RAVEL: Piano Works

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Sigurd Slåttebrekk, piano

Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer and pianist, known especially for the subtlety, richness, and poignancy of his music and generally considered to be one of the major composers of the 20th century. His piano, chamber music, and orchestral works have become staples in the repertoire. Ravel's piano compositions, such as Miroirs and Gaspard de la Nuit are virtuosic, and his orchestrations, such as in Daphnis et Chloé and his orchestral arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, are notable for the effective use of tonal color and variety of sound and instrumentation. To the general public he is probably best known for his orchestral work, Boléro, which he considered a trivial work and once described as "a piece for orchestra without music". According to Sacem, Ravel currently earns more royalties than any other French musician, making him (for now at least) officially France's most popular composer.