Happy 150th Birthday, Maurice Ravel!

Today, March 7 2025, marks the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel. Piano Street presents a collection of material and links to resources for you to commemorate the great French composer.

Often labelled an impressionist, Maurice Ravel’s style grew out of his great interest in a broad variety of styles, including Spanish folk music, French baroque, and American jazz. At the same time he considered himself in many ways a classicist. An outwardly elegant person, always immaculately dressed, his art seems to strike a perfect balance between pure intellect and emotion. The exquisite craftsmanship of his scores is always matched by a great commitment to melody and a fascinating depth of passion.

Five Favourite Ravel Pieces

We begin the anniversary cavalcade with Piano Street’s list of the top five piano pieces by Maurice Ravel based on the popularity of our member’s download statistics, each with a carefully selected extraordinary contemporary, or legendary, recording.

1. Pavane pour une infante défunte

“An evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court“ (Ravel)

One of today’s most elegant and accomplished pianists, ten years on from his Chopin Competition victory, Cho released the album Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works in January 2025.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the ideas, colours and emotions to be found in Ravel’s music, and it has been an honour to record his complete solo piano works and concertos. Ravel really knew what he wanted, so I try to follow his specific markings,” he says.

Piano score, background information and forum discussions >>

2. Jeux d’eau

Ravel, inspired by the musical sounds of fountains, waterfalls and streams, headed the score to Jeux d’Eau with a line from a poem by Henri de Régnier: “The River God laughing at the waters that tickle him”.

Martha Argerich plays Jeux d’eau on “Akiko’s Piano” (2024) – An upright piano made in the U.S., belonging to a female student who died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. After restoration, its beautiful tone was revived at a concert held 60 years after the atomic bombing.

Piano score, background information and forum discussions >>

3. Sonatine

The Sonatine features many of Ravel’s stylistic trademarks in an exquisitely handled classical form, where a few short motives makes myriad appearances and are transformed throughout all three movements.

Ready for some pure piano magic? Don’t call it a day until you have listened to the legendary pianist Ivan Moravec’s exceptionally refined 1970 recording of the Sonatine on Supraphone!

Sonatine – piano score, background information and forum discussions >>

4. Scarbo

Inspired by the dark poetry of Aloysius Bertrand, Gaspard de la Nuit is a triptych evoking images of horror. The third and most famous piece depicts an evil goblin who appears in the dead of night and plays with your mind.

Gaspard de la Nuit performed live by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at Tippet Rise Art Center on 16 August 2024.

Scarbo – piano score, background information and forum discussions >>

5. Alborada del Gracioso

This piece from Miroirs combines the flavour of Andalusian folk music with pianistic acrobatics such as double glissandi and extremely fast repeated notes.

Alborada performed by Bertrand Chamayou, praised for his recording of Ravel’s complete piano music. As the official 150 celebration concert Chamayou gives an all Ravel solo piano recital on March 7 in Grande salle Pierre Boulez – Philharmonie, Paris. See live broadcast 19.00 GMT >>

Alborada – piano score, background information and forum discussions >>

Ravel 150 – events and resources

Ravel: Complete piano scores
You find the complete piano music by Maurice Ravel in Piano Street’s digital sheet music library graded by difficulty, along with background information and links to hundreds of useful forum discussions about his piano pieces.

ARTE TV: Ravel – 150 years of musical genius
To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Maurice Ravel, born on 7 March 1875, ARTE invites you to explore the fascinating and daring world of this French composer of many inspirations. From the virtuosity of his ‘Concerto for the Left Hand’ to the haunting rhythm of his ‘Bolero’, Ravel redefined the boundaries of classical music, combining tradition with visionary modernity.

Gramophone – March issue:
Unravelling Maurice Ravel: a portrait of the composer at 150
To mark the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth, Mark Pullinger conjures a portrait of this multifaceted composer through his exquisitely crafted works.

Ravel at 150 – medici.tv
Immerse yourself in the iconic French composer’s singular universe all year long as we bring you brand-new and live performances by world-leading artists, medici.tv-exclusive featurettes, and specially curated collections for Ravel newcomers and confirmed aficionados to (re)experience these treasured pieces.

Mezzo: Maurice Ravel 150
In celebration of the 150th anniversary of his birth, Mezzo presents his most exquisite piano, chamber, orchestral, and lyric works. Renowned specialists of his repertoire will be featured, with a special focus on pianist Bertrand Chamayou.

Maurice Ravel 150: The Man and His Music
WETA broadcast: Thursday, March 6, 2025 – 2:45 pm
Celebrating the 150th birthday anniversary of Maurice Ravel this year is a welcome opportunity to explore a composer who, like many innovative composers, doesn’t fit neatly into one category.

El Pais: Maurice Ravel, the ‘heathen’ composer, premieres music 150 years after his birth
The New York Philharmonic is commemorating the composer’s anniversary with an exhibition and the world premiere of a work recently identified through the personal diary of his friend, the Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes.

Henle: “Naturally artificing” – Maurice Ravel on his 150th birthday
The G. Henle publishing house will be duly celebrating the Ravel year, focussing not only on the most important French composer alongside Rameau and Debussy, but also on other musicians close to him under the rubric ‘Ravel and Friends’.

ABC Radio National: Innovation and imitation: Maurice Ravel at 150
To mark the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth, director-composer-lyricist-translator and friend of The Music Show Jeremy Sams is Andy’s guest, to explore not only where Ravel’s music came from, but where it led.

“Composer Love: celebrating Maurice Ravel’s 150th anniversary”
Watch and listen to Sympawnies by Noam Oxman’s unique tribute to Maurice Ravel a.k.a. “The Cat Person”:

Reader questions!

Which is your favourite composition by Ravel?
Do you have a specific recording of a Ravel piano piece to recommend?

Please post replies in the comment form below!