French Music at the

1
Chapter 67

• French Music at the
• Time of World War I
• Ravel and Satie

2
Lecture Overview

• History of World War I and its impact on music
• Maurice Ravel
• life and works
• Tombeau de Couperin, Rigaudon
• Erik Satie
• life and works
• Sarabande No. 2 for piano
• Cabaret
• Review

3
The Life of Maurice Ravel (18751937)

• 1875 born in Ciboure on the Atlantic coast of
  France just above the Spanish border
  grows up in Paris
• 1889 enters preparatory division of the Paris
  Conservatory focusing on piano
• 1895 drops out of the Conservatory and turns to
  composition
• 1898 returns to Conservatory in the composition
  class of Gabriel Fauré
• 1921 settles in Monfort lAmaury, a suburb of
  Paris
• 1928 tours the United States and Canada
• 1937 dies in Paris

4
Principal Compositions by Maurice Ravel

• Opera and ballet 2 operas and ballets including
• Daphnis et Chloe
• La valse
• Boléro
• Piano character pieces, including the cycles
• Miroirs
• Gaspard de la nuit
• Le tombeau de Couperin
• Ma mère loye (4 hands)
• Orchestra Piano Concertos and Concerto for Left
  Hand character pieces (most are arrangements of
  works originally for piano, including an
  arrangement of Mussorgskys Pictures at an
  Exhibition)
• Chamber includes the String Quartet, Sonata for
  violin and cello and for violin and piano Piano
  Trio

5
Maurice Ravel, Le tombeau de Couperin (piano),
191417, Rigaudon
Ternary form
6
The Life of Erik Satie (18661925)

• 1866 born in Honfleur
• 1878 enters Paris Conservatory
• 1880s pianist at the Chat Noir in Montmartre
• 1905 returns to school, at the Schola Cantorum
  in Paris
• 1911 serious compositions gain attention thanks
  to Ravel
• 1917 composes the ballet Parade for Diaghilev
• 1925 dies in Paris

7
Principal Compositions by Erik Satie

• Piano character pieces
• Songs include popular cabaret songs Socrate
  for voices and orchestra
• Orchestra scores for ballets, including Parade

8
Erik Satie, Sarabande No. 2 for piano, 1887
Free ternary form
9
Review Key Terms

• rigaudon
• Neoclassicism
• Chat Noir
• cabaret
• Parade
• Virgil Thomson