Ravel A Life

This new biography of Maurice Ravel (1875and#8211;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 composerand#8217;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 composerand#8217;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 Raveland#8212;including friendships (and some fallings-out) with Debussy, Faurand#233;, Diaghilev, Gershwin, and Toscaniniand#8212;is deftly uncovered in this sensitive portrait.

and#8220;Nichols . . . enriches our understanding of [a] compositional titan.and#8221;and#8212;Chester Lane, SymphonyNOW

“[A] landmark work.”—Chester Lane, SymphonyNOW SymphonyNOW

and#8220;Ravel could not have hoped to be evaluated by a more elegant stylist.and#8221;and#8212;R. J. Stove, American Conservative

"Mr. Nichols writes perceptively about Ravel's personality and how it shaped his music, and about the earlier works' influence on later compositions. . . . One leaves Mr. Nichols's Ravel with a sense of the author's deep insight as well as Ravel's."and#8212;James Penrose, The New Criterion

"Includes exhaustive notes, a ten-page bibliography, a superb chronology of Ravel's life, and a complete catalog of his works. Highly recommended."and#8212;R. Pitts, Choice

"An excellent new biography of Ravel by Roger Nichols makes clear his ambiguous and fluctuating relation to full-fledged avant-garde modernism. The book is the most nearly complete and inclusive account of his life and work."and#8212;Charles Rosen, The New York Review of Books

"[An] insightful biography."—Michael Downes, Times Literary Supplement James Penrose - The New Criterion

and#8220;[A] landmark work.and#8221;and#8212;Chester Lane, SymphonyNOW

and#8220;Roger Nicholsand#8217;s new book bids fair to be the best-ever biography of Ravel in English.and#8221; and#8212;Mark DeVoto, Notes

Roger Nichols is the author of The Life of Debussy and The Harlequin Years: Music in Paris 1917and#150;1929. He has edited most of Raveland#8217;s piano music for Peters Edition of London.