Aftershock
Donald Macleod drops five pins on the map of Ravel鈥檚 life story. Today, Ravel goes off to war on the western front and comes home to further tragedy.
Donald Macleod reveals how the experience of war turned Ravel鈥檚 orderly life upside down
Maurice Ravel is one of France鈥檚 most enigmatic, original and beloved composers. While less prolific than some of his contemporaries, Ravel was a master of detail - his works are elegant and exquisitely crafted, and precision was a guiding force in both his creativity and personality. He is often linked with impressionism for his painterly approach to orchestration and vivid sound worlds of his piano writing, but his distinctive voice bears influences from the baroque, to the exotic, to jazz. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod drops five pins on the map of Ravel鈥檚 life story, discovering the places that were important to him and what they reveal about his character.
Today 鈥� not a place, but rather the lack of one 鈥� Donald charts Ravel鈥檚 years of homelessness and disorientation during the First World War and its aftermath. His harrowing experiences as a truck driver in Verdun left an indelible mark on him, physically and psychologically. But the biggest blow of his life was yet to come, away from the battlefield - and it would take four years to put down new roots and regain his musical voice.
Valses nobles et sentimentales, or Ad茅la茂de (I. Mod茅r茅 鈥� tres franc)
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa, conductor
Trois beaux oiseaux
Monteverdi Choir
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
Deux m茅lodies h茅bra茂ques (I. Kaddisch)
Mischa Maisky, cello
Daria Hovora, piano
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Steven Osborne, piano
La Valse
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
Yannick Nezet-S茅guin, conductor
Produced in Cardiff by Amelia Parker
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Maurice Ravel
Valses nobles et sentimentales, or Ad茅la茂de (I. Mod茅r茅 - tres franc)
Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Seiji Ozawa.- DG E4696282.
- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
- 9.
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Maurice Ravel
Trois beaux oiseaux
Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- Philips 4381492.
- Philips.
- 16.
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Maurice Ravel
Deux m茅lodies h茅bra茂ques (I. Kaddisch)
Performer: Mischa Maisky. Performer: Daria Hovora.- DG : E4576572.
- DG.
- 6.
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Maurice Ravel
Le Tombeau de Couperin
Performer: Steven Osborne.- HYPERION : CDA-67732.
- HYPERION.
- 13.
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Maurice Ravel
La valse
Orchestra: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.- EMI : 9-66342 2 6.
- EMI.
- 12.
Broadcast
- Wed 24 Mar 2021 12:00麻豆约拍 Radio 3
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