Testimonials

It has been a fascinating journey reading your book, and I must say it’s not only a book about Ravel, but rather about the sources and states which are required in order to understand the transcendence of this music.

The pianist I most enjoy listening to talk – as well as play – is Paul Roberts, whose lecture-concert on Ravel’s Miroirs illustrated the insights to be derived from his brilliant new book on Ravel.

His sensitive approach to the sublime music of Debussy and Ravel, and his illuminating explanations of the relationship between the two composers and their music, were utterly fascinating. Roberts seems to give each piece precisely the perspective it wants, with particular emphasis on expressivity and clarity.. . . It was easily one of the best recitals I’ve been to this year, and I could have listened for another hour.

Paul Roberts’s master classes and public lectures immerse the listeners in a magical world of images and ideas . . . His communicative abilities, whether as performer, writer or teacher, are without equal.

His beautiful and fluent use of language to describe music is at the level of the highest poetry and his sheer virtuoso piano playing and rich knowledge of music and teaching experience put together make him a distinguished existence in the world of classical music.

Witnessing his enthusiasm and love of teaching both the professional musician as well as the amateur was one of the most meaningful experiences I have ever had in music.

Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel Some years after Paul Roberts’s superb Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy comes Reflections. . . The richness and colour of his involvement makes this [new] book an endless source of reference and delight in terms of both scholarship and poetry. A mine of information, it is difficult to imagine a finer or more glowing tribute.

Reflections is both a commentary on the nature and literary origins of Ravel’s piano masterpieces and, at the same time, an implicit biography; its discussion of the technical challenges and the aesthetic decisions required of those who play this music – pearls hard-won over a lifetime – will make it obligatory reading for every young virtuoso.

Paul Roberts’ book, 'Reflections', a sequel to his wonderful Images, is a veritable master class on Ravel’s mysterious sound world.

Reflections: The Piano Music of Maurice Ravel, is a fascinating text for piano performers, teachers, and serious music lovers alike. A gleaming key to the mysterious and entrancing complexities of a great composer, Reflections is a gift to be cherished from a master performer.