Reaktion Books

Maurice Ravel - Emily Kilpatrick

One of Financial Times’s Best Books of 2025: Classical and Pop MusicMaurice Ravel is one of the twentieth century’s most intriguing and contradictory composers. This timely new biography – published for the 150th anniversary of his birth – describes Ravel’s journey from Parisian apprentice to global musical icon. Drawing on fresh research, Emily Kilpatrick reveals Ravel as both a daring provocateur and a reflective elder, his lifelong quest for originality driven by his deep love of history and literature. Set against a background of profound cultural and political upheaval, Ravel’s story unfolds through his battles with the artistic establishment, his creative resilience after wartime losses and the tragic incapacitation of his final years. The result is an intimate portrait of a composer whose music continues to enchant and challenge audiences worldwide.

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