Maurice Ravel Popular Songs Ranking [2026]

Overture “In Spain”Maurice Ravel36rank/position

Ravel: L’heure espagnole – Introduction (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Lorin Maazel)

Maurice Ravel, a composer of French Impressionist music, is a renowned figure alongside Satie and Debussy.

Ravel’s opera L’heure espagnole (The Spanish Hour) is a one-act work lasting less than an hour, characterized by strong comedic elements.

Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2Maurice Ravel37rank/position

[Wind Ensemble] Daphnis et Chloé – Suite No. 2

This piece is often performed as a free-choice selection in competitions.

It features a distinctly classical atmosphere characteristic of opera, with the gently paced, dreamlike “Dawn” and the dazzling “General Dance,” in which the gods bless the lovers Daphnis and Chloé, being especially popular.

“Ma mère l’Oye” Scene 3: Dialogue of Beauty and the BeastMaurice Ravel38rank/position

Ravel: Ballet Music 'Ma mère l’Oye': Dialogue of Beauty and the Beast [Naxos Classical Curator #Fantasy]

Maurice Ravel, the French composer renowned for his masterful portrayals of fairy-tale worlds.

A passage from his suite Ma mère l’Oye brilliantly renders the story of Beauty and the Beast in sound.

Set to an elegant waltz, a sweet woodwind melody representing Beauty and the heavy, ominous timbre of the contrabassoon embodying the Beast unfold like a dialogue, drawing listeners into the story’s realm.

Originally premiered in 1910 as a piano four-hands piece and later orchestrated, the work was memorably used in the 2021 film The Worst Person in the World.

Interweaving unease and beauty, it’s perfect for creating a slightly grown-up, mysterious Halloween mood.

If you listen while imagining how the tale concludes, you’ll enjoy it all the more.

“Gaspard de la nuit” — “The Gallows”Maurice Ravel39rank/position

Argerich plays Gaspard de la Nuit – Le Gibet

The title “Gaspard de la nuit” is taken from the poet Bertrand’s collection of 64 prose poems.

From this collection, Ravel chose three pieces with strong elements of fantasy and the macabre—“Ondine,” “Le Gibet,” and “Scarbo”—and fashioned them into passionate piano works, weaving in extraordinary virtuosity to capture their imagery.

The poem for “Le Gibet” depicts a corpse hanging from the gallows, countless crickets and spiders lurking at its feet, and the continuous tolling of a distant bell, all bathed in the red glow of the setting sun.

It is a piece that superbly conveys the resonant, evocative sound of the bell and a dim, eerie atmosphere.

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Le Tombeau de CouperinMaurice Ravel40rank/position

Ravel | Le tombeau de Couperin – Zoltan Fejérvari

A suite of six pieces composed by Ravel between 1914 and 1917.

It embodies a tribute to friends who died in World War I.

While adopting the Baroque-era suite form, it is reinterpreted with Ravel’s own modern sensibility and technique.

Each movement is dedicated to a specific individual and expresses feelings of loss and remembrance, yet the music is light and at times even humorous.

From this emerges a sense of strength to overcome sorrow and a trust in the return of life.

In 1919, an orchestral version featuring four selected movements was published.

Do listen to both the solo piano version and the orchestral version.

Le Tombeau de Couperin, No. 2: FugueMaurice Ravel41rank/position

Collard plays Ravel ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ – 2. Fugue

Maurice Ravel’s suite Le Tombeau de Couperin was imbued with a sense of remembrance for friends who perished in World War I.

This work, which is the second movement of the suite, was premiered in April 1919 and dedicated to Lieutenant Jean Cruppi.

It is the only fugue Ravel ever composed, with three voices quietly overlapping as if in dialogue.

It seems to speak not only of sorrow, but also of gentle memories of friends now gone.

Within its classical formal beauty, Ravel’s characteristic shimmering sonorities melt together, enveloping the piece in a mysterious sense of weightlessness.

The entire suite was also staged as a ballet.

The key is to let each voice sing its melody with care while maintaining an overall transparency.

It’s a captivating piece through which one can learn both Baroque style and the delicate expression of Impressionism at the same time.

Le Tombeau de Couperin, No. 5: MenuetMaurice Ravel42rank/position

Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin – 5. Menuet pf. Saori Haji

Maurice Ravel composed Le Tombeau de Couperin as a memorial piece in remembrance of acquaintances who died in World War I.

The “Couperin” in the title refers to François Couperin, a French composer of the Baroque era; the work takes its name from Ravel’s use of Baroque forms exemplified by Couperin.

Consisting of six pieces, the work is by no means easy, but the fifth piece, “Menuet,” is set at a relaxed tempo and is comparatively less difficult, making it approachable.

Try playing it while imagining Ravel quietly reflecting on the departed.

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