Ravel Musical Style

7/27/2019 Ravel Musical Style

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Last year a graduate student in musicology at the University of Connecticut took an independent study with me on the music

of Maurice Ravel. While in the end his work was insightful and successful, he was quite frustrated and discouraged at the

beginning and even the middle stages. In analyzing the so-called "character dances" from the ballet Daphnis and

Chloe composed 1909-12,1 he typically would come in with a harmonic reduction or bass-line sketch or form chart of a scene

and go through it with me. Following this, his comment would usually be some variation on "I did all this stuff, but I'm not sure

what it all means and where to go from here." In trying to help him formulate a viable approach, I found myself returning

repeatedly to two sources: to Ravel's own commentary on his music; and to the opening gestures of the piece, or, morespecifically, what I shall call its compositional premise. As my student began to consider Ravel's writings in relation to the

music, his analyses of the different dances began to take shape. They did not hew to a single methodology or perspective,

but rather displayed a broad and flexible array of strategies and graphic examples, including modified Schenkerian analysis,

octatonic and hexatonic partitioning, parsimonious voice leading, and referential bass-line scale collections.

My essay shall explore a very simple idea: that a composer's technical commentary on his or her composition may not only

be useful to the analyst, but may also bring together in a fruitful way what I term "compositional premise" and analysis. (This

shall be elaborated below.) Of course composers may also say non-useful or even ludicrous things about their music for any

number of reasons. Indeed, one of my colleagues comes right out and instructs his students straightaway, in writing their

history papers, to ignore what the composer says! In countering this claim, one can point to a number of theorists whose

analyses are enhanced by sensitive consideration of a composer's musical thinking, either as expressed in sketches (Carl

Schachter on Beethoven), or in words (Steve Larson on Bill Evans).2 Moreover, even when a composer's

words mislead rather than lead, I suggest that they remain potentially useful to the analyst, to the extent that they pose

fundamental questions that otherwise would not surface.

For Ravel, the compositional premise for a given work is generally bound up with a musical event—motive, harmonic

progression, dissonant sonority, and so forth—whose context creates or reveals some kind of compositional problem to be

solved.3 This is not original with Ravel: for Ravel, along with several generations of French writers and composers, the

influence of Edgar Allen Poe looms large, in particular the essay The Philosophy of Composition, in which Poe explains in

step-by-step terms the problems and solutions he set for himself in the composition of his most famous poem The

Raven.4,5 (Ravel goes on to say that Poe's essay was the most important influence on his development as a composer.)

A striking example of compositional premise-as-problem occurs in the song "Surgi de la croupe et du bond" from

Ravel's Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé. The song opens with a string pizzicato which, given its register, texture and

timbre, is virtually indeterminate in pitch without the aid of a score. This initial condition of indeterminacy provides a musical

premise precisely isomorphic to Mallarmé's notoriously difficult poem, which in some sense is about the paradox of a poet's

inability to create, this very inability then becoming transformed into the remote possibility of creation. A more concrete

premise is what might be called a "case of mistaken identity." In the opening of the "Blues" movement from the Sonata forViolin and Piano, the violin in banjo style strums a I-IV-V progression in G major, whose tonal authority is brazenly

undermined by the piano's entrance on a bass . Still another is the tonal neutrality of the pentatonic collection, which is

used for very different structural and representational ends in "Soupir," the first of the Mallarmé songs, and in the

opera L'Enfant et les sortilèges.

With respect to analysis as well as the pedagogy of analysis, I suggest that thinking along these lines can help structure the

analytical process, especially for music of the early twentieth century that exhibits such a wide range of techniques. The

problem remains, however, of precisely how to bridge the potential gap between compositional premise and analytical

methodology.

To this end, we shall look at three examples taken from Ravel's music: two from the piano cycle Valses nobles et

sentimentales, one from the song "Rêves" (Dreams). We shall see that Ravel's words help shape the individual analyses, in

one case by revealing a disguised structural feature; in another by simultaneously leading and misleading; and finally, by

commenting on another composer's work that directly relates to his own.

Let us turn first to Valses nobles et sentimentales. By way of introduction, Valses nobles was premiered at a concert

sponsored by the progressive Société Musicale Indépendante in May of 1911. New works by various composers were

identified in the program by title only, and the audience was supposed to guess the composer. Shockingly for Ravel, the

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performance of his Valses was interrupted by booing and catcalls; even his close friend Cipa Godebski asked him what idiot

could have written this piece!6

One can easily imagine what the opening to the first waltz sounded like to French ears circa 1911. (My children actually

wince and imitate vomiting noises whenever I play it!) In this context, Ravel's contemporary account of the opening motto

takes on added interest (Example 1).

Example 1. Valse noble #1 , opening.

In the course of a composition lesson with his student and first biographer Roland-Manuel, the composer states: "The

opening two measures . . . consist of a linear progression, (beats one and two), to (beat three), to G (prolonged

through measure two)."7 This ascending three-note chromatic slide is by no means obvious, given the registral shifts and the

merely implied presence of G in an upper voice resolving the (G only literally occurs as the bass note). Its presence

consequently raises a number of questions for interpretation. First is the functional status of the opening sonority. The right-

hand tones suggest a dominant thirteenth, with delaying the third ; with the fifths trichord G-D-A in the left hand,

however, tonic and dominant implications are superimposed. On beat three, the non-alignment of chord tone and harmonic

function continues, as the "proper" tones of the dominant seventh— A, C and D—shift up a semitone to , and .

When the fifths trichord is reiterated on the following downbeat, it clearly represents tonic, with the sixth E and ninth A as

conventional additions. However, on beat three, assuming that tonic harmony still holds, the same "wrong notes"

and (technically unresolved appoggiaturas) that attended dominant harmony in the previous bar now are part of the

tonic. (They may also be considered as leading to B and D on the following downbeat.)

Taking the composer's comment and its tonal ramifications as a point of departure, it is now possible to view the opening as

a radically idiosyncratic spin on a simple dominant-to-tonic cadence and thereby reconstruct Ravel's ascending linear

progression from the ground up. Example 2 shows this process in seven conceptual stages labeled a-g. (The reader is

advised to play through the stages, then listen to the actual opening; this also works as a classroom exercise in harmonic

dictation.)

Example 2. Valse noble #1 , conceptual stages.











In passing I referred to the Valses nobles as a "piano cycle" as opposed to a mere collection of unrelated movements. This

was deliberate. Part of its "cyclehood" lies in the presence of this ascending chromatic slide as a global compositional

premise. More precisely, the chromatic motive itself, in conjunction with the retention of common tones across different chord

functions—especially the play between tonic and dominant—figures significantly in subsequent movements.

We turn next to the introduction to the second waltz; see Example 3.




As a point of departure, the top system (3a) displays Philip Russom's reading of the opening two bars, drawn from his

illuminating dissertation on Ravel's pre-War music.8 According to Russom, each measure partitions what he terms

complementary augmented referential scale collections (also known as set class 6-20 or the hexatonic collection). Because

Russom views Ravel's music as fundamentally non-tonal, his analysis focuses on the transpositional relation between bars

one and two and their completion of the aggregate. At the same time, such an account does not address the possible

relation of these bars to the opening of the first waltz, or the conventional tonal aspects of the phrase as a whole.

Given the augmented triads and resultant whole-tone flavor of the passage, its structural voice leading could be interpreted

in several ways. Graph 3b proposes two readings. The first emphasizes the (overlapped) ascending chromatic slide in major

thirds in imitation as a variant of the opening of the first waltz.9 In turn, the pattern of imitation stresses the downbeat minor-

major seventh chords on G and F . In contrast, the second reading foregrounds a different aspect of the first waltz—the

motion from strong beat (bar) dissonance to weak beat (bar) consonance; hence the downbeat sonorities represent

appoggiaturas resolving to the weak-beat augmented triads, together comprising the complete odd whole-tone scale.

Significantly, the remainder of the waltz provides evidence that sometimes supports one interpretation of the opening,

sometimes the other (3c.1-4). The excerpts labeled c.2 and c.3 clearly support the downbeat-as-appoggiatura reading, the

former presenting another instance of the chromatic ascending slide. Excerpt c.1 (mm. 17ff) merely transposes the

introduction up a minor third and, taken in itself, provides no supporting evidence one way or the other. Subsequently at mm.

49ff, however (following the reprise beginning m. 41), Ravel subposes a G below the former bass in a more fully

orchestrated version of mm. 17ff. This suggests a new identity for the downbeat sonority as an inverted dominant ninth.

While I'm certainly not proposing the first chord of the piece as 9, I would caution against a definitive reading enshrining

the downbeat as an appoggiatura.Indeed, it appears to be part of Ravel's strategy to maximize harmonic and voice-leading contexts for the initial right-hand

augmented triad -D- . Graph 3d shows this triad as part of the voice-leading configuration for tonic (note the hint of a

resolution for the right-hand 5 to G5 as part of the poetic left-hand octave leap), dominant (mm. 7-8) and subdominant

(mm. 34-35).10

Graph 3e reconsiders the introduction in light of the foregoing discussion and combines elements of the two readings

proposed in 3b. Thus the tonic minor-major seventh, elaborated by the chromatic ascending slide to the neighboring F chord,

leads to the sustained appoggiatura chord labeled X (mm. 5-6), representing a species of , though not a conventional

harmony on that scale degree. Both X and its motion to the dominant sustain the original augmented triad until the latter's















resolution of -5 and -3. In sum, this interpretation of the second waltz does not ineluctably issue forth from Ravel's

comments on the opening waltz. Rather, the composer's comments become a catalyst to the analyst for consideration of

relevant harmonic and voice leading contexts, in this instance for the chromatic slide, appoggiatura gesture, and the

augmented triad.

The penultimate waltz #7 (which Ravel referred to as the most characteristic of the set)11 further expands the influence of the

ascending chromatic slide (Example 4).








Graph 4a shows the l inkage from the cadence concluding the sixth waltz to the opening of the seventh.12 While the melodic

gesture is untransposed, the pitch alterations are significant and include:

1. the addition of as 7th, turning C -as-tonic ( ) into C -as-V7/F ;2. the expansion of the sliding neighboring minor third to major third;13 3. the extension of the chromatic slide by one more step (consistent with the openings of the first and second waltzes),

which leads to the augmented triad C-E - implying V7 of F .

Graph 4b shows the other possible dominant contexts of the C augmented triad, which, taken together, complete a major

thirds cycle. Interestingly, is briefly implied in m. 9, beats 1-2; however, V/ A, which is revealed as the true V-I function at

the end of the introduction and beginning of the waltz proper (mm. 18-19) is the only one of the three dominant possibilities

without reinforcement by its seventh.

Graph 4c provides a harmonic sketch of the introduction. Its progress may be viewed in three stages. Stage 1 implies the

progression V7 to Iadd6 in F major (over the bass pedal point on C ). Stage 2 briefly implies , then leads to the

ascending chromatic slide (now expanded from major third to full augmented triad) down an octave from the opening; as a

result, C 4 loses its status as bass pedal. Finally, the augmented triad slide is enharmonically respelled, consistent with its

resolution to A major. (Note that the resolution as V-I in A coincides with the ascent to another augmented triad - -

A (designated as y), which together with the preceding slide completes the aggregate.)

Graph 4d shows a further twist in the voice leading from the introduction to the beginning of the waltz proper. That is, the

resolution of dominant to tonic coincides with the progression from X ( -E - ) to Y ( - - A); upon reaching Y, X

comes back—not as dominant but as the "unresolved appoggiatura" embellishment to tonic . Like the opening of the second

waltz, the same augmented triad represents both tonic and dominant functions.

Certainly the foregoing observations on the Valses nobles are not complete analyses, and several other significant premises

are implicated. Nevertheless, Ravel's analytical comment on the opening of the first waltz provided a vital clue to its status as

compositional premise. More important, this premise turns out to be robust enough to catalyze the analytical process for the

cycle as a whole.

A second example from Valses nobles is perhaps the best known of Ravel's "self-analyses." In a note to pianist and

composer René Lenormand, who at the time was collecting examples for his Étude sur l'harmonie moderne, Ravel writes:

"With regard to unresolved appoggiaturas, here is a passage which may interest you. It is taken from a suite of waltzes which

were performed some time ago at the S.M.I. [Société Musicale Indépendante], and which should be published shortly by

Durand, entitled Valses nobles et sentimentales."14 The passage in question is the opening of the Trio to Valse #7 ; Ravel's

analysis is reproduced in Example 5.

Example 5. Valse nob le #7, Trio and Ravel's own analysis.















The novelty of the passage lies in the dissonance between the bass arpeggiation of an F major triad and the melodic

figuration of the treble, whose apparent tonal focus is E major a semitone away. Instead of reading the passage as some

sort of polytonal superimposition, Ravel neatly accounts for all the dissonant tones in the passage as either passing tones or

unresolved appoggiaturas to a prolonged six-five chord on F ; for the appoggiaturas he actually writes in the imaginary

resolutions in parentheses. Further, by specifying that the true resolution does not occur until the chord change at letter A ,

Ravel interprets a de facto "middleground" level by implying the prolongation of the appoggiatura tones.15

At the same time, however, the analyst who takes Ravel's description at face value may misread or ignore the broader

compositional context for the passage. While the composer's words greatly illuminate the prolongational and voice-leading

aspects of the passage, they stop short of addressing the associational features, as well as the compositional motivation for

this particular dissonant combination and not some other. Of course this is not to criticize Ravel for what he did not choose to

talk about, but rather is intended as a cautionary to the analyst.

Example 6 takes Ravel's description as a point of departure and sketches the remainder of the Trio, up to the return of the

introduction preparing the reprise.

Example 6. Valse nob le #7, Trio and my analysis.

Thus F six-five gives way to G six-five with the same progression stated in sequence a step higher. Thereafter, at m. 91 the

sequence is broken off at E 7 which, instead of resolving to A, alternates with C 7, as the dominants of A and F battle it out. At

m. 102, the return of the introduction once again implies F major, which gives way as before to A major with the return of the

waltz proper.

According to Ravel's comments, in the Trio the treble E major is "sublimated" to the bass arpeggiation of F major as

unresolved appoggiatura. However, when the passage is considered within a broader structural context—i.e., the Trio and

the flanking waltz proper —we realize that E major's "sublimation" as unresolved appoggiatura is linked to its eventual re-







The prelude and first verse are set in the diatonic linear idiom that Ravel favored in the late works. Tonally, the music is

poised between F and D as pitch centers without firmly committing to either. In the end, verse four replicates the vocal line to

verse one; the original diatonic accompaniment, however, is replaced by a lone voice arpeggiating a augmented triad,

petering out on the single pitch 3 sustained for seven bars. In the postlude, the prelude music is restated an octave

higher, now underpinned by an arpeggiated major-minor seventh with added sharp ninth; the resulting superimposition

sounds maximally dissonant and quite eerie.

Such a radical disjunction between beginning and ending tonal domains is unparalleled in Ravel's works. Yet his choice to

conclude the song in this manner makes sense in light of his remarks on Milhaud's polytonality: "Milhaud's occasional use of

polytonality is so intricately interwoven with lyric and poetic elements as to be scarcely distinguishable." Let us substitute

Ravel for Milhaud in the statement. Then consider the poetic elements. Semantically, the poem unfolds as a kind of journey

from an opening state, poised between real and dream, to a concluding point in which the dream-state is made explicit.

Syntactically, this journey unfolds as a progressive deconstruction of normative syntax: thus verse one comprises two simple

statements of subject-verb-object; verse two stretches this to one statement; verse three inverts the syntax, now ordered as

object-verb-subject; and verse four omits subject and verb altogether, consisting of three prepositional phrases leading off

with "Dans un vieux rêve" (In an old dream). In this way, Ravel takes the poem's depiction of a dream by means of the

deconstruction of normative syntax, and creates an isomorphic musical structure by deconstructing a conventional tonal

syntax: i.e., by beginning diatonically and concluding polytonally.19 Had I not known Ravel's comments on Milhaud's music, it

seems likely that my analysis not only would have taken a far different path, but also would not have been able to explain the

central issue of the song—the motivation for the ending.

In conclusion, let us return to the issue of veracity. With a nod to my history colleague, I share his skepticism with respect to

composers speaking about their music in ageneral sense. If, however, composers choose to comment on technical aspects

of their work—i.e., to assume the role of self-analyst—then the potential for veracity increases in relation to the specificity of

the observation. For the three passages considered above, Ravel is very specific in a) identifying a motive that has

significant voice-leading and harmonic implications, not only for the movement in question but across other movements as

well; b) identifying a chord that marks the unresolved appoggiatura as a critical factor in his harmonic language; and c)revealing text (or, more broadly, "poetic elements") as a primary motivation for employing polytonality. Each of these serves

as a compositional premise within its respective movements.

Given that analytical methodologies simultaneously serve as enablers and constraints in bringing to light particular structural

features and ignoring others, how does a teacher of analysis advise her/his students to choose the most appropriate one(s),

especially for twentieth-century practice? Obviously the decision is an individual one. But, based on my experience in

working with Ravel's music, I would suggest that the composer-as-analyst is an underutilized resource, and one that has the







potential to jumpstart the analytical process at a formative stage. Composers' words, theorists' analyses—sometimes the

twain shall meet.

Ravel Musical Style

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