Except for a group of three songs, the two piano concertos were the last things Ravel wrote. They have been said to be the culmination of Ravel's style; and, since they were written simultaneously, much attention has been drawn to a comparison of the two, particularly with emphasis on their divergent features. It is the purpose of this paper to show the interesting circumstances under which these concertos came to exist, to acknowledge the differences recognized by authors and critics, and to point out some important ways in which these concertos are similar to each other.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the piano style of Maurice Ravel, including his musical style and influences of other composers on his piano works.

A concepção da interpretação de uma obra musical pode advir de um processo sustentado por reflexão e ímpeto, agregando razão e emoção, o qual é gerado por impulsos e diversos conhecimentos, sendo estes musicais e/ou extra-musicais, objetivos e subjetivos. Estes são criados e reunidos ao longo da vida, durante o período de formação musical e a partir de contatos com diversas artes e normalmente dinamizado ao longo da leitura de uma determinada obra, de maneira consciente e inconsciente. Aprofundam-se através da prática musical, pesquisas e também da chamada tradição oral, através da relação mestre/discípulo. Este memorial disserta sobre meu processo de leitura, estudo e performance das Valsas Nobres e Sentimentais de Maurice Ravel, realizado durante meu curso de mestrado. Procuro reconhecer e esclarecer algumas de minhas escolhas musicais e os conhecimentos que mobilizei, adquiri e transmutei ao longo deste processo, paralelamente às reflexões de meu orientador, Ney Fialkow. Para tanto, foi necessário o registro de alguns dos meus encontros de orientação, momentos de meus estudos, algumas de minhas performances e idéias que foram geradas e despertadas durante todo este percurso. O possível reconhecimento e verbalização de todos estes registros podem muitas vezes tornar-se imprecisos, ou até mesmo impossíveis. Não há aqui a pretensão de desenvolver um guia de estudo, nem tampouco uma versão final da minha interpretação, já que esta se encontra sempre em movimento e renovação. É um registro de um determinado momento e como o mesmo se deu, ora sustentado por argumentos fundamentados em pesquisas ora por um universo fantástico e etéreo. / The interpretation concept of a musical piece may result from a process based on reflection and momentum, adding reason and emotion, which is generated by impulses and diverse knowledge, being this knowledge musical and / or extra-musical, objective and subjective. It is created and gathered throughout lifetime, during the period of musical training and from contacts with various types of art being normally activated while reading a particular piece of music in a consciously and unconsciously manner. This knowledge is deepened through musical practice, research, and the so called oral tradition, and through the master / disciple relationship. This memorial speaks about my process of reading, study and performance of the Noble and Sentimental Waltzes by Maurice Ravel, performed during my Master’s course. I try to recognize and clarify some of my musical choices and the knowledge I activated, acquired and transmuted along this process, in parallel with the reflections of my advisor, Ney Fialkow. Therefore, it was necessary to record some of my meetings with the advisor, moments of personal studies and some of my performances and ideas that were generated and arouse along this period of time. The possibility of recognition and verbalization of all these records can often become inaccurate or even impossible. There is not any intention here to develop a study guide, nor a final version of my interpretation, as this is always dynamic and renewable. It is a record of a particular moment and how it was carried out. At times, supported by arguments based on researches and at other times by a fantastic and ethereal universe.

Abstract This thesis deals with Maurice Ravel's Concerto for piano and Orchestra in G major. At first, it makes readers acquainted with important matters in author?s life and then it presents a genesis of the work and its first reception. Overview of the main inspiration sources, which are reflected in Concerto in G major follows. On basis of the analysis of harmony, musical form, piano stylization and comments of the first interpreter of the work, Marguerite Long, are formulated conclusions, important for acquirement of appropriate viewpoints for the proper interpretation. These attitudes are confronted with top performances of this composition, first by Marguerite Long and than by renowned pianists from different countries (Leonard Bernstein, Boris Krajný and Hélène Grimaud). Supplement of this thesis is a CD, which documents a few examples of the basque music, which was one of the main inspiration sources of the Concerto in G major and contents recordings of this piece of all above-mentioned pianists.

A concepção da interpretação de uma obra musical pode advir de um processo sustentado por reflexão e ímpeto, agregando razão e emoção, o qual é gerado por impulsos e diversos conhecimentos, sendo estes musicais e/ou extra-musicais, objetivos e subjetivos. Estes são criados e reunidos ao longo da vida, durante o período de formação musical e a partir de contatos com diversas artes e normalmente dinamizado ao longo da leitura de uma determinada obra, de maneira consciente e inconsciente. Aprofundam-se através da prática musical, pesquisas e também da chamada tradição oral, através da relação mestre/discípulo. Este memorial disserta sobre meu processo de leitura, estudo e performance das Valsas Nobres e Sentimentais de Maurice Ravel, realizado durante meu curso de mestrado. Procuro reconhecer e esclarecer algumas de minhas escolhas musicais e os conhecimentos que mobilizei, adquiri e transmutei ao longo deste processo, paralelamente às reflexões de meu orientador, Ney Fialkow. Para tanto, foi necessário o registro de alguns dos meus encontros de orientação, momentos de meus estudos, algumas de minhas performances e idéias que foram geradas e despertadas durante todo este percurso. O possível reconhecimento e verbalização de todos estes registros podem muitas vezes tornar-se imprecisos, ou até mesmo impossíveis. Não há aqui a pretensão de desenvolver um guia de estudo, nem tampouco uma versão final da minha interpretação, já que esta se encontra sempre em movimento e renovação. É um registro de um determinado momento e como o mesmo se deu, ora sustentado por argumentos fundamentados em pesquisas ora por um universo fantástico e etéreo. / The interpretation concept of a musical piece may result from a process based on reflection and momentum, adding reason and emotion, which is generated by impulses and diverse knowledge, being this knowledge musical and / or extra-musical, objective and subjective. It is created and gathered throughout lifetime, during the period of musical training and from contacts with various types of art being normally activated while reading a particular piece of music in a consciously and unconsciously manner. This knowledge is deepened through musical practice, research, and the so called oral tradition, and through the master / disciple relationship. This memorial speaks about my process of reading, study and performance of the Noble and Sentimental Waltzes by Maurice Ravel, performed during my Master’s course. I try to recognize and clarify some of my musical choices and the knowledge I activated, acquired and transmuted along this process, in parallel with the reflections of my advisor, Ney Fialkow. Therefore, it was necessary to record some of my meetings with the advisor, moments of personal studies and some of my performances and ideas that were generated and arouse along this period of time. The possibility of recognition and verbalization of all these records can often become inaccurate or even impossible. There is not any intention here to develop a study guide, nor a final version of my interpretation, as this is always dynamic and renewable. It is a record of a particular moment and how it was carried out. At times, supported by arguments based on researches and at other times by a fantastic and ethereal universe.

A concepção da interpretação de uma obra musical pode advir de um processo sustentado por reflexão e ímpeto, agregando razão e emoção, o qual é gerado por impulsos e diversos conhecimentos, sendo estes musicais e/ou extra-musicais, objetivos e subjetivos. Estes são criados e reunidos ao longo da vida, durante o período de formação musical e a partir de contatos com diversas artes e normalmente dinamizado ao longo da leitura de uma determinada obra, de maneira consciente e inconsciente. Aprofundam-se através da prática musical, pesquisas e também da chamada tradição oral, através da relação mestre/discípulo. Este memorial disserta sobre meu processo de leitura, estudo e performance das Valsas Nobres e Sentimentais de Maurice Ravel, realizado durante meu curso de mestrado. Procuro reconhecer e esclarecer algumas de minhas escolhas musicais e os conhecimentos que mobilizei, adquiri e transmutei ao longo deste processo, paralelamente às reflexões de meu orientador, Ney Fialkow. Para tanto, foi necessário o registro de alguns dos meus encontros de orientação, momentos de meus estudos, algumas de minhas performances e idéias que foram geradas e despertadas durante todo este percurso. O possível reconhecimento e verbalização de todos estes registros podem muitas vezes tornar-se imprecisos, ou até mesmo impossíveis. Não há aqui a pretensão de desenvolver um guia de estudo, nem tampouco uma versão final da minha interpretação, já que esta se encontra sempre em movimento e renovação. É um registro de um determinado momento e como o mesmo se deu, ora sustentado por argumentos fundamentados em pesquisas ora por um universo fantástico e etéreo. / The interpretation concept of a musical piece may result from a process based on reflection and momentum, adding reason and emotion, which is generated by impulses and diverse knowledge, being this knowledge musical and / or extra-musical, objective and subjective. It is created and gathered throughout lifetime, during the period of musical training and from contacts with various types of art being normally activated while reading a particular piece of music in a consciously and unconsciously manner. This knowledge is deepened through musical practice, research, and the so called oral tradition, and through the master / disciple relationship. This memorial speaks about my process of reading, study and performance of the Noble and Sentimental Waltzes by Maurice Ravel, performed during my Master’s course. I try to recognize and clarify some of my musical choices and the knowledge I activated, acquired and transmuted along this process, in parallel with the reflections of my advisor, Ney Fialkow. Therefore, it was necessary to record some of my meetings with the advisor, moments of personal studies and some of my performances and ideas that were generated and arouse along this period of time. The possibility of recognition and verbalization of all these records can often become inaccurate or even impossible. There is not any intention here to develop a study guide, nor a final version of my interpretation, as this is always dynamic and renewable. It is a record of a particular moment and how it was carried out. At times, supported by arguments based on researches and at other times by a fantastic and ethereal universe.

Ravel' s "Tombeau de Couperin," a suite for piano, was published in 1918 by Durand. Its first performance was in the Salle Gaveau in Paris in April, 1919. Shortly afterwards Ravel scored four of the six movements of the piano suite for small orchestra, composed of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns in pairs, English horn, trumpet, harp, and strings, The new version was introduced in America in 1920. The four orchestrated movements, Prelude, Forlane, Menuet, and Rigaudon, have no programmatic content and the titles identify the forms used. "Le Tombeau de Couperin" is a souvenir of World War I. Each movement is dedicated to the memory of a French soldier fallen in battle. The "Tombeau" form dates from the seventeenth century and is a musical "homage" to Francois Couperin, clavecinist of Louis XIV, and one of the great names of French music. "The separate movements, cast in eighteenth century dance forms often used by Qouperin have been described as "tonal wreaths," not too somber nor too profuse, laid with tenderness on an unforgotten tomb." This piece represents Ravel's extreme effort to express himself in the simplest possible manner. The music is subtly archaic; form, line and texture artfully suggest eighteenth century, but the harmony suggests twentieth century. "A transparent serenity full of color and feeling pervades this piece of classic purity written in tribute to Ravel's fallen comrades." A study of the piano suite has been made. The pieces are charmingly and precisely orchestrated. They have been used for a ballet which will not be dealt with.

In his song cycle, Chansons madécasses (1926), a chamber work for voice, piano, flute, and cello, Maurice Ravel combines twentieth-century musical experimentation and exoticism with the late nineteenth-century style characteristics present in the vocal elements and instrumentation. Because early twentieth-century music appears to be closely connected to modern concerns, performers may tend to dismiss the style and technique of the early twentieth century as simply "old-fashioned" rather than examine and consider those elements as resources and valuable tools for interpreting and presenting authentic performances. The focus of this research includes a discussion of the historical, social, and textual implications of the music and poetry; a formal musical analysis of the work, including comparisons of an early twentieth-century, mid-century, and late twentieth-century recordings with regard to the use of vibrato and portamento in the voice, cello, and flute; and an examination of Chansons madécasses for elements of authentic Malagasy music and poetry. The paper also suggests methodologies for performance practice which reflect the results of these analyses. The beginnings of the rejection of traditional form - harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic structures - found in the early part of the century began to free composers and performers to explore musical presentations that gain their power not only from startling and unexpected elements of exoticism and interpretation but also from their romantic roots, which spurred the desire for a raw, even melodramatic, emotionalism. Ravel, without sacrificing the integrity of his native language, is able to blend his text with his accompaniment in a way that uses both the poem and the music to advance the "plot" and emotion of the narration, producing what might be described as a near perfect union of form and theme, structure and idea.

In considering Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition, this paper will consider the work of Ravel from two aspects. First, it will deal with Ravel as a classical craftsman as evident in this orchestration. Second, it will explore this work and in two of his original works in which color is of main importance and some of his characteristics as a colorist. These considerations will follow a preliminary background of Mussorgsky’s piano score, and extant editions thereof.

It is interesting to note that several of Ravel's compositions for the piano were successful only after he had orchestrated them. Ravel, a pianist, had a natural gift for orchestration, and when writing for the piano he seems to have projected his thoughts to the orchestra; thus some of his works are more successful' for the orchestra than for the piano. Since he orchestrated several of his own piano compositions, these present an excellent opportunity for a study of his orchestrations.