ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the article originally appeared in Italian under the title 'Appunti su Ravel'. In general, conversations with Ravel were unsurprising, but they became fascinating as soon as the subject turned to music. Ravel's self-criticism bordered on mania. At various times he considered writing a short orchestration treatise in which, in the opposite way to Rimsky-Korsakov, he would have pointed out what one should not do, taking the examples from his own music. The author owe to Ravel one of the wittiest retorts have ever heard. They were coming out of a Concerts Colonne rehearsal where he had conducted, for the last time, his Rapsodie Espagnole. Ravel's meticulousness led him into strange effects in his dress. While Debussy in his photos is always dressed rather correctly and Stravinsky is extremely elegant, Ravel's clothes are absurd because of their extreme curiosity.
