Maurice Ravel

Can Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang smash musical barriers? 07/26/2009

A French composer known for melodic and tonal invention. Giving the lie to the idea that turn-of-the-century musical trends were necessarily elite impressionism or "decadent" (whatever that may mean), Ravel's music always speaks directly to the heart in a subtle rhythmic sense through great melody, harmonic richness, and iridescent orchestration. (The art of stacking partials in Ravel's Boléro and ...more