| Despite the popularity of the piano and chamber works of Maurice Ravel (1875--1937), which are among the most notable compositions from the French fin-de-siecle period, Ravel's two completed operas have received relatively scant attention from scholars, and none less so that L'Heure espagnole, his first major stage piece. Written between 1907 and 1909, the opera failed to reach the stage until 1911, when it premiered at the Paris Opera-Comique to decidedly mixed reviews. This two-part study clarifies the role the opera played both in Ravel's musical development and in French opera during the first decade of the twentieth century.;In Part 1, the background for L'Heure espagnole is established, including the role of its librettist, Franc-Nohain, in modern French literature, the genesis and reception of the original play, and Ravel's contact with the stage version. Autograph scores and letters of the composer, many discussed here for the first time, are evaluated and placed in context. Finally, Ravel's difficulties in bringing the work to the stage are considered, especially the innumerable delays of the premiere, even though Opera-Comique general director Albert Carre assured the public (in print, at least) of his commitment to the opera and to the dissemination of new theatrical works.;Part 2 is devoted to an analytical summary of the opera emphasizing several pertinent aspects, including harmony, orchestration, motivic cohesion, and the relationship between Franc-Nohain's witty text and Ravel's often iconoclastic musical style. Above all, the study presents a portrait of Ravel at a crucial point in his artistic development, just prior to his largest completed stage work, Daphnis et Chloe (1912). A detailed examination of L'Heure espagnole, an opera that challenged the prevailing conservatism at the Opera-Comique with its wit, humor, and prescient musical innovations, reveals a finely crafted example of Ravel's early style. |
