Ravel

Here's a name I rarely see mentioned on YC. I don't exactly understand why. Yeah, he wrote some strange music that bordered on atonal and he was alot more uncompromising with his work than Debussy but I still find him a great composer. I particularly enjoy his Miriors. Anyway...

What are your thoughts/feelings on Ravel?

can you say... Boring saxophone music! Really. All of his saxophone quartets are not technically engaging. You might as well go to sleep in a bed instead of a chair listening to them. heh

Ravel is one of my favorite composers. His string quartet is probably my favorite quartet. I love Bolero, Daphnis et Chloe, Rhapsodie Espagnole etc. Everyone says it, but amazing amazing orcnhestral colors in those pieces. Been getting into Jeux d'eau lately too.

I haven't heard any of his sax quartets. Do you mean they're boring to play?

both boring to play and boring to listen. The sheets of music are basically white with horizontal lines on it.

I haven't heard any of his saxophone music to be perfectly honest. It doesn't really surprise me though. Just like Debussy, he worked best with solo piano...at least, in my opinion. Has anyone heard his Piano Concerto in G Major? That has to be one of the strangest pieces of music I've ever heard.

Some of Ravel's pieces were actually more tonal than other pieces that were being written during his lifetime. His works are very intricate, and many of them convey a sense of refinement. He's one of my favorite composers, but I think some of his more obscure works deserve more recognition.

He has a wonderful String Quartet

YouTube - Ravel: String Quartet (part 1)
YouTube - Ravel: String Quartet (part 2)
YouTube - Ravel: String Quartet (part 3)
YouTube - Ravel: String Quartet (part 4)

what the hell are you people going on about?

Ravel was not "atonal"... neither nearly so nor in any way so. There's nothing "strange" about his music. What the hell is "strange" about the piano concerto?

His music is tonal, tonal, tonal.
It's lush, rich, colourful.
He was one fo the most brilliant orchestrators of the century.

Daphnis et Chloe is pure musical magic from note one to the end.

And he didn't WRITE any "saxophone quartets". I have NO idea where the hell that came from. Someone may have made an arrangement for sax quartet of one of his pieces, but he himself did not write any.


My god, some people on this forum need to get out more!
If you don't know shi* about music, then don't COMMENT on music.

Originally Posted by maelstromtempest

can you say... Boring saxophone music! Really. All of his saxophone quartets are not technically engaging. You might as well go to sleep in a bed instead of a chair listening to them. heh

Yeah, Ravel needs to learn how to be more EMOTIONAL. I cry every time I play!!!!

For the record, Ravel and Debussy are 2 of the only things I like about France. Though I do prefer Debussy over Ravel, Ravel's string quartet and some of his other major works are definitely worth much praise.

Originally Posted by QcCowboy

what the hell are you people going on about?

Ravel was not "atonal"... neither nearly so nor in any way so. There's nothing "strange" about his music. What the hell is "strange" about the piano concerto?

His music is tonal, tonal, tonal.
It's lush, rich, colourful.
He was one fo the most brilliant orchestrators of the century.

Daphnis et Chloe is pure musical magic from note one to the end.

And he didn't WRITE any "saxophone quartets". I have NO idea where the hell that came from. Someone may have made an arrangement for sax quartet of one of his pieces, but he himself did not write any.


My god, some people on this forum need to get out more!
If you don't know shi* about music, then don't COMMENT on music.

For the "atonal" thing, I just meant that if Ravel's music did have tonal centers, he disguised it well. The beginning of Miriors No. 1 (Noctuelles) sounds heavily atonal to me or maybe just chroatmic.

The beginning of his piano concerto sounds bi-tonal but maybe it isn't, and if it's not, then I apologize for that false comment. I find the first movement of his piano concerto strange sounding and if you don't agree then that's okay since "strange" is subjective term, but I'd appreciate you not making implications that I'm musically retarded for not agreeing with you over a piece. If I made any comments about Ravel's music that can be proven wrong (like him being atonal and such) then I apologize. I never claimed to be an expert of music. After all, I am a *young* composer. I thought the goal of this site was to take learning composers out of ignorance and teach them. Not discouraging them from having an opinion on music at all because they don't know as muc as experienced composers.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you said what you said. I just feel like you said it a nicer way.