RAVEL, MAURICE (1875-1937), French musical corn poser, was born at Ciboure, near St. Jean de Luz, Basses Pyrenees, March 7, 1875. He was the most outstanding figure in modern French music. More than that, he held an assured place in that line of composers beginning with the clavecinistes of the I7th* century, who had so powerful an influence on French instru mental music. Educated at the Paris Conservatoire, where his master in composition was Gabriel Faure, Ravel won the second Prix de Rome for composition in 1901. But he was not awarded the Grand Prix de Rome, and the judges were severely criti cised for thus refusing to recognise his talent; the resignation of Dubois from the directorship of the Conservatoire was in fact attributed to this cause. When Ravel's piano pieces began to be known, notably Pavane pour une Infante Defunte and Jeux d'eau, played in Paris by Ricardo Vines in 1902, a comparison was made between him and Debussy, whose Pelleas et Melisande (Opera Comique, 1902) was then arousing heated controversy.
It is true that such diverse minds as Faure, Chabrier, and Erik Satie exercised an influence on Ravel during his formative years, but his personality showed itself from the first. This personality became more clearly defined in his subsequent works, which included the string quartet in F, the three Scheherazade melodies for voice and orchestra or piano (both 1904) ; the Histoires Naturelles (19o7); Introduction and Allegro (septet for harp, strings, flute and clarinet) and the Rapsodie Espagnole for orchestra (1907). For the piano he wrote Miroirs and Sonatine
(1905); Gaspard de la nuit (3 pieces) (1909); Ma Mere l'Oye (suite of five pieces) (1908) ; and Valses nobles et sentimentales (19I I). The last two of these are best known in England as orchestrated by the composer.
However daring Ravel's harmony may appear, he was never experimental. He had an unerring sense of direction and knew where he was going, even if he sometimes seemed to watch himself going there with a smile of amusement. The cynical wit of his one-act opera, L'heure Espagnole (Opera-Comique, 1911) and the conscious pose of the ballet Daphnis et Chloe (choreography by Fokine and produced by Diaghilev, 1912), emphasize in dif ferent ways the detached attitude of Ravel towards his art. His later works include a sonata for violin and violoncello, and a trio for piano and strings (1915) ; La Valse for orchestra (1920) and Tzigane, for violin and piano (H. C. C.) See Roland Manuel, Maurice Ravel et sou oeuvre (1914) and L'oeuvre de Maurice Ravel (1921) ; A. Coeuray, La musique francaise modern (1922) ; G. Dyson, The New Mosic (1924) ; C. Gray, A Survey of Contemporary Music (1925).