Joseph Maurice Ravel

Joseph Maurice Ravel (1875–1937) was a major French composer who, alongside Debussy, helped shape the new musical language of the modern era, particularly in France. Although often associated with Impressionism, he also valued classical formal clarity and meticulous craftsmanship, pursuing transparent sonorities, refined harmony, and richly colored orchestration. He drew inspiration from Spanish music and jazz, among other sources, and wrote such works as Boléro, Daphnis et Chloé, and Pavane pour une infante défunte. In his piano music, the fusion of formidable technique and poetic expression is especially evident in Gaspard de la nuit. His distinctive sound world can also be heard in the two-piano version of Boléro, the Second Suite from Daphnis et Chloé, Frontispice, and the skillfully stylized pieces À la manière de ….