Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer,
pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along
with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, but both composers rejected
the term. After studying at France's premier music college, the Paris
Conservatoire, he developed a style that incorporated elements of
baroque, neoclassicism and, in his later works, jazz. Some of his piano
music, such as Gaspard de la nuit (1908), requires advanced virtuoso
technique. His complex orchestral work Daphnis et Chloé (1912) was
commissioned by the impresario Sergei Diaghilev for the Ballets Russes.
In 1922 Ravel made an orchestral arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at
an Exhibition. He liked to experiment with musical form, as in Boléro
(1928), his best-known work. A slow and painstaking worker, Ravel wrote
fewer pieces than many of his contemporaries. He was among the first
composers to use recordings to reach a wider public.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Ravel>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1871:
José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, became Prime Minister
of the Empire of Brazil, starting a four-year rule, the longest in the
state's history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Paranhos,_Viscount_of_Rio_Branco>
1941:
The German submarine U-47, one of the most successful U-boats
of World War II, disappeared and was lost with all hands.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_submarine_U-47_%281938%29>
1985:
The charity single "We Are the World" by the supergroup United
Support of Artists for Africa was released, and went on to sell more
than 20 million copies.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_the_World>
2009:
Two off-duty soldiers of the British Army's 38 Engineer
Regiment were shot dead by the Real IRA in Antrim town, Northern
Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Massereene_Barracks_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
nervous:
1. Easily agitated or alarmed; edgy, on edge.
2. Apprehensive, anxious, hesitant, worried.
3. Relating to or affecting the nerves.
4. (archaic) Having nerves; nervose.
5. (obsolete) Showing nervous strength; sinewy, vigorous.
6. (obsolete) Of a piece of writing: forceful, powerful.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nervous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.
--John Herschel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Herschel>