Overview

This new biography of Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), by one of the leading scholars of nineteenth- and twentieth-century French music, is based on a wealth of written and oral evidence, some newly translated and some derived from interviews with the composer’s friends and associates. As well as describing the circumstances in which Ravel composed, the book explores new evidence to present radical views of the composer’s background and upbringing, his notorious failure in the Prix de Rome, his incisive and often combative character, his sexual preferences, and his long final illness. It also contains the most detailed account so far published of his hugely successful American tour of 1928. The world of Maurice Ravel—including friendships (and some fallings-out) with Debussy, Fauré, Diaghilev, Gershwin, and Toscanini—is deftly uncovered in this sensitive portrait.

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9780300187762

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Reviews

'An insightful biography.' (Michael Downes, Times Literary Supplement) 'A quite superb book, simply entitled Ravel, written by the Englishman who knows his work better than any other, Roger Nichols.' (Simon Heffer, The Sunday Telegraph) 'reliable and agreeably readable.' (Norman Lebrecht, New Statesman) 'To anyone with a special interest in Ravel, this book will be essential reading... Surely the composer's most comprehensive and authoritative English-language biography.' (Daniel Snowman, Literary Review) 'A compelling new biography unravels the mysteries surrounding Ravel... Mysterious to the end, the fascination of its subject remains fresh throughout this thorough and sympathetic account.' (Robert Maycock, BBC Music Magazine)

Author Information

Roger Nichols is the author of The Life of Debussy and The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917–1929. He has edited most of Ravel’s piano music for Peters Edition of London.

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