L'Aurore

With his composition L'Aurore (Dawn) of 1905, Maurice Ravel made his fifth and final attempt to win the coveted “Prix de Rome” of Paris’s Academie des Beaux-Arts. The fact that he was once again eliminated in the preliminary round caused something of a stir, with the so-called “Ravel affair” triggering a historic scandal and discussions about the jury’s lack of expertise and impartiality.

Despite the strict requirements of the competition, Ravel created a singular and harmonically rich work on the given text by Edouard Guinand, exploiting the timbral possibilities of the orchestra in striking fashion. No heavy demands are placed on the choir. Carus also offers free pronunciation aids for rehearsal.

This first Urtext edition of the work is based on the composer’s autograph score. A vocal score and performance material are also available.