Maurice Ravel - L'aurore (1905) [w/ score]

Ravel 147th Anniversary Tribute (7th March, 2022)
Composer: Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937)
Singers:
Brigitte Desnoues
Marc Duguay
Jean-François Lapointe
Denis Rouger
Paris Sorbonne Chorus
Paris Sorbonne Orchestra
Conductor: Jacques Grimbert
Ravel's last attempt for Prix de Rome, elimated in the first round. Despite that, we can see obvious musical improvements, and spot elements from his earlier "Shéhérazade" and String Quartet. It's so good to find a lost Ravel masterpiece.
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[@pianopeth]

So good..., etc. Thanks for sharing less known Ravel!

[@chronochromie772]

What a wonderful composition!!!

[@XinhaoZheng]

Messiaen agrees and feels that in heart.

[@virtuousvibes2852]

Wow, this piece is beautiful. I wonder why the judges eliminated him completely

[@XinhaoZheng]

My hypothesis is that this piece is too short. It is very well-known that Ravel was a slow composer. If this were the same piece that would go into the final round, I highly suspect that it were the case: in comparison, Debussy's Prix de Rome composition is 35 minutes long; Lili Boulanger's is 30 minutes long.

[@XinhaoZheng]

I have just found out that my previous hypothesis was wrong. It turns out that Prix de Rome called for a fugue and a short cantata for the first round, and a long cantata (or an oratorio) for the second round. Therefore Ravel's works were intentionally eliminated by the judges.

[@virtuousvibes2852]

@@XinhaoZheng I see. That's an interesting piece of info 😀

[@mrtchaikovsky]

Cf. my reply to gvidalq.

[@Dylonely42]

Nice.

[@gvidalq]

I think this is the first time Ravel's full realized style appeared, is like he finally found himself in this piece. Some sections are just glorious. Can't believe this didn't pass the first round, cause all the other cantatas he wrote sound quite mediocre to me compared to this one.

[@mrtchaikovsky]

Quoting his pupil Manuel Rosenthal: Un jour où je m'étonnais qu'on ne le [le Prix de Rome] lui ait pas attribué la dernière fois, en 1905, il m'a raconté: "D'après ce que j'ai entendu dire, le jury était présidé par Saint-Saens, qui était très malin, naturellement, et qui savait très bien déceler ce que les jeunes compositeurs avaient de plus saillant. Et Saint-Saens aurait fait remarquer à ses éminents collegues: 'Mais vous ne voyez donc pas que ce jeune homme se fout de nous? Regardez ce passage: c'est du Lenepveu, là, c'est du Saint-Saens, du Reyer, etc. Il se fout de notre gueule à tous et on ne va tout de même pas lui donner le prix de Rome!'" Ravel admirait Saint-Saens et il n'était pas peu fire que Saint-Saens ait décelé sa malice et son insolence, extirpant et parodiant si bien ce qu'il y avait de ridicule chez les membres de ce jury. Ravel était assez fier de cette complicité et d'avoir, somme toute, raté le Prix de Rome pour cause d'intelligence et d'ironie, tournure d'esprit qui ne faisait guère de ravages chez ses rivaux.

[@gvidalq]

@@mrtchaikovsky Quoting his pupil Manuel Rosenthal: One day when I was surprised that it had not been awarded to him [the Prix de Rome] the last time, in 1905, he told me: "From what I have heard, the jury was presided over by Saint-Saens, who was very clever, naturally, and who knew very well how to detect what was most salient in young composers. And Saint-Saens would have done remark to his eminent colleagues: But don't you see that this young man is making fun of us? Look at this passage: it's Lenepveu, there, it's Saint-Saens, Reyer, etc. He doesn't care about our mouths to all and we're still not going to give him the Prix de Rome!" Ravel admired Saint-Saens and he was quite proud that Saint-Saens had detected his malice and his insolence, extirpating and parodying so well what was ridiculous in the members of this juty. Ravel was quite proud of this complicity and of having, all in all, missed the Prix de Rome because of intelligence and irony, a turn of mind that did little damage to his rivals.

[@Dylonely42]

3:35