RAVEL ON (HIS) IMPRESSIONISM
RAVEL ON (HIS) IMPRESSIONISM

Summary/Abstract: Though Ravel usually avoided to include himself into aesthetic trends, his statements regarding musical works, composers or schools of the past and also of his time demonstrate that he had a quite clear view of the contemporary art. In respect of impressionism, he distanced himself systematically from it, while his arguments reflect a deep knowledge of its main aesthetic and style features. Being a consecrated admirer of impressionist painting, his observations on this trend were not against it, but the expression of his neutral position regarding any trend. As a result, his creative universe, however varied, appears to be rather a closed one. Though Ravel’s oeuvre is original, especially regarding the piano and orchestral compositions set up before the World War I, it vibrates in a subtle manner with the major trends of his time: symbolism, impressionism, expressionism, neoclassicism and even futurism. This paper analyses his connections with impressionism through his words.

• Details
• Contents