Ravel and the Basque Country

Maurice Ravel's work is considered by many to the perfect example of "French music". But... what if there were certain peculiarities in his work that made us question the previous statement? Considered the most Parisian of composers, Ravel was actually born in a small fishing village on the Basque coast, Ziburu. Even though his parents took him to the French capital when he was still a few months old, contact with his native land never ceased. That is why he never stopped feeling that he came from a different place. This can be deduced from the way in which the musician speaks about himself. The personal connection that Ravel maintained with this cultural reality had an undisputable presence in his artistic creation: he used the colour of some traditional Basque instruments as a tool in the orchestration of some of his works; he made use of the characteristic rhythms of Basque dances and even approached the literary forms of the Basque oral tradition. This research invites us to discover the Basque influence in Ravel, that conditioned his personality, as well as his music.