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Topic: Where to learn more about Maurice Ravel  (Read 909 times)

Offline leekyglacies

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Where to learn more about Maurice Ravel
on: March 03, 2021, 11:10:19 PM
Hey all 👋,

I"ve been interested in Ravels music for a while now, especially his la valse, gaspard de la nuit and mirroirs. Looking to learn more about him as a person and music theory about him, why he is a neo-classical,... However, nowhere I am able to find trustworthy information. Have you got an idea where to find any of this information about him? Books, articles, documentaries.

Offline anacrusis

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Re: Where to learn more about Maurice Ravel
Reply #1 on: March 03, 2021, 11:32:06 PM
I found Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel by Roberts an interesting read that gave me much interesting information on the composer and his works.

If you analyse his pieces harmonically, you can see that he has firm roots in basic harmonic functions, on top of which he branches out with more interesting colorings, mediants, and modal harmonies than his predecessors. He has some things in common with Debussy in this regard, while at the same time being radically different, and dare I say more advanced and refined than Debussy in this sense, as he anchors much more of his harmony in tradition than Debussy.

Offline leekyglacies

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Re: Where to learn more about Maurice Ravel
Reply #2 on: March 04, 2021, 09:05:01 AM
I found Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel by Roberts an interesting read that gave me much interesting information on the composer and his works.

If you analyse his pieces harmonically, you can see that he has firm roots in basic harmonic functions, on top of which he branches out with more interesting colorings, mediants, and modal harmonies than his predecessors. He has some things in common with Debussy in this regard, while at the same time being radically different, and dare I say more advanced and refined than Debussy in this sense, as he anchors much more of his harmony in tradition than Debussy.
Hello anacrusis,

Thank you for your response! Did you analyze his pieces yourself? I would like to be able to analyze Ravel but also Scriabin and others. However my music theory knowledge doesn't reach far enough to do that yet. Do you have any articles or books to recommend to guide me? Or would you say that I've got to get a very good understanding of music theory first?

Greetings,
Leeky

Offline anacrusis

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Re: Where to learn more about Maurice Ravel
Reply #3 on: March 04, 2021, 04:35:34 PM
I don't have good tips for music theory books unfortunately, I learned on the go over many years. Late Scriabin won't be possible to analyze in a traditional sense, as he invented his own system to build his music from during the early 1900's. (However, I have found analyses on the internet on how that style works. Look up Scriabin and his "Mystic chord" for starters).

For Ravel, it depends in how much detail you want to analyze the music. You could start with just doing basic chord analysis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_letters), and see which chords he is using to construct the music. For more analysis, you need to know some harmony, for example this kind of stuff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_(music) and counterpoint which offers a lot more insight into how the composer constructed the music from the chords.
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