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Laman Ismayilova

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Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic Hall has hosted a concert timed to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the French composer Maurice Ravel, AzerNEWS reports. The event was organized by Nadir Events.

The program featured works spanning different periods of Ravel's career, performed by talented Azerbaijani musicians.

Throughout the evening, the audience enjoyed compositions such as Noctuelles, Pavane pour une infante défunte, Ma Mère l'Oye, Sonate pour violon et piano, Rhapsodie espagnole, Tzigane, and other works by the French composer.

Adding a literary dimension, poems by renowned French symbolist Paul Verlaine were recited in French by students of the French language program at the University Foundation Courses educational center.

The concert program featured host and literary reciter Huseynaga Aslanov, along with musicians including pianists Fagan Hasanli, Nargiz Kangarli, Zarif Karimova, Elchin Mammadov, and Svetlana Akhmadova; violinists Zarrin Aliyeva and Sura Rufat; cellist Ibrahim Naghiyev; harpist Shahla Alizade; and flutist Nargiz Aliyeva.

The musicians presented the rich and multifaceted musical legacy of Maurice Ravel, immersing the audience in the refined atmosphere of French musical culture.

The concert concluded with warm applause, as the audience deeply appreciated the musicians' artistry.

Joseph Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) went down in history as one of the leading representatives of musical impressionism.

The composer was born on 7 March 1875 in Ciboure, the son of Swiss automobile engineer Joseph Ravel (1832–1908) and Marie Deluard (1840–1916), who came from a simple Basque family. His father was a passionate music lover, and it is believed that he influenced his son to love music.

In 1889, Ravel entered the Paris Conservatory and graduated with a degree in piano. The young musician was assisted by his teacher, Charles de Bériot, a renowned pianist of the time.

Ravel's interest in improvisation and composition arose after his encounter with the work of Erik Satie, one of the founders of musical impressionism, and a personal encounter with another composer and pianist, Ricardo Vines.

Maurice Ravel's work was not recognized in professional academic circles. He competed for the Prix de Rome three times in a row: in 1901, 1902, and 1903.

In "Bolero," one of Ravel's most popular works, the composer combined classical traditions with the rhythms of Spanish music. The concept for this work was conceived by the renowned ballerina Ida Rubinstein.

The arrangement of the movements and their strict sequence in the development of the main theme allowed him to convey the dance-like element of Spanish music. The renowned Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova included "Bolero" in her repertoire. In 1925, Ravel completed his groundbreaking work, The Child and the Magic, calling it an opera-ballet.

In 1928, he undertook a four-month tour of the United States and Canada, where he performed his own works to acclaim as a pianist and conductor.

Ravel owed this success largely to Sergei Koussevitzky, who enthusiastically promoted his music in the United States. Among other creative experiences, his acquaintance with George Gershwin was particularly significant.

Overall, his fascination with jazz and blues music during his American tour was reflected in Ravel's music (for example, in the first movement of his Piano Concerto in G major and the second movement of his Second Sonata for Violin and Piano).

In 1929, the composer was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Oxford University.

In 1932, Ravel toured Europe again with pianist Marguerite Long. At the same time, he began working on a new work, the ballet "Joan of Arc," but was involved in a car accident and ceased his creative work.

Starting in 1933, Ravel suffered from a serious neurological illness, possibly a consequence of the traumatic brain injury he sustained in the car accident.

The composer's last work, seriously ill, was "Three Songs" for the first sound film, "Don Quixote." They were written for the Russian singer Fyodor Chaliapin.