Ravel’s Timeliness and his Many Late Styles

Ravel’s late style was perceived, even provoked, by his contemporaries; he came to be very conscious of his artistic ageing. This chapter argues that late style is not just about proximity to later life: lateness came to Ravel in middle age because of the historical trauma of the First World War. His later works show certain characteristics associated with ‘late style’; in other respects, his case works against stereotypes of lateness. Ravel’s late period is not one of untroubled productivity; rather, it is aesthetically inconsistent, eclectic, and psychologically revealing. The chapter shows Ravel’s lifelong unwillingness to conform to international expectations: his late Concerto in G limits rather than celebrates his achievement and can be read as a sign of independence, if not of defiance. Late style tells us a good deal about Ravel, about the time in which he created, and about the impact epochal events have on artistic output.