January's Composer: Maurice Ravel

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a French pianist who composed in the Impressionistic style.  He wrote piano solos, piano concertos, works for orchestra, and a ballet.  He is also known for his colorful orchestrations of other composer's piano solos, like Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Learn more by. . .

• Reading an article in the January issue of Piano Explorer magazine.
• Watching videos on the Piano Explorer website.
• Listen to this video of Mrs. Troutner's favorite Ravel piano solo.  :)  The title means "playing water," and Ravel included one line of a poem with the music: "The river god laughs at the water as it tickles him."  What pictures come to mind as you listen?

                        J'eux Deau (Playing Water) by Ravel