Ravel. Piano & Chamber Music

Featuring

Bruno Philippe
Julien Libeer
Lorenzo Gatto
Maurice Ravel

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

Ravel's Jeux d'eau was groundbreaking for its pianistic innovations, inspired by the sounds of water and based on two thematic motifs, similar to a sonata's first movement but without classical tonal constraints.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ravel's aesthetic, as described by pianist Julien Libeer, is both free and beyond reproach, forming a complete ethic of its own.

Composition History

Le Tombeau de Couperin, a dance suite in the 18th-century French tradition, was completed in 1917 from pre-war sketches and dedicated to the memory of Ravel's friends killed in the Great War.

Compositional Technique

Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Cello, which began as a Duo for the Tombeau de Claude Debussy, marked a turning point in his career by stripping down the music to an extreme, renouncing harmonic charm for a stronger emphasis on melody.

Composition History

Ravel's Sonatine was so admired upon its creation that it was published by Durand in November 1905, and Ravel himself performed it frequently, though he did not consider himself a great virtuoso.

Composer Biography

Maurice Ravel, the composer of the works on this album, was described by the album's pianist, Julien Libeer, as being at a point of perfect equilibrium, synthesis, and self-evident beauty, like the Golden Ratio.

Critical Reception

Ravel's Miroirs were initially difficult for both performers and audiences, marking a significant shift in his harmonic style that even accustomed musicians found baffling.