Ravel: A Pure Child's Heart Beating Deep Within the Gears of an Elaborate Clock

I am not a music researcher, but as an educator who has been involved in piano instruction for many years and has faced music alongside children, I would like to write this story.

“The Elaborate Clockmaker of the Music World”

When speaking of Maurice Ravel, these words are indispensable.

The scores he wrote are as precise as if there were not a single gap, like artistic silverwork.

However, beneath the “armor” of that music, which is beautiful to the point of being too perfect,
actually, a “child’s heart,” more delicate and pure than anyone else’s,was hidden. Did you know that?
Speaking of Ravel,

the famous “Boléro,” with its repeating passionate rhythm, is very well known, but this time we will unravel

“Pavane for a Dead Princess,”which reflects his delicate inner self more vividly.

1. The Troublemakers of the Paris Conservatory Who Didn't Fit the “Mold”

In the France of Ravel’s time, there was another giant who rewrote the history of music.

It is Claude Debussy, whom I have mentioned before.
These two are often grouped together as “Impressionists,” but in reality, their natures were contrasting.

While Debussy was a “revolutionary” who broke existing “molds” and pursued the fluctuations of light and shadow, Ravel was a “craftsman” who deeply loved the classical “mold” and enclosed the latest magic within those old frameworks.


However,

there were commonalities.That is, both of them fiercely rebelled against the conservative educational policies of the Paris Conservatory at the time—in other words, the adults who tried to force them into a “mold.”

The incident that was etched into history as a symbol of that rebellious spirit is the
“Ravel Affair”of 1905.

The “Ravel Affair” That Shook the Music World

At the time, the “Prix de Rome” was the gateway to success for young composers.
A situation that is unthinkable today occurred when the 30-year-old Ravel, who had already become the darling of the era with works like “Jeux d’eau,”
was eliminated in the preliminary round of this prize.

The reasons were
things close to harassment by conservative judges, such as “the chords go against tradition” and “it is too unconventional.”Public opinion exploded at this.

“Does a conservatory that cannot understand a genius have any value?”


A great controversy erupted, and finally, the director of the conservatory resigned.
As his successor,

Gabriel Fauré, who was a good understanding friend of Ravel, was appointed.How difficult, and at the same time how precious, it is to “stick to the beauty you believe in.”Ravel’s life throws a powerful message to students facing the piano:“Trust your own ears more than the correct answers in the textbook.”

(There are similarities to Debussy, aren't there?)

2. The Identity of the “Dead Princess” and Ravel’s Form of Love

From the title “Pavane for a Dead Princess,” we tend to imagine some tragic story.

However, in reality, there is no specific model for this piece.
Ravel said, “It is a pavane (dance) like one a little princess might have danced in the Spanish court long ago.”

He disliked pouring messy, real-life emotions into music.

Instead,
by perfectly constructing a “fantasy world” like a fairy tale, he protected his overly delicate heart.

Love for Family and a Toy House

In Ravel’s life, there are almost no rumors of flashy lovers.

The person he loved most deeply in his life was his gentle, Spanish-descended “mother.”He would play new songs for his mother first, and after losing her, he was so overcome with a sense of loss that he stopped writing for a while.

Also, he was


a huge fan of “toys.”

In his home, elaborate mechanical dolls and miniatures collected from all over the world were lined up in every available space.

Rather than adult high society, Ravel preferred to crawl on the floor and play with his friends' children.
The reason his music possesses both the approachability of a “toy box” and precision is none other than the fact that he himself kept an


“eternal boy”living inside his heart.

3. “Pavane for a Dead Princess”

Now, when playing this masterpieceon the piano, how should we turn “Ravel’s heart” into sound?

If we unravel it from the perspective of the “orchestral version” that Ravel himself arranged later, the hints become vividly visible.

① Toward the Warmth of the “Horn”

The famous opening melody.
In the piano solo, it gives a noble impression, but the instrument that plays this melody in the orchestral version is the

hornwith a mute.To the students,

“This is not a sound to be tapped with your fingertips, but the sound of a horn heard from beyond the fog.”
I told them.A soft resonance that, despite being a brass instrument, is filled with plenty of breath.On the piano, when producing the first sound, you can make them conscious of a “breath-like touch” that sinks the finger to the bottom of the key without creating sharp edges.

② “Conversation” by Woodwind Instruments

The middle section, modulating to G minor, brings a touch of melancholy.

Here,woodwind instruments like the oboe, clarinet, and flutetake turns singing the melody.
If you imagine the change in the instrument as a change in the temperature of the sound,

it creates deep shadows in the expression of the middle section, which can otherwise easily become monotonous.

3. "Grains of Light" Painted by the Harp

The climactic recapitulation.

The left-hand accompaniment becomes intricate, moving with fluidity.

In the orchestra, this part is handled by the
**harp**and **string pizzicato(plucking the strings with fingers).**

Instead of playing the left-hand passage as "just fast movement,"
you can imagine the harp reflecting light and sparkling.

The balance should be such that the harp arpeggios gently push up the right-hand melody from below.

This is precisely the"magic of color" that Ravel wanted to depict.

4. Touching the Performance — The "Stillness" and "Motion" of the Soul

In writing this, I listened to and compared several classic recordings once again.

In doing so, I made a very interesting discovery.

First, there is

the piano performance by Ravel himself

.

Actually,his own performance is surprisingly "matter-of-fact."

While later pianists play with abundant emotion,
as if suppressing his feelings,
it proceeds quietly,
at a steady tempo.

Around 1910, when he rewrote this piecefor orchestra, he was facing the immense grief of the death of his beloved mother.

Perhaps, due to such a sense of loss,
he could not even bring himself to express his emotions,

or perhaps he intentionally locked them quietly within a "form" so as not to break precious memories;

in that matter-of-fact sound,I cannot help but feel a deep, unspeakable sorrow.

On the other hand, as an introduction to the orchestral version, I would like to recommend
the performance by the Saito Kinen Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa.

A little different from Ravel's own performance,
there was a soul-stirring emotion there.

It has an overflowing vitality.

Ravel, who maintained an autonomous aesthetic of "stillness," and Seiji Ozawa, who drew passion from that score.

Comparing these two performances might be the best lesson for students to imagine the "heart behind the sheet music."

5. Ravel as Music Education

Learning Ravel's music is not just training to move your fingers quickly.
It is a training of the heart:
* *"How can you imagine a rich world (an orchestra) using a single piano?"**

Ravel was a perfectionist, a bit of an eccentric, and while he loved solitude,
he was a person who deeply loved his mother and his cats.

"Which instrument's color is this sound?"

By asking such questions during lessons,
the student's imagination leaps beyond the sheet music, flying off to Paris 100 years ago or to the Spanish court.

The gears of an elaborate clock are moving with the gentle heartbeat of a heart.

Playing Ravel's music is a journey to find the sound of that secret heart
with your own unique touch.

Please, try spreading out Ravel's"palette of tone colors."Surely, new sounds you haven't heard before will ring out and fill the room.

Thank you for reading this far.

🌸 I have compiled this in a magazine called "Musicians Assemble."
Please feel free to take a look at other composers as well.

🌸 This article has been added to the magazine below.
Thank you as always♪