Emily Kilpatrick is an Associate Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Her books include French Art Song: History of a New Music, 1870–1914 (2022).

Succinct, lucid, never prurient, Kilpatrick’s biography of Maurice Ravel is surely the kind of which the composer himself might have approved. This most private of men presented an elegant and meticulous persona in his music and Kilpatrick has responded with an account of his life that is comparably discerning. - Richard Fairman, Financial Times: Best Books of 2025A smart, concise study of possibly the twentieth century’s most elegant composer. - Wall Street Journal: Holiday Gift Guide 2025Engaging and perceptive . . . as likeable as, you sense, the composer himself was . . . Kilpatrick brilliantly charts the changing world around the composer. - Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music MagazineAffecting in her examination of Ravel’s life – her account of his final illness is astonishingly moving – Kilpatrick’s discussions of the music are, in contrast, succinct, cool and finely judged . . . [Her study] packs a great deal of thought and information into a relatively short space, and often encourages us to think afresh about its subject, which makes it more than well worth reading. - Tim Ashley, GramophoneThe composer’s remarkable achievement - and elements of his closed private life - are provocatively addressed in this elegantly written study in Reaktion Books’ Critical Lives series . . . one of the most valuable and insightful books on Ravel ever written. - Barry Forshaw, CD ChoiceA concise and very well-written short biography drawing on the best existing sources, while also providing a fresh perspective on Ravel’s life and works . . . an ideal introduction to the man and his music. - Nigel Simeone, author of Olivier Messiaen: Music, Art and LiteratureIn her engaging biography of this beloved, quintessential French composer, Emily Kilpatrick explains that “language, literature and historical conversation” underpin the thread of her narrative, “for it is here that we find the most revealing intersections of practice and aesthetic – and perhaps, too, the most sustainable accommodations of self and art”. In addition to the excellent, well-researched writing, there are 37 plates containing interesting photographs as well as reproductions of Ravel manuscripts. This impressive achievement is highly recommended. - Arbie Orenstein, American musicologist, pianist and author of Ravel: Man and MusicianAn insightful biography of the complex, ever-enigmatic Ravel, which places his life, music and aesthetic in their cultural context. Generous illustrations, including letters and manuscripts, enrich the telling of Ravel’s story. The research is up-to-date, and the writing is scholarly yet accessible. - Deborah Mawer, Emeritus Professor of Music, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, UKKilpatrick is to be commended for balancing rigorous scholarship with a humanizing element, making readers care about the characters they encounter . . . [She] packs much into a short volume. Essential reading for those with the musical background. - Barry Zaslow, Library Journal

• Preface1          The Engineer, the Basqueand the Dandy2          AgentProvocateur3          Dances With History4          An UnknownDestination5          The CompositionalMachine6          DissolvingReferences Bibliography Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements