Ravanello and Raff
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:12 am
NPR's Pipedreams 0917 featured Ravanello’s Contemplazione, Op. 117, #3 for violin and organ which sounds exactly the same as Cavatina by Raff for violin and piano. Oreste Ravanello (b Venice, 25 August 1871; d Padua, 2 July 1938) and Joseph Joachim Raff (b Lachen, nr Zürich, 27 May 1822; d Frankfurt, 24/5 June 1882) appear to have composed exactly the same piece!
If ever there was a case of plagiarism, this is it!
Would someone have information as to which is the original composer of this piece? Where might one find evidence showing which is the original and which the copy?
If one looks at the dates of the two composers, Ravanello came after Raff, so if there was a copy it would seem more likely that Ravanello copied Raff. The other way round seems improbable as Raff died when Ravanello was 11 years old. Does anybody know where the two respective manuscripts might be held so that they can be radiocarbon dated or some other tests applied to determine who copied whom? It is also interesting that Europeans generally pronounce “Ravanello” a bit like “Raffanello”, so did somebody confuse the two composers because of the first syllable in their names, and attribute Ravanello’s Contemplazione wrongly to Raff’s Cavatina?
If ever there was a case of plagiarism, this is it!
Would someone have information as to which is the original composer of this piece? Where might one find evidence showing which is the original and which the copy?
If one looks at the dates of the two composers, Ravanello came after Raff, so if there was a copy it would seem more likely that Ravanello copied Raff. The other way round seems improbable as Raff died when Ravanello was 11 years old. Does anybody know where the two respective manuscripts might be held so that they can be radiocarbon dated or some other tests applied to determine who copied whom? It is also interesting that Europeans generally pronounce “Ravanello” a bit like “Raffanello”, so did somebody confuse the two composers because of the first syllable in their names, and attribute Ravanello’s Contemplazione wrongly to Raff’s Cavatina?
