Ravel: Man and Musician

by Arbie Orenstein

The standard Ravel biography by the world's foremost authority â brilliantly detailed and documented, filled with quotations from letters, interviews with the composer's friends, an illuminating analysis of each of his works, a study of his musical esthetics and language, a complete catalog of his works, and a discography. "Highly recommended" â Choice. Includes 48 illustrations.

Genres: Music, Biography

291 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1975

Reviews

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite bio on Ravel thus far. Paints a very fair, balanced, yet compelling picture of the composer, and is delightfully free of pretentious prose or personal opinion.

All around very solid. Includes a really useful middle section that analyzes Ravel's pieces while pointing out noteworthy elements, as well as a section that describes his compositional techniques.

Not the greatest biography you'll ever read, but still engaging, and it acts as wonderful toolbox of information to utilize.

4.5 stars out of 5

[Allegro Con Brio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small but mighty: an authoritative biography of Maurice Ravel
As the title suggests, the book is divided into two parts: Ravel's life and his music

In the biography section, Orenstein builds a picture of Maurice Ravel using various sources: correspondences, diaries, early biographies and even interviews with other musicians, giving the reader a way to visualize his life and interactions. His biography focuses heavily on the production and reception of Ravel's works, since Ravel kept his inner life personal. However, given that the book is old (written in 1971), there may be more recent developments in the research of Ravel

The second part discusses the music of Ravel. Here, Orenstein discusses in detail how Ravel. A thing that set this book apart from other music biography is its analysis of every single work of Ravel. I have not read every analysis in detail, but I am amazed at the level of detail and insight it offers while not being too technical. What is confusing to me is the score annotation, displayed as a/b/c (example:6/2/2-6/3/3 in Le Tombeau de Couperin, I. Prelude) In the last chapter of the book, Orenstein discusses the creative process of Ravel. Ravel overall aim is perfection and precision, and his sketches along with his limited output is proof of that.

[Thomas R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maurice Ravel is one of the earliest classical composers that I love. In college I wrote a paper on Ravel and one of the books that I used for the paper is this one by Orenstein. Rollo Myers also wrote another good biography of Ravel that I hope to read this year. Orenstein's bio of Ravel is basically in two sections. The first is the basic facts relating to Ravel: birth, influences, friends, circles, competitions, etcetera all in a historical timeline. The second part is a detailed look at all of Ravel's compositions also in a historical timeline - indeed he did a lot more than Bolero. I hope you like Ravel's music too so that you check out more of his compositions, and a book like Orenstein's on Ravel could tell you a lot more about the beautiful music you could hear.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second biography of Ravel that I have read. It is a thorough analysis of his works and times but rarely gets personal and it expands our knowledge of the composer via his letters. Overall satisfying but missing some personal warmth especially his time in his retreat "Belvedere" where he spent his final years and which reflected the place (refuge) where he could be himself. Worth while but just a tad dry.

[Jordan Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect starting point for reading about Ravel. Provides a concise yet detailed overview of his life, and a full catalogue of works with commentary. The writing style is mostly free of opinions and speculation (never once does the oft-discussed topic of Ravel's possible sexuality come into play) and is written in a factual, effective style. If you're interested in Ravel, but don't know where to start, this is the book.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading, I wish I had paid more attention to learning music theory. So much music analysis!

But a still very, very enjoyable read.