Ravel's perfect genesis

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“My most important works are Ma Mère l’Oye and Daphnis et Chloé, both ballets. The latter was successfully staged by Fokine.”

Daphnis et Chloé stands apart from anything else in his catalogue. The score is gigantic, filled with broad washes of tonality, ambiguous harmonies, and a richly coloured wordless choir (although many performances omit it, something that caused conflict between Ravel and the impresario Diaghilev), making it perhaps Ravel’s most impressionistic work.

The introduction presents three distinctly Ravelian themes that permeate the rest of the ballet, along with slow-moving harmonies built on long pedal points, soundscape-like textures, and hidden subtleties such as the bass’s whole-tone descent.

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Daphnis et Chloé, M.57: 1. Introduction
Performance: London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado

Further reading:
Puri, Michael J. Ravel the Decadent: Memory, Sublimation, and Desire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

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Joachim Winter
Raphael Fabisiewicz
TIno Roca
Carla Ragazzi

Video made by #MomentsMusicaux.