Artist
Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel appears 2 times in our Impressionism list, placing as high as No. 5. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.
- Ranked entries
- 2
- Appears on
- Impressionism
- Years
- 1899–1928
- Highest placing
- No. 5 in Impressionism
- Updated
- 2026-08-30
Appears on
Boléro
1928
Ranked No. 5 in Impressionism
One melody, one rhythm, fifteen minutes, one crescendo, no development whatsoever. Ravel called it a piece without music in it; a lot of this site is downstream of that description.
Pavane pour une infante défunte
1899
Ranked No. 8 in Impressionism
Ravel later dismissed it as poorly written and remarkably indebted to Chabrier. He was wrong, and the horn entry is one of the loveliest moments in French music.