Ravel Book Review

Maurice Ravel

                               H. H. Stuckenschmidt

I just finished this remarkable biography of the life of Maurice Ravel, composer of Bolero. Ravel was born in the Basque region where the finest Swiss watches have been made for centuries. He lived and worked in Paris during that incredible period of the 1890’s through the 1930’s. Music, theatre, art and literature were paramount during that time and Ravel was in the middle of it all. There are many stories of meetings in cafe’s and artist homes, all brought to life by the engaging writing of H. H. Stuckenschmidt

I was pulled in from the first page and found myself notating quotes and stories throughout the book. Also, thanks to Youtube, I was able to listen to his music and observe his brilliant scores going by! I still have a lot of listening to do. A fabulous read. 

I appreciate that it came from the library of my recently departed and supremely talented artist friend, Carroll Jones III. Click here to see some of Carroll’s phenomenal work.