Maurice Ravel -The Swiss Watchmaker

Maurice Ravel was born on March 7, 1875, in the small fishing village of Ciboure in the Basque region, near the Franco-Spanish border.  His father, Pierre-Joseph, was a Frenchman of Swiss descent. Pierre-Joseph, a distinguished engineer, met and fell in love with his future wife, a young and beautiful Basque, Marie Delouart, at the time she worked on the Spanish railways.  A few months after Maurice's birth, the family moved from Ciboure to Paris. The parents of Maurice Ravel, Pierre-Joseph Ravel and Marie Delouart. Maurice had a happy childhood. The parents encouraged their two children - Edouard was born in 1878 - to follow their vocation. Maurice's inclination was music. He started music lessons at the age of seven.  Unlike the parents of other composers, Pierre-Joseph viewed positively the prospect of a musical career and sent Maurice to the France's most important musical college, the Conservatoire de Paris in 1889. In the same year, the Paris Exhibition brought toget
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Carl Maria von Weber - Euryanthe: Overture

Carl Maria von Weber composed the opera Euryanthe during the period 1822-23 and first presented it in Vienna on October 25, 1823. The work was based on a French medieval history of 13th century.  The year Euryanthe was presented was marked by Vienna's interest in Italian operas, particularly those of Rossini. Although the initail reception was enthusiastic, the opera lasted only twenty performances, with complaints about the libretto and the length of the opera. For the failure of the play, the somewhat wordy libretto of the poet and writer Helmina von Chézy was blamed. Franz Schubert also commented that "This is not music".

Nevertheless, the introduction is an excellent example of orchestral writing and remains one of the best.

The Overture begins with an extremely lively and cheerful phrase. Oboe and clarinet, supported by horn and trombones, then present a theme of three emphatic notes, followed by a shorter ascending group of notes (with a stressed rhythm). Soon the violins return vigorously, presenting a new melody, with a much more tender and lyrical mood.

The central part of the introduction includes two new episodes. First, a slow, quiet interlude performed by strings with "sourdina", which is associated with a demonic episode of the opera.

Then follows a more impetuous version of a theme than the previous ones, which Weber now attributes as a fugue. This leads to a repetition of the introduction and to a final rendition of this lovable lyrical melody, performed by the full orchestra. This exquisite music has not been successful in opera houses, but fortunately this excerpt of the work is often performed in concert halls all over the world.


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