Stamp - Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, near Saint-Jean-de-Luz, on March 7, 1875. He inherited the mathematical meticulousness and inventive spirit of his father, a Swiss engineer, while his Basque mother imbued him with Hispanic culture and song. At the Paris Conservatoire (1889-1905), Ravel studied piano, harmony and composition with Bériot, Gedalge and Fauré. His highly personal early works (Pavane pour une infante défunte, Jeux d'eau, Quatuor à cordes) did not prevent him from failing the Prix de Rome competition five times, triggering the scandal that became known as the "Ravel Affair" in 1905. Miroirs, Gaspard de la nuit, his Valses nobles et sentimentales, his Histoires naturelles and L'Heure espagnole nevertheless stand out for the originality of their language, their verve and their power of expression. His orchestral genius was already evident in Rapsodie espagnole, and blossomed in Daphnis et Chloé, premiered by the Ballets Russes in 1912 at the Châtelet. A volunteer enlisted man, he drove military trucks near Verdun in 1916. His Tombeau de Couperin is a tribute to friends who died for France. The Sonata for violin and cello is written in memory of Claude Debussy. Ravel, who had opposed the banning of Germanic works during the war, refused the Légion d'honneur in 1920, in the midst of composing La Valse. Settling in Montfort-l'Amaury, Ravel enjoyed success with L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (1925), for which Colette wrote the libretto, and above all with the bewitching Boléro, commissioned by Ida Rubinstein and premiered at the Paris Opéra (1928). In 1932, his Piano Concerto was dedicated to Marguerite Long, and the Concerto for the Left Hand to the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein. Stricken by a neurological disease, Ravel was unable to compose from 1934 onwards. He died in Paris on December 28, 1937, and is buried in the Levallois-Perret cemetery. The stamp's title features Maurice Ravel's original signature. Sheet edges: part of the autograph manuscript of Bolero.

Timbre-poste (héliogravure) : Création Stéphane Manel et mise en page Aurélie Baras, d'après photos (c) (c) Boris Lipnitzki / Roger-Viollet; Signature de Maurice Ravel. Bords de feuilles : Création Stéphane Manel et mise en page Aurélie Baras, "Bolero Orchestre (manuscrit autographe)", 1928, Source gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France