In 2025 The 150th anniversary of the birth of one of the main representatives of modern French lyric is celebrated, Maurice Ravel. In commemoration of this anniversary, Cañada Blanch Foundation together with AOA (Association of Friends of the Opera), presents a new meeting of the Connections cycle to talk about the HAPPINESS, musical perception deficit due to a neurological disease.
the scientist Salvador Martínez and the pianist Ruben Talon They delve into their humanistic and scientific vision of the wonderful impact that music has on our brain, in a conversation moderated by Mónica de Quesada, and they bring us closer to one of the greatest composers of the 20th century and the greatest exponent of musical impressionism.. Besides, as a finishing touch to the meeting, Rubén Talón will interpret:
GASPARD OF THE NIGHT, by M. Ravel
– Ondine (8 min)
– The gallows (8 min)
– Scarbo (9 min)
Music is a fundamental part of the human experience, but for some people, processing or enjoying it can be challenging. People with Amusia, They do not discriminate notes or nuances and, in the most extreme cases, not even sounds of different tonality. And it is not due to an alteration of the auditory system but rather comes from the central system. That is to say, of the brain.
French musician Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) presented progressive neurological deterioration characterized by amnesia, aphasia, apraxia, amusia and alexia that began at 57 years, five before his death. He underwent what was then known as an exploratory craniotomy and died as a result.. There are multiple publications in which his neurological condition has been evaluated to try to elucidate what illness he presented.. Alzheimer's type dementia has been considered, Pick's disease, primary progressive aphasia, corticobasal degeneration or sequelae of craniocerebral trauma, since he had a car accident in 1932. Since no autopsy was performed, the exact diagnosis could not be confirmed.
His biographers say that two of his final works, The Bolero and the Left Hand Concerto include certain characteristic patterns of (dis)abilities of the right hemisphere and can show the influence of the disease on the creative process.
