Five greek folk songs by M. Ravel: unity of the vocal cycle

This article examines Maurice Ravel's vocal cycle “Five Greek Folk Songs” (Cinq mélodies populaires grecques) focusing on the problem of the cycle's unity and the contrast between its parts. It analyzes the poetic content, the musical expressive means, the structure of the vocal part, and the role of the piano accompaniment in each song separately; the factors contributing to the unity of the cyclic composition are substantiated. The conclusion is drawn about the uniqueness of the content and form of each song, and the means of poetic and musical commonality of the numbers are revealed