Maurice Ravel’s “Color Counterpoint” through the Perspective of Japonisme

Abstract

This article establishes a link between Ravel's musical textures and the phenomena of Japonisme. Since the pairing of Ravel and Japonisme is far from obvious, I develop a series of analytical tools that conceptualize an aesthetic orientation called "color counterpoint," inspired by Ravel's fascination with Chinese and Japanese art and calligraphy. These tools are then applied to selected textures in Ravel's "Habanera," "Le grillon" (from Histoires naturelles), and are related to the opening measures of Jeux d'eau and the Sonata for Violin and Cello. Visual and literary Japonisme in France serve as a graphical and historical foundation to illuminate how Ravel's color counterpoint may have been shaped by East Asian visual imagery.