Musikalischer Kurier, vol. 2 no. 44 (29 October 1920): [405].

French composer, pianist, and conductor Maurice Ravel was born 143 years ago today, on 7 March 1875. The musical press published a number of interesting reviews throughout the early 20th century of his then recently premiered works. Today, we pay tribute to Ravel by sharing from our archives a few of these reviews.

The Baton, vol. 7 no. 6 (April 1928): 3.

Ravel completed his famous String Quartet in F Major at the age of 28. The New York premiere of this work was reviewed in the journal, The New Music Review and Church Music Review.

The New Music Review and Church Music Review, vol. 6 no. 63 (February 1907): 173.

A 1909 painting of Ravel by Achille OuvréBulletin français de la Société Internationale de Musique (S.I.M), vol. 6 no. 8 (Aug.-Sept. 1910): xxvi.

In 1912, less than one year after the piece’s premiere, Ravel’s acerbic Huit valses nobles et sentimentales was reviewed evocatively in the Bulletin français de la Société Internationale de Musique.

Monsieur Ravel will forgive us if we confess to him that his Eight valses nobles et sentimentales make us irresistibly think of some exotic fruits: we grit our teeth when we bite into it for the first time: we return by curiosity, then by pleasure, and finally we end up loving them more than all the others: we are still in the period of mistrust.

Bulletin français de la Société Internationale de Musique (S.I.M), vol. 8 no. 2 (15 February 1912): 76.

Unsurprisingly, as with this 1910 review of his Rhapsodie Espagnole below, Ravel’s harmonic language and orchestration likened comparisons to the compositions of fellow Frenchman, Claude Debussy.

The New Music Review and Church Music Review, vol. 9 no. 98 (January 1910): 86-87.

Pro-Musica Quarterly, vol. 2 no. 1 (December 1923): 4.

While some works by Ravel were received with mixed responses, others were hailed as immediate masterpieces. One such case was Boléro. Soon after its 1928 premiere, the piece was reviewed in the American journal Modern Music by Henry Prunières, a musicologist and founder of the French music journal, La Revue musicale.

Modern Music, vol. 6 no. 2 (January-February 1929): 37.

The Baton, vol. 7 no. 6 (April 1928): 1.

Again, happy birthday, Maurice!

RIPM search tip: To access the over 8,000 records related to Maurice Ravel and his works, search “Ravel” as a keyword in both the RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text and Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals!

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).

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The influential German music journal, Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung [AMZ], appeared weekly from 1798 to 1848, and again, from 1863 to 1882. Along with reviews and analyses of printed music, reports on musical life, announcements, news, and miscellaneous sections, many volumes contain at least one portrait of a musician. A number of the composers depicted in this periodical are lesser-known today, yet distinguished enough to be featured at the time of publication.

This week, we bring attention to a few of these lesser-known composers by presenting their featured portraits in the AMZ. Are you familiar with their music? Should we be?

A. B. Marx Vol. L, Supplementary pages ([5 January – 27 December 1848]): [1] 920/921.

Friedrich Heinrich Adolf Bernhard Marx (1795-1866) was a German composer whose works include oratorios, sonatas, and an opera, yet is perhaps best known today for his contributions as a music critic and theorist. In 1825, he became the editor of the Berliner allgemeine musikalische Zeitung and in 1830, upon the recommendation of longtime friend and colleague Felix Mendelssohn, was appointed professor of music at Berlin University. His publications include a seminal four-volume work, Die Lehre von der musikalischen Komposition, praktisch-theoretisch (The Theory and Practice of Musical Composition), and a biography of Beethoven.

G. W. Fink Vol. XLVIII, Supplementary pages ([7 January – 30 December 1846]): [1] 944/1

German composer, music theorist, and poet Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (1783-1846) was a longtime contributor to the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitschrift, and in 1827, became the magazine’s editor-in-chief. His compositions consist mainly of songs, many of which appeared in collected editions. He also edited the Musikalischer Hausschatz der Deutschen, a collection of around 1,000 German songs.

Niels W. Gade Vol. XLVII, Supplementary pages ([1 January – 31 December 1845]): [1] 888/1

Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) was a Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher. Born in Copenhagen, Gade moved to Germany in 1843 to teach at the Leipzig Conservatory, and in 1845, conducted the premiere of Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. In 1848, the First Schleswig War forced Gade to return to Denmark, where he soon after founded the Copenhagen Conservatory. His oeuvre includes symphonies, a violin concerto, chamber music, keyboard works, and cantatas. A number of Gade’s most popular works may be sampled in this lengthy recording.

Ferdinand Hiller Vol. II, Supplementary pages ([1864]): 1 S.

German composer, conductor, writer, and music-director Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was a leading figure in the musical life of 19th-century Germany, having worked professionally in Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dresden, and as twelve-time festival director of Das Niederrheinische Musikfest (Lower Rhenish Music Festival). The dedicatee and conductor of the premiere of Robert Schumann’s only piano concerto, Hiller’s own compositional output spans practically all genres. Below is an excerpt of his Opus 69 Piano Concerto.

Henri Herz Vol. XLII, Supplementary pages ([1 January – 23 December 1940]): [1] 1060/1

Henri Herz (1803-1888) was known as both a celebrated pianist and composer. Born in Vienna, Herz settled in Paris as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, where he became a longstanding professor. In 1839, Herz, like Sax and Pleyel, created a factory in Paris for the construction of instruments. Often, instrument manufacturers also built performance venues to promote their specific brands. Herz and his brother Jacques Simon Herz followed this model and constructed the Salle des Concerts Herz on the rue de la Victoire. Works of many well-known composers, including Berlioz and Offenbach were performed there.

Herz's published compositions include over 200 works, mostly for the piano; a sampling may be heard in the following clip below.

RIPM search tip: To view more portraits in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, access the RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, and fill in the following fields: Keyword = Porträt; Periodical = Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung [1798-1848]; Type = Illustration.

For more information on the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung, read RIPM‘s introduction to the journal in English, or, German!

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).ripm.org

The Baton (1922-32) was published by the Institute of Musical Art in New York City. In 1924, the Juilliard Graduate School opened, with its facilities directly adjacent to the Institute. By 1926 the two music schools merged although both continued to maintain their own administrations until 1946, when they officially unified as the Juilliard School of Music.

A charming feature of The Baton from 1923 to 1928 is a number of drawings by pianist, writer, and artist Leslie Fairchild. Particularly interested in depicting circus life, Fairchild’s sketches were displayed in several locations including the Ringling Museum of the American Circus in Sarasota, FL, the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI, and the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT. As a piano student, Fairchild incorporated musical symbols into a style of simple lines and shapes, adding a touch of whimsy to the journal’s written material. In 1928, he combined his drawing skills and musical training to write a children's piano method book entitled, A Jolly Trip to Music Land (Chicago: Forster Music Publisher Inc., 1928).

This week, we present seven of Fairchild’s delightful little drawings of well-known opera characters published in The Baton.

Canio, from Ruggero Leoncavallo’s PagliacciVol. 3 No. 1 (October 1923): 13.

Cio-Cio-san, from Giacomo Puccini’s Madama ButterflyVol. 3 No. 2 (November 1923): 13.

Wotan, from Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des NibelungenVol. 3 No. 4 (January 1924): 13.

Carmen, from Georges Bizet’s opera of the same title Vol. 3 No. 5 (February 1924): 7.

Romeo and Juliet, from Charles Gounod’s opera of the same title Vol. 3 No. 7 (April 1924): 11.

The Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia, and his men (below) from Puccini’s ToscaVol. 3 No. 8 (May 1924): 12-13.

RIPM search tip: To view more of Leslie Fairchild’s drawings, access RIPM’s Retrospective Index and Online Archive, and fill in the following fields: Keyword = Leslie Fairchild; Periodical = The Baton [1922-1932]; Type = Illustration. For more information on The Baton, click here!

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).WWW.RIPM.ORG

From 1933 to 1945, the period of Nazi Germany, a number of prominent European composers fled their homelands and sought refuge in the United States. Many were subjects of interest in the American journal Modern Music (New York, 1924-1946). Sketches by Viennese artist Benedikt Fred Dolbin (a pen name for Fred Pollack), a composition student of Arnold Schoenberg, include some of the most well-known composers of the period. After establishing a successful career drawing for a number of Austrian and German publications--including Der Wiener Tag, Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung, and Berliner Tageblatt--Dolbin, of Jewish descent, received a Berufsverbot order, which prohibited his artwork from appearing in the German press. Soon after, Dolbin, like the composers he sketched below, emigrated to America.

Modern Music, Vol. XVIII No. 2 (January-February 1941): [104-105].

RIPM search tip: To view more illustrations in Modern Music, access RIPM’s Retrospective Index and Online Archive, and fill in the following fields: Periodical = Modern Music [1924-1946]; Type = Illustration. For more information on Modern Music, click here.

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).WWW.RIPM.ORG

The Parisian journal L’Illustration was the first illustrated newsweekly in France. Between 1843 and 1899, the journal published over 3,350 engravings of musical interest, offering an expansive visual account of contemporary musical life. The journal's focus on French culture included that of musical life in the French colonies. We bring the following images to your attention not only because of their historical importance, but also because the illustrated press is an excellent, though neglected source for the study of (post)colonialism, race, diaspora, and ethnomusicology.

A Buddhist ceremony, first published in Charles Lemire’s L’Indochine (1884)L’Illustration, Vol. LXXXIV (25 October 1884): 276.

Trumpeters of the King of Boussa, in NigerL’Illustration, Vol. CIX (9 January 1897): 17.

Chinese musiciansL’Illustration, Vol. LXII (20 September 1873): 197.

A trio of musicians from MadagascarL’Illustration, Vol. CVI (9 November 1895): 379.

Musicians in performance from Tétouan, MoroccoL’Illustration, Vol. VII (18 April 1846): 104.

Guinean King Dinah-Salifou, his Queen, and their retinue, including musiciansL’Illustration, Vol. XCIV (6 July 1889): 12.

RIPM search tip: To access more on non-Western musics, search the name of a country as a keyword. For example, a search for “Madagascar” as a keyword in RIPM’s Retrospective Index and Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals reveals 180 records in German, English, French, and Italian journals.

RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (also Preservation Series, forthcoming). WWW.RIPM.ORG