FamousFrenchPeopleMauriceRavel©byRobertShepherdVocabulary&pronunciationstudybyLaurentDufour©WordsareexplainedalongsidethetextStressedsyllablesareunderlinedandinbold*

Hello,you’relisteningtoRobertShepherdonEnglishWaves.

It’stimeforthelatestinstalmentofFamousFrenchandwe’regoingtofocusonsomeonefromtheworldofclassicalmusic.Ourlatestsubjectwasa19thandearly20thcenturycomposer,whosebest-knownworksareBoléroandDaphnisetChloé.Bynowyou’veprobablyguessedit’sMauriceRavel.

He was born on 7th March 1875 in Ciboure, France. Ravel’sfather,Pierre-JosephRavel,wasasaneducatedandsuccessfulengineer,inventorandmanufacturer,borninVersoixneartheFranco-Swiss border. Ravel’s mother, Marie, came from aBasquefamily.BothRavel'sparentswereRomanCatholics.

Attheageof14,Ravelwasadmittedtotheprestigiousmusicand dance school Paris Conservatoire, and he later studiedunderthegreatGabrielFauré.

Ravel continued to study at the school until his early 20s.During that time he composed some of hismost renownedworks, such as the Pavane pour une infante défunte, Jeuxd'eauandapiecethatRaveldedicatedtoFaurécalledStringQuartet inFMajor.What’smore,RavelwentontocomposeLe Tombeau de Couperin, a suitewritten for the solo piano,plustheorchestralpiecesRapsodieespagnoleandBoléro.

His stock rose so high that hewas commissioned by SergeyDiaghilev to create the ballet Daphnis et Chloé, which hecompletedin1912.

In1920,hecompletedLaValse,apiecewithvaryingcreditsasaballetandconcertwork.

Throughout his life, Ravel declined not only the Légion

instalment(n.)episode

border(n.)frontierline

stringquartet(n.)pieceofmusicwrittenforagroupoffourinstrumentswithstringsthatplaytogether

F=musicalnote

stock(n.)theestimationinwhichsomeoneisheld

tocomplete(vb.)tobringtoanend,finish

credit(n.)recognition

throughout(prep.)throughthewholeof

d'honneurbutallstatehonoursfromFrance,refusingto lethisnamegoforwardforelectiontotheInstitutdeFrance.

However, he wasn’t averse to accepting foreign awards,including honorary membership of the Royal PhilharmonicSociety in1921andanhonorarydoctorate fromtheUniversityofOxfordin1928.

Ravel,whomanyclaimtobeFrance’sbest-lovedcomposer,diedinParison28thDecember,1937.Heisrememberedforstating,"TheonlyloveaffairIhaveeverhadwaswithmusic."

After Ravel's death his brother Edouard, converted thecomposer'shouseatMontfort-l'Amauryintoamuseum,leavingitprettymuchasRavelhadlivedinit.TodaytheMaison-MuséedeMauriceRavelisopentothepublic.

StaytunedtoEnglishWaves.

togoforward(went-gone)(phrasalvb.)tomakeprogress

averse(adj.)opposed

foreign(adj.)comingfromadifferentcountry

award(n.)somethingsuchasprizethatisgiventosomeoneforbeingexcellent

toclaim(vb.)tostatesomethingastrue

*Tip!

Thefollowingwordscontainsilentletters:

forei(g)n,hi(gh),(h)onorary,(h)onour,sto(c)k,throu(gh)out,(w)hole,(w)hose