Le langage musical de Ravel dans le Quatuor à cordes

In each of his compositions Ravel strives towards perfection without ever settling for his past success. In the 1920’s he is even ready to give up what made the splendor of his previous masterpieces, la Rapsodie espagnole, Daphnis et chloé, la Valse… Choosing to analyse the young Ravel’s musical language through his strings quartet allows us to consider a fruitfull approach : How does the brilliant composer’s uniqueness emerge ?

Ravel is both classical, romantic as well as modern. Classical by his humility and respect for tradition. Romantic, not because of his taste for effusion which he controls and challenges, but because of his untouched link to childhood and his taste for the marvelous, sometimes gloomy sometimes luminous. And finally modern, by his love for novelty and his unconfessed search for originality. To this is added an acute awareness of himself which is an eminently classical property that grant him a merciless sense of self-criticism and a great mind protecting him from any illusions. These qualities will develop his rich irony and a playful connection to composition which thus become a game. Such a good opportunity for an analyst !

This early work also asks about the legacy and the influences that Ravel himself never stops to claim.