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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2019; 77(02): 136-138
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X20180134
Historical Note

Maurice Ravel's dementia: the silence of a genius

A demência de Maurice Ravel: o silêncio de um gênio

Authors

  • Bruno Kusznir Vitturi 

    1   Santa Casa de São Paulo, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Departamento de Neurologia, São Paulo SP Brasil

  • Wilson Luiz Sanvito

    1   Santa Casa de São Paulo, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Departamento de Neurologia, São Paulo SP Brasil
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ABSTRACT

Maurice Ravel is one of the most important French musicians. In the last years of his life, Ravel was victim of a dementia of uncertain etiology that caused aphasia, apraxia, agraphia and amusia. The artistic brain of the author of eternal musical compositions was progressively silenced due to his neurodegenerative disease. On the 90th anniversary of Boléro, this historical note revisits Ravel's case and discusses the relationship of his dementia to his artistic production. It illustrates the intimacy that can exist between art, music, creativity, and neurology.

RESUMO

Maurice Ravel é um dos músicos franceses mais importantes. Nos últimos anos de vida, Ravel foi vítima de uma demência de etiologia incerta que causou afasia, apraxia, agrafia e amusia. O cérebro artístico do autor de eternas composições musicais foi progressivamente silenciado devido à sua doença neurodegenerativa. No 90° aniversário de Bolero, esta nota histórica revive o caso de Ravel e discute a relação de sua demência em sua produção artística. Ele ilustra a intimidade que pode existir entre arte, música e criatividade com a neurologia.

Keywords:

Dementia - art - music - neurology

Palavras-chave:

Demência - arte - música: neurologia


Publication History

Received: 06 April 2018

Accepted: 23 September 2018

Article published online:
21 August 2023

© 2023. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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