful contemporary harmonic touches.
Little need be said about the ever-popular Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899), save that this is not programme music. It is not an elegy for an unnamed member of Spanish royalty. Ravel once said that he “simply liked the sound of these words and I put them there, c’est tout.” On the other hand, there is a heart-breaking wistfulness about the grave and stately progress of the dance.
Some listeners may imagine that the ultra-impressionistic Jeux d’eau (1901) was influenced by Claude Debussy. In fact, it was the other way round. Ravel in turn, was likely to have been inspired by Franz Liszt’s ‘Les Jeux d’eaux à la Villa d'Este’ from the Troisième année of the Années de pèlerinage (1877).
The composer wrote, “In Jeux d’eau
can be found the origins of all the pianistic innovations that people notice in
my works. The piece was inspired by the sound of water, of fountains, waterfalls,
and streams. It is built on the two motives of a sonata form movement, without,
however, conforming to the classical scheme of tonality.” Despite this loosely
classical formal scheme, the overall impression to the listener is of
‘cascading arpeggios.’ Marshev gives a delightfully imaginative performance of
this ultimate in “water music.” It was dedicated to Ravel’s teacher Gabriel
Fauré.
Miroirs marks the composer’s “establishment of [his]…firmness of style and pianism.” Here, he refines his pianistic technique to perfection. It is a major contribution to the literature of the piano. The opening movement, Noctuelles, conjures the fluttering of moths at night-time. Oiseaux Tristes muses on birds, who the composer described as “lost in the torpor of a very dark forest, during the hottest hours of summertime.” The best-known movement is Une Barque sur l’océan which gives an impression of a very blue Mediterranean, with just a hint of a breeze stirring up wavelets. Spain is visited next with Alborada del gracioso – the Dawn Song of the Clown. Here Ravel introduces all the panoply of the Iberian Peninsula: “twanging guitars and clacking castanets, all conspiring in typical rhythms” complete with double glissandi and repeated notes. It is the most technically challenging of the set. The final movement, La Vallée des cloches evokes bells heard in the distance. It is a study of deeply felt piano sonorities. The composer once stated that the closing chords echoed “the sound of the big bell in the Basilica of Montmartre in Paris.” Each movement was dedicated to a fellow member of Les Apaches, who were a group of avant-garde musicians, writers, and artists. Oleg Marshev provides a sensitive, but commanding, performance which captures the magic from the first to the last page. At all times, the mood and atmosphere are well judged and balanced.
As always with Danacord, the recording is impressive. The liner notes prepared by Peter Quantrill are excellent. They give a good account of each piece and provide a contextualisation of the music with Ravel’s life and times.
Track Listing:Maurice RAVEL (1875-1937)
Sérénade Grotesque (c.1893)
Menuet Antique (1895)
La Parade (1896)
Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899)
Jeux d’eau (1901)
Menuet in C sharp minor (1904)
Miroirs (1904-5)
Fugue in F major (1900)
Oleg Marshev (piano)
rec. July 2021 Cultural Institute, Milan
DANACORD DACOCD 903
With thanks to MusicWeb International, where this review was first published.