La mort de Maurice Ravel

Shadows and darkness in the brain of a genius: Aspects of the neuropsychological literature about the final illness of Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)

“…The best specific report about Ravel’s death was written in 1997 by Baeck, in which he once again suggested the hypothesis of corticobasal degeneration. One of the most important questions raised by Baeck (1997) [23] is why was Ravel operated on. Demuth [24] wrote that a brain tumor was diagnosed, Long [7] reported that Vincent intended to verify if there was a brain tumor, and Roland-Manuel [25] wrote that some of the medical doctors consulted excluded the diagnosis of tumor.…”

“…Demuth [24] wrote that a brain tumor was diagnosed, Long [7] reported that Vincent intended to verify if there was a brain tumor, and Roland-Manuel [25] wrote that some of the medical doctors consulted excluded the diagnosis of tumor. It is interesting to observe that while Orenstein (1989) [26] had stated that Vincent succeeded in equalizing the level of the cerebral hemispheres, Baeck [23] firmly stated that the surgery report (see Note 1) vouches that the surgeon had not succeeded in doing so. The date of the surgery is also the subject of dispute – December 17 th or 19 th of 1937?…”

Maurice Ravel and right hemisphere creativity

“…In my opinion, there are thus no reasons whatsoever – chronological, musicological, neurocognitive or musical – to suggest that the Concerto for the Left Hand was influenced by cerebral lesions (Baeck, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001).…”