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MAURICE RAVEL
"Très Rythmé" from String Quartet in F Major

Maurice Ravel, meticulous yet hot-headed, took after both of his parents, a Swiss engineer and a Basque peasant. Even though he was raised in Paris, Ravel was a perennial outsider who got himself expelled from the Paris Conservatory once as a piano student in 1895, and then again in 1900 after he returned as a composer and wouldn’t follow the rules for writing a proper fugue. His five consecutive rejections in the prestigious Rome Prize competition became something of a public scandal, and even his own teacher, Gabriel Fauré, piled on when he labeled Ravel’s final submission “a failure.” The submitted piece was none other than the String Quartet in F Major, which has long since taken its rightful place as a cornerstone of the quartet repertoire.

One musician who recognized the power of Ravel’s quartet was Debussy, who wrote to his younger colleague, “In the name of the gods of music and in my own, do not touch a single note you have written in your Quartet.” Ravel’s quartet in fact shares many traits with Debussy’s own string quartet from a decade earlier, in the way they both develop thematic connections that link the separate movements. In the famous second movement of Ravel’s quartet, the material takes on a Spanish flair with strummed textures and moody scales related to Flamenco music, showing off Ravel’s deep connection to his mother’s roots. This fiery material gets refracted through Ravel’s fastidious sense of form, taking on the quality that led Stravinsky to offer a famously backhanded compliment, calling Ravel “the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers.” Orpheus commissioned this arrangement by Michi Wiancko to get the whole ensemble involved in this iconic snapshot of Ravel’s blended identity. 

© 2023 Aaron Grad

 

Orpheus Insight
Michi Wiancko, orchestrator

The art of orchestration can sometimes feel like a tricky exercise in navigating sacrilege, especially with a universally beloved piece. In the case of Ravel's String Quartet, however, its boundless playground of colors and textures lended itself very organically to the process of instrumental expansion, so much so that it made me genuinely marvel at how Ravel managed to fit an entire chamber orchestra into one string quartet.

As a violinist and chamber musician myself, it was a joy to work on a piece that was deeply formative to my musical upbringing. Many thanks to the fabulous Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for entrusting me with this project!

 

MAURICE RAVEL
"Très Rythmé" from String Quartet in F Major

Maurice Ravel, meticulous yet hot-headed, took after both of his parents, a Swiss engineer and a Basque peasant. Even though he was raised in Paris, Ravel was a perennial outsider who got himself expelled from the Paris Conservatory once as a piano student in 1895, and then again in 1900 after he returned as a composer and wouldn’t follow the rules for writing a proper fugue. His five consecutive rejections in the prestigious Rome Prize competition became something of a public scandal, and even his own teacher, Gabriel Fauré, piled on when he labeled Ravel’s final submission “a failure.” The submitted piece was none other than the String Quartet in F Major, which has long since taken its rightful place as a cornerstone of the quartet repertoire.

One musician who recognized the power of Ravel’s quartet was Debussy, who wrote to his younger colleague, “In the name of the gods of music and in my own, do not touch a single note you have written in your Quartet.” Ravel’s quartet in fact shares many traits with Debussy’s own string quartet from a decade earlier, in the way they both develop thematic connections that link the separate movements. In the famous second movement of Ravel’s quartet, the material takes on a Spanish flair with strummed textures and moody scales related to Flamenco music, showing off Ravel’s deep connection to his mother’s roots. This fiery material gets refracted through Ravel’s fastidious sense of form, taking on the quality that led Stravinsky to offer a famously backhanded compliment, calling Ravel “the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers.” Orpheus commissioned this arrangement by Michi Wiancko to get the whole ensemble involved in this iconic snapshot of Ravel’s blended identity. 

© 2023 Aaron Grad

 

Orpheus Insight
Michi Wiancko, orchestrator

The art of orchestration can sometimes feel like a tricky exercise in navigating sacrilege, especially with a universally beloved piece. In the case of Ravel's String Quartet, however, its boundless playground of colors and textures lended itself very organically to the process of instrumental expansion, so much so that it made me genuinely marvel at how Ravel managed to fit an entire chamber orchestra into one string quartet.

As a violinist and chamber musician myself, it was a joy to work on a piece that was deeply formative to my musical upbringing. Many thanks to the fabulous Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for entrusting me with this project!