Well-Reasoned Forewords Written Solo
Jean-François Monnard has provided each of his editions of Ravel's works with well-researched introductions. These have now been collected and published separately.
There is a rule that, especially in the case of collected works, the preface is sometimes more interesting than many of the works themselves. This, however, requires not only a discussion of the underlying editorial principles but also, whenever possible, an exploration of broader biographical, performance-related, genre-specific, and reception-historical contexts. Anyone who has ever picked up such volumes in a library knows about the hidden treasures on the first few pages. But even in the case of Urtext editions intended for musical practice, it has become standard practice to include substantial commentary on the published works.
What’s new is the decision to publish these prefaces separately. The publisher Breitkopf & Härtel is, in a sense, breaking new ground with this approach—in this case, with Jean-François Monnard’s introductions to his Ravel editions, which were published between 2007 and 2023. Since the editions always include detailed reports on the revisions, the prefaces can be read with great benefit even without the scores as extremely well-researched introductions to the works that draw on a wealth of source material—the kind of information you won’t find in a concert program based on older editions or on Wikipedia, etc. A commendable undertaking for the past Ravel Year (and beyond), which also honors Monnard himself this year on his 85th birthday.
The trilingual nature of the editions is reflected in three separately published issues (D / E / F). Will this fine example set a precedent?
Jean-François Monnard: Behind the Notes, Essays on Breitkopf’s Ravel Editions, German, 104 pp., €19.90, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2025, ISBN 978-3-7651-0514-2
