Patrick Horve

Professor Smith

MUS 269

May 5, 2017

Ravel Prix de Rome Response (Deodat de Severac)

While I am disappointed to hear that my friend Maurice was not awarded Prix de Rome

once again, I cannot say that I am completely surprised by the outcome. In my experience, the

Conservatoire has always been very particular about the composers, and the style in which they

compose in. In my opinion, Maurices music does not always fit into the traditional notions of

French composition.

In my opinion, truly French compositions have certain characteristics that should be

followed. These include moderation, logic, clarity, balance, and precision. First, there should not

be too much of any one idea within a piece. While theme and motifs are no doubt essential to any

good composition, it is important to not overdo these themes or have them persist for too long.

This is what separates our eloquent music from the music of other exotic lands. We do not have

the driving beats in which these exotic creatures dance to in their native ceremonies.

Continuing, there must be a good amount of logic involved in the music in which us

French composers write. We cannot write just whatever pops into our heads and splatter this

across the page. If we did this, we would be no better than those Russian composers that appear

to throw every single idea that comes into their head onto their manuscripts and just continuing

playing until something sounds good. The French style of music is much more refined than that.

Our music should be well thought out and neat, per say. It is important to not only have a good

idea of where you are going with your composition at all times, but also where are you coming
from. You must learn to mesh all of your themes, harmonies, and motifs together in order to

create a coherent idea that can truly express the emotion and passion that comes from within.

This is much of the reason that I decided to leave Paris for the countryside. I could no longer

focus and let my creative ideas flow from within me. But I digress.

Very similarly to both clarity and moderation, there must be great balance within French

music. It is important to convey a full spectrum of emotions within your compositions. This is

one way in which we can truly capture the spirit of human emotions. If we can convey the life

experiences of others then we have accomplished our goal. Following much along the same

lines, we must have great precision in our compositions. While we do not necessarily have to

follow the traditional methods of composition all the time, it is important to never stray too far

from these rules lest our music become too much like that of other, uneducated lands. It is

important that we maintain our understanding of superior musical composition and combine this

with small flourishes that allow us to capture the experience of life and the world around us.

Now I wish to discuss the cantata in which Maurice wrote for the Prix de Rome.

I very much enjoy the introduction which consist of just the orchestra. This part really

breathes life into the piece to me. It reminds me of an open plain, much like my beloved

countryside. While there are some chromatic moves within this first section of the piece, it is

mostly traditional chordal movement. Upon listening to it, I was very pleased to hear the

alternation between I chords to what I am presuming is a pedal I chord. Although it is possible

that Maurice wrote this using either inversion of the I and IV chord as well. I am unsure of his

exact methods as neither he nor the Conservatoire has released the score which he has written.

The openness and airy sounding quality of the music makes me think that he possibly wrote this

using a first inversion I chord which would then move simply by a half step in the bass to reach
the IV chord. This would create a very natural sound and keep the I chord from sounding too

much like the center of the song. This effect would, like I have already mentioned, increase the

vastness of the sound and create a feeling of openness when the audience is listening to it.

At 1:35, he appears to slip into the relative minor, and then back into the major key at

1:47. Relating back to my comments earlier, this seems very planned and intentional to create a

slight change in the feeling of the piece. However, this feeling does not last. This shows great

control over his composition. He seamlessly switches between these two keys to create a sense of

changing atmosphere. Around the 2:00 mark, he begins to create more texture underneath the

flowing chords. This comes from the strings and high woodwinds as they begin to play a faster

line that works against the flowing chords that have been the predominant feature of the piece so

far. On a side note, I very much liked the clarinet introduction that he has written into the piece.

As the song opens, this lines appears to settle in on a key, but then suddenly moves chromatically

to shift the listeners perception of where the key will center. While this is not necessarily

something that is taught at the Conservatoire as far as I am aware, this chromatic movement

creates a feeling of uneasiness as the beginning of the piece. This strengthens the effect of the

flowing chords that follow this line immediately in the rest of the orchestra and eventually the

choir as well.

At 3:05, there is a shift in the key as the music begins to take a slightly darker turn. The

music here feels almost ominous. I believe that he has modulated here back to the minor key that

I had mentioned earlier. This phrase then ends on a single note pattern that I believe alternates

between the fourth and fifth scale degrees.

Starting around the 4:00 minute mark is where I believe Maurice begins to get away from

traditional French compositions idea. I know that Maurice has enjoyed a fair amount of Wagner.
In my time in Paris, I learned from him that he hopes to somehow to incorporate the brass sounds

of Wagners orchestra into his own compositions. In this part of the song, he begins to build with

the brass. As I am listening, it appears that brass almost overpowers the singer. I know that

Maurice is going for a powerful effect here, but I believe that is it very important that we can

understand what the singer is saying as opposed to understanding the gravity of the moment that

he is trying to convey. Without being able to hear the singer, how are we supposed to know the

emotion and feelings that the music is trying to convey. We can understand that there is some

emotion coming through, but not nearly enough for individuals to understand the gravity of the

emotions. I feel that the orchestra does overpower the choir as the song comes to an end, but I

must admit that it does create a very nice effect. Lastly, Maurices composition ends very well.

He has connected the beginning of his piece, with the clarinet melody, to the end of the piece.

The melody that he initially had being played by the clarinet reappears in the vocal part for the

ending of the song and we can truly understand how the song builds to this point.

Despite all of the criticisms that I have had of the piece and of his style of writing, IU

believe that Maurice is a fabulous musician. I believe that he deserved to win the Prix de Rome

and that he would have gone on to do great things. Even though he did not win, I do still believe

that he has a long career ahead of him and that he would create much more beautiful music.

I feel that Maurice was more than deserving of the Prix de Rome. He wrote an absolutely

fantastic piece that did in fact convey and demonstrate many of the characteristics that I believe

make up truly French music. He showed a fantastic amount of understanding of how he wanted

the entire piece to fit together. While I definitely feel that there were some influence from artists

that are not from our great country of France, the cantata was very much so French.
 While Maurice did write some sections of his music that the judges may not have felt

were distinctly French, I believe he did an exemplary job of demonstrating the French music of

today. I very much feel that music is an ongoing process and is going to change with the time in

which we are in. I have demonstrated this in my own music through the use of harmony that was

often considered outlandish and uncivilized. However, it has been proven even in our

lifetime that these unresolving chords can be beautiful and expressive. Simply look at the music

of Debussy! He uses chords that were considered insane in the last century, yet he does so with

such grace and emotion. He is a true master. As I listen to Maurices music, I hear these same

traits. However, this can be taken too far. Simply listen to the monstrosity that is being written by

Erik. He calls this music, but it reminds me nothing more than gibberish on a page. I am in no

way against complicated melodies and harmonies, but his music appears as if he had just spilled

ink on the page and played it. His Dried Up Embryos of Sea Creatures is simply and explosion

of notes and they appear to have no direction whatsoever. It is nothing more than a toddler

learning how to play the piano and banging on the keys. That is enough about Erik. I should be

talking about Maurice.

Maurice was deserving of the Prix de Rome and the fact that he was denied it was an

embarrassment to French music and the Conservatoire. Although his ideas may have been

slightly unconventional, they represent the growth in French music as is being demonstrated by

both himself and Debussy. These musical ideas should not be taken for granted. These are the

ideas of coming generations and should be respected as such. Music does not need to be confined

to the rules of the past, but should be allowed to grow and expand as people find new ways of

expressing the emotions that are within themselves and each other.