This course explores the unique style and aesthetics of French composer Maurice Ravel, his personal and professional connection to leading artists such as Degas, Renoir or Cézanne, and their influence on his music. Through deep analysis of his music, we will explore Ravel's contribution to the development and evolution of musical elements such as texture, melody, form, harmony and orchestration.

We will closely examine some of Ravel’s most beautiful music, such as ‘Conversation of Beauty and the Beast’ from the Five Pieces for Children — Mother Goose Suite, and the famous Bolero that was commissioned by the ballet dancer Ida Rubinstein.

We will discuss the various ideas that led Ravel to explore new sounds and directions in music such as the Czardash Hungarian dance, gypsy music, and Spanish tunes that we will hear in the Habanera movement from his Spanish Rhapsody for orchestra. We will discover influences on his musical language, and how they contributed to the transition and transformation of music from the Romantic aesthetics to the new and exotic sounds of the French Impressionism.

By the end of this course, you will have a better understanding of what Ravel’s music is all about, and new ways of listening to and understanding Classical music.