| French composer, highly influential in
20th-century music. Ravel was born in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées.
Because of the tonal color, harmonies, mood, and extramusical associations
of much of his music, he is often associated with French impressionistic
composer Claude Debussy. Unlike Debussy, however, he was strongly
attracted to abstract, logical musical structures. Ravel's impressionistic
leanings are uppermost in the demanding piano suites Miroirs (1905) and
Gaspard de la nuit (1908) and in the Rhapsodie espagnole, for orchestra
(1908). He was also gifted at evoking past eras in his works. Ravel's
last major work was the Piano Concerto in D, for the left hand (1931),
written for Viennese pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his
right arm in World War I (1914-1918). |