Maurice Ravel & Bach

Bach and Ravel

Jean Terrayre wrote (September 9, 2007):
Ravel used to say that if Bach were the only composer of history we'd nevertheless possess the whole of music. How true !When I listen to the arias for soprano of BWV 18, BWV 61, BWV 32, BWV 151 ....and others I hear Ilia, Costanza,chiefly Pamina. Bach and Mozarts' sopranos having a mysterious contact with some holy spirit.With,for instance the bass aria of BWV 172 I hear some "Meistersinger". He possessed not only the Existence but equally the Essence though he remained without influence or disciple " in fine "towering genius completely alone with the "Kunst der fugue" (BWV 1080).

Bradley Lehman wrote (September 9, 2007):
[To Jean Terrayre] A fine comment from Ravel, but I might suggest adding Mozart and Haydn into it too. Or to say the same thing from the other side: if there's some idea or technique musically that Bach, Mozart, and/or Haydn didn't already use in some piece of theirs to perfect effect, the idea might not be much worth using. :)

I'm still going through all the Haydn quartets, piano sonatas, piano trios, and symphonies in amazement.

Julian Mincham wrote (September 9, 2007):
Bradley Lehman wrote:
< I'm still going through all the Haydn quartets, piano sonatas, piano trios, and symphonies in amazement. >
Yep a life time study---at least for me. If you add all of the above together you come to (an amazing!) almost 300 works! of 3/4 movements each. At least 1000 movements!

Mind boggling. And that does not even touch on his religious or operatic works.

Wow!!!

Mind you, not having counted them but on an estimate I reckon there to be about 1500 movements in all of the Bach cantatas.

Russell Telfer wrote (September 10, 2007):
Julian Mincham wrote:
<< I'm still going through all the Haydn quartets, piano sonatas, piano trios, and symphonies in amazement. >>
< Yep a life time study---at least for me. If you add all of the above together you come to (an amazing!) almost 300 works! of 3/4 movements each. At least 1000 movements! >
Any advice Julian on acquiring Haydn, so to speak, in bulk? I haven't got many of his symphonies or quartets, but I would like to spend a chunk of time getting to grips with them.

Ravel, although a v sensible man, is a bit lower down the list, for me.

Julian Mincham wrote (September 10, 2007):
Haydn and Ravel OT

[To Russell Telfer] I'm afraid my CD collection of Haydn has not been as systematice as my Bach collection, picking things up cheaply when I came across them. I was lucky to come across Hendon Library clearing out its CD collection a few years ago and with it came about two dozen Haydn symphonies recorded by Trevor Pinnock, Roy Goodman and others----a good start.

But as a general guide I would suggest staring any H quartet collection with the oP 33 set of six--this is the set where he really found his feet and wrote individually for the instruments--a lot of the earlier ones are not much more than for accompanied 1st violin. Op 33 no 3 in C is, to my mind an absolute materpiece--I have a 1940s recording of that on 78s by the Griller string quartet which I value highly.

Of later sets I have always enjoyed Op 54, 55, 74 and 76 too. I have a number of different recordings but have found those of the Amadeus SQ very interesting, Re the symphonies a lot of people go for the later ones but I prefer a number of the middle 'Sturm & Drang' ones around the 40s and 50s---nos 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 48, 52are all worth a listen and it is in this period that he really explores the dramatic nature of minor keys for first movements--as also in the later nos 80 and 'The Hen'--in Gm but I can't recall the no for the moment.

Re Ravel I agree he's a highly original guy but not at the top of my list either. A pity because I read somewhere that he has the lowest output of any 'great' composer--only about 20 hours of music!

Which makes collecting his complete works a tad cheaper than Bach or Haydn--or almost anyone else for that matter!