Boulanger Debussy Ravel Gaffigan

Lili Boulanger (1893–1918) is one of the treasures of music history. Her music is unmistakably French, sensual and passionate.

In 1912, at age 19, she became the first woman who was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome, the most important competition for composers at the time, for her cantata Faust and Helene. But she was afflicted by illness from childhood, and died just 24 years old.

Claude Debussy (1862–1918) loved the sea as a boy, and his parents planned for some time that he would go into the navy. However, as an adult he spent the majority of his time far from the sea, and as he wrote La Mer (The Sea, 1905) he derived inspiration primarily from his memories and from paintings.

Maurice Ravel’s (1875–1937) ballet music to the Greek love story of Daphnis and Chloe premiered in 1912. He described it as “a choreographic symphony in three parts,” and “true to the Greece of my dreams.” The Suite No.2 contains highlights from the ballet music and some of the most sensuous orchestral music from the last century.

(Photo: James Gaffigan © Franca Pedrazzetti)