On days when I’ve got a lot of work to do, I’ll often post something short or simply cut and paste, with a few tweaks, from the Classic Ross Amico archive. If it happens to be the birthday of a major composer – in this case, Maurice Ravel, born on this date in 1875 – I try to take a fresh perspective, if I can, since I tend to write about the subject every year. I thought this year, I might write about Ravel’s experiences in the United States with George Gershwin and, by extension, jazz. But of course the subject is an involved one. And really, I don’t know how I could handle it any better than it has been by the writer at the link. Enjoy the musical examples below, and happy birthday, Maurice Ravel!

https://cso.org/experience/article/7984/fascinatin-rhythm-when-ravel-met-gershwin

Ravel, Piano Concerto in G, 1929-31 (Leonard Bernstein in concert)

Gershwin, Concerto in F, 1925

Ravel, “Blues” from Violin Sonata No. 2, 1923-27 (completed before his trip to the States)

Gershwin, “An American Paris,” 1928 (Bernstein in concert)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HI62_udgEI

PHOTO: Ravel (seated), in New York the day after his 53rd birthday, in 1928, with (left to right) conductor Oskar Fried, mezzo-soprano Éva Gauthier, composer-conductor Manoah Leide-Tedesco, and George Gershwin