Editing Maurice Ravel (section)

===Last years===
At the beginning of the 1930s Ravel was working on two piano concertos. He completed the [[Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (Ravel)|Piano Concerto in D major for the Left Hand]] first. It was commissioned by the Austrian pianist [[Paul Wittgenstein]], who had lost his right arm during the First World War. Ravel was stimulated by the technical challenges of the project: "In a work of this kind, it is essential to give the impression of a texture no thinner than that of a part written for both hands."<ref>James, p. 126</ref> Ravel, not proficient enough to perform the work with only his left hand, demonstrated it with both hands.{{refn|It was a matter for affectionate debate among Ravel's friends and colleagues whether he was worse at conducting or playing.<ref>Nichols (1987), p. 92</ref>|group= n}} Wittgenstein was initially disappointed by the piece, but after long study he became fascinated by it and ranked it as a great work.<ref>Orenstein (1991), p 101</ref> In January 1932 he premiered it in Vienna to instant acclaim, and performed it in Paris with Ravel conducting the following year.<ref>Nichols and Mawer, p. 256</ref> The critic Henry Prunières wrote, "From the opening measures, we are plunged into a world in which Ravel has but rarely introduced us."<ref name="Orenstein 1991, p. 104"/>

The [[Piano Concerto in G (Ravel)|Piano Concerto in G major]] was completed a year later. After the premiere in January 1932 there was high praise for the soloist, Marguerite Long, and for Ravel's score, though not for his conducting.<ref>Nichols and Mawer, p. 266</ref> Long, the dedicatee, played the concerto in more than twenty European cities, with the composer conducting;<ref>Zank, p. 20</ref> they planned to record it together, but at the sessions Ravel confined himself to supervising proceedings and [[Pedro de Freitas Branco]] conducted.<ref>Orenstein (2003), pp. 535–536</ref>

{{Quote box|width=33%|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=left|quoted=y | quote= His final years were cruel, for he was gradually losing his memory and some of his coordinating powers, and he was, of course, quite aware of it.|salign = right|source=Igor Stravinsky<ref>''Quoted'' in Nichols (1987), p. 173</ref>}}
In October 1932 Ravel suffered a blow to the head in a taxi accident. The injury was not thought serious at the time, but in a study for the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'' in 1988 the neurologist R. A. Henson concludes that it may have exacerbated an existing cerebral condition.<ref name=h1586/> As early as 1927 close friends had been concerned at Ravel's growing absent-mindedness, and within a year of the accident he started to experience symptoms suggesting [[aphasia]].<ref>Orenstein (1991), p. 105</ref> Before the accident he had begun work on music for a film, ''[[Don Quixote (1933 film)|Don Quixote]]'' (1933), but he was unable to meet the production schedule, and [[Jacques Ibert]] wrote most of the score.<ref>Nichols (2011), p. 330</ref> Ravel completed three songs for [[baritone]] and orchestra intended for the film; they were published as ''Don Quichotte à Dulcinée''. The manuscript orchestral score is in Ravel's hand, but [[Lucien Garban]] and Manuel Rosenthal helped in transcription. Ravel composed no more after this.<ref name=h1586>Henson, p. 1586</ref> The exact nature of his illness is unknown. Experts have ruled out the possibility of a [[tumour]], and have variously suggested [[frontotemporal dementia]], [[Alzheimer's disease]] and [[Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease]].<ref>Henson, pp. 1586–1588</ref>{{refn|In 2008 ''The New York Times'' published an article suggesting that the early effects of frontotemporal dementia in 1928 might account for the repetitive nature of ''Boléro''.<ref>Blakeslee, Sandra. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08brai.html "A Disease That Allowed Torrents of Creativity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122215259/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/08/health/08brai.html |date=22 January 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', 8 April 2008</ref> This followed a 2002 article in ''[[European Journal of Neurology|The European Journal of Neurology]]'', examining Ravel's clinical history and arguing that ''Boléro'' and the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand both suggest the impacts of neurological disease.<ref>Amaducci et al, p. 75</ref>|group= n}} Though no longer able to write music or perform, Ravel remained physically and socially active until his last months. Henson notes that Ravel preserved most or all his auditory imagery and could still hear music in his head.<ref name=h1586/>

In 1937 Ravel began to suffer pain from his condition, and was examined by [[Clovis Vincent]], a well-known Paris neurosurgeon. Vincent advised surgical treatment. He thought a tumour unlikely, and expected to find [[ventriculomegaly]] from [[hydrocephalus]] that surgery might prevent from progressing. Ravel's brother Edouard accepted this advice; as Henson comments, the patient was in no state to express a considered view. After the operation there seemed to be an improvement in his condition, but it was short-lived, and he soon lapsed into a coma. He died on 28 December, at the age of 62.<ref>Henson, p. 1588</ref>
[[Image:Ravel's grave.jpg|thumb|right|Ravel's grave]]
On 30 December 1937 Ravel was interred next to his parents in a granite tomb at [[Levallois-Perret Cemetery|Levallois-Perret cemetery]], in north-west Paris. He was an atheist and there was no religious ceremony.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maurice-ravel.net/religion.htm |title=Ravel and religion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150105034959/http://www.maurice-ravel.net/religion.htm |archive-date=5 January 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>