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Rename sections: "1910 to First World War" and "War" to "1910 to 1914" and "First World War" Tags: Reverted 2017 wikitext editor |
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Ravel's first concert outside France was in 1909. As the guest of the Vaughan Williamses, he visited London, where he played for the Société des Concerts Français, gaining favourable reviews and enhancing his growing international reputation.<ref>"Société des Concerts Français", ''The Times'', 27 April 1909, p. 8; and Nichols (2011), pp. 108–109</ref>{{refn|Ravel, known for his gourmet tastes, developed an unexpected enthusiasm for English cooking, particularly [[steak and kidney pudding]] with [[stout]].<ref>Nichols (2011), p. 109</ref>|group= n}}
===1910 to
[[File:Maurice-Ravel-1913.png|thumb|upright|Ravel in 1913]]
The [[Société Nationale de Musique]], founded in 1871 to promote the music of rising French composers, had been dominated since the mid-1880s by a conservative faction led by [[Vincent d'Indy]].<ref>Strasser, p. 251</ref> Ravel, together with several other former pupils of Fauré, set up a new, modernist organisation, the Société Musicale Indépendente, with Fauré as its president.{{refn|Fauré also retained the presidency of the rival Société Nationale, retaining the affection and respect of members of both bodies, including d'Indy.<ref>Jones, p. 133</ref>|group= n}} The new society's inaugural concert took place on 20 April 1910; the seven items on the programme included premieres of Fauré's song cycle ''[[La chanson d'Ève]]'', Debussy's piano suite ''D'un cahier d'esquisses'', [[Zoltán Kodály]]'s ''Six pièces pour piano'' and the original piano duet version of Ravel's ''Ma mère l'Oye''. The performers included Fauré, [[Florent Schmitt]], [[Ernest Bloch]], [[Pierre Monteux]] and, in the Debussy work, Ravel.<ref>"Courrier Musicale", ''[[Le Figaro]]'', 20 April 1910, p. 6</ref> Kelly considers it a sign of Ravel's new influence that the society featured Satie's music in a concert in January 1911.<ref name=grove/>
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Ravel composed little during 1913. He collaborated with Stravinsky on a performing version of [[Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]]'s unfinished opera ''[[Khovanshchina]]'', and his own works were the ''[[Trois poèmes de Mallarmé]]'' for soprano and chamber ensemble, and two short piano pieces, ''À la manière de Borodine'' and ''À la manière de Chabrier''.<ref name=ln9/> In 1913, together with Debussy, Ravel was among the musicians present at the dress rehearsal of ''[[The Rite of Spring]]''.<ref>Canarina, p. 43</ref> Stravinsky later said that Ravel was the only person who immediately understood the music.<ref>Nichols (1987), p. 113</ref> Ravel predicted that the premiere of the ''Rite'' would be seen as an event of historic importance equal to that of ''Pelléas et Mélisande''.<ref>Nichols (2011), p. 157</ref> {{refn|The public premiere was the scene of a near-riot, with factions of the audience for and against the work, but the music rapidly entered the repertory in the theatre and the concert hall.<ref>Canarina, pp. 42 and 47</ref>|group= n}}<!---citevar violation At the end of the year Ravel was in England, visiting the novelist [[Arnold Bennett]] in his Essex home; the two had known each other since meeting in 1908, when Bennett was living in France.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Drabble |first=Margaret |title=Arnold Bennett |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1974 |isbn=0 8600 7724 1 |location=London |pages=200}}</ref>-->
===First World War===
[[File:Maurice-Ravel-soldier-1916.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=middle aged man in French military uniform wrapped up in fur overcoat|Ravel in the [[French Army]] in 1916]]
When Germany invaded France in 1914, Ravel tried to join the [[French Air Force]]. He considered his small stature and light weight ideal for an aviator, but was rejected because of his age and a minor heart complaint.<ref>Jankélévitch, p. 179</ref> While waiting to be enlisted, Ravel composed ''[[Trois Chansons (Ravel)|Trois Chansons]]'', his only work for [[a cappella]] choir, setting his own texts in the tradition of French 16th-century chansons. He dedicated the three songs to people who might help him to enlist.<ref>Nichols (2011), p. 179</ref> After several unsuccessful attempts to enlist, Ravel finally joined the Thirteenth Artillery Regiment as a lorry driver in March 1915, when he was forty.<ref name=o93>Orenstein (1995), p. 93</ref> Stravinsky expressed admiration for his friend's courage: "at his age and with his name he could have had an easier place, or done nothing".<ref>''Quoted'' in Nichols (1987), p. 113</ref> Some of Ravel's duties put him in mortal danger, driving munitions at night under heavy German bombardment. At the same time his peace of mind was undermined by his mother's failing health. His own health also deteriorated; he suffered from insomnia and digestive problems, underwent a bowel operation following [[amoebic dysentery]] in September 1916, and had frostbite in his feet the following winter.<ref>Larner, p. 158</ref>
During the war, the Ligue Nationale pour la Defense de la Musique Française was formed by Saint-Saëns, Dubois, d'Indy and others, campaigning for a ban on the performance of contemporary German music.<ref>Fulcher (2001), pp. 207–208</ref> Ravel declined to join, telling the committee of the league in 1916, "It would be dangerous for French composers to ignore systematically the productions of their foreign colleagues, and thus form themselves into a sort of national coterie: our musical art, which is so rich at the present time, would soon degenerate, becoming isolated in banal formulas."<ref>Orenstein (2003), p. 169</ref> The league responded by banning Ravel's music from its concerts.<ref>Fulcher (2001), p. 208</ref>
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