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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 101-125 of 157 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Brunswick 1939bmp 12-in. 1930 La valse, pt. 4 Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 1963bmp 12-in. 1930 La valse Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 1964½bmp 12-in. 1930 La valse Orchestre des concerts Lamoureux ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Brunswick 1965bmp 12-in. 1930 La valse Orchestra of Association des Lamoureaux, Paris ; Albert Wolff Orchestra composer  
Gramophone Cc709 12-in. 11/25/1921 Mother Goose suite Albert Coates ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] Orchestra composer  
Gramophone Cc710 12-in. 11/25/1921 Mother Goose suite Albert Coates ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] Orchestra composer  
Gramophone Cc1241 12-in. 4/25/1922 Mother Goose suite Albert Coates ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] Orchestra composer  
Gramophone Cc1242 12-in. 4/25/1922 Mother Goose suite Albert Coates ; Symphony Orchestra [Gramophone Co., 1920s] Orchestra composer  
Gramophone 0EA3923 10-in. 11/13/1936 Bolero Jack Hylton Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Gramophone 2EA1056 12-in. 7/7/1937 Nights at the ballet, no. 1, part 2 Walter Goehr Orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX52 12-in. 5/7/1927 La valse, 1re partie Philippe Gaubert ; Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire Orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX53 12-in. 5/7/1927 La valse, 2e partie Philippe Gaubert ; Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire Orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX54 12-in. between May 7 and September 2, 1927 La valse, 3e partie Philippe Gaubert ; Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire Orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX55 12-in. 5/7/1927 La valse, 4e partie Philippe Gaubert ; Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire Orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX455 12-in. 6/15/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX456 12-in. 6/15/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX457 12-in. 6/15/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX458 12-in. 6/15/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX468 12-in. 6/19/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX469 12-in. 6/19/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX470 12-in. 6/19/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX471 12-in. 6/19/1928 Quatuor en fa majeur Quatuor Capet String quartet composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX897 12-in. 3/6/1929 Introduction et scène 1 : Señor Torquemada, horloger de Tolède, 1re partie Jean Aubert ; Raoul Gilles ; Georges Truc Vocal duet (tenor and baritone), with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX898 12-in. 3/6/1929 Scène 19 : Mon oeil anxieux interroge Louis Arnoult ; Hector Dufranne ; Georges Truc Vocal duet (tenor and bass), with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLX899 12-in. 3/6/1929 Scènes 6 et 7 : Maintenant, pas de temps à perdre Louis Arnoult ; Hector Dufranne ; Jeanne Krieger ; Georges Truc Vocal trio with orchestra composer  
(Results 101-125 of 157 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Ravel, Maurice," accessed March 28, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102534.

Ravel, Maurice. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102534.

"Ravel, Maurice." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 28 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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