Joyeux Anniversaire to Maurice Ravel, BOTD in 1875.  

Regarded as France’s greatest living composer the during his lifetime, Ravel cuts an enigmatic figure. He was one of Les Apaches (‘the hooligans’). a constantly changing group of young. irreverent artists. poets, critics, writers and musicians who between them created the cultural mood of the early 20th century.This makes him sound dangerously exciting and outrageously boho, but he wasn’t. No known feckless womanising or drunken brawling; he was self-contained, rather aloof, very meticulous about his clothes (see pic), a connoisseur of fine food and wine. He worked slowly and methodically, refining every detail. His friend and collaborator Igor Stravinsky (cat fan) compared him to ‘the most perfect of Swiss watchmakers’. which was quite smart of him, as Ravel’s father was part Swiss and had been a successful engineer and inventor.

Ravel’s style blended classicism, baroque and modernism, with a generous helping of jazz, and always paid attention to melody. He wrote songs, operas, ballets, chamber music and piano pieces and was particularly noted for his orchestration of other’s works. 

He might not have been the most prolific of composers, but much of his work is still performed, especially the famous Bolero (1928) that propelled British iceskaters Torvill and Dean to Olympic gold in the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics.      

The Important Bit

Ravel adored cats,  particularly Siamese. Allegedly there were at least seven in the Ravel residence, and they were all welcome in his work room and to clamber about on the piano. Ravel claimed to be able to speak Cat, and frequently did, as witnessed by many guests. And when he wrote letters to his friends and family, were stuffed with news about his cats’ activities, and often signed off in a catly manner (‘I lick your nose’).  

His exceptional fluency in Cat was showcased in his one-act opera, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (The Child  and the Magic Spells), based on a short story by Colette. A naughty boy mistreats his  pets, his toys and his belongings. One night, by magic, they become articulate and turn on him. His cats get very menacing, expressing their anger in a yowling duet, Duo Miaule .    

Ravel is in the house

An extra frisson for us is that in 1921, Ravel and the cats moved to a house called  Le Belvédère!  It was a modest house on the fringe of small town of Montfort-l’Amoury, 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Paris, and became  the Musee-Maison Maurice Ravel after the composer’s death in 1937. Belvedere and I are planning a trip in the summer. 

See more about musicians and their cats in Musical Cats, part of the Creative Cats series. 

Buy the CD here 

email link