By Néstor CASTIGLIONE

Discounting his various works that remain unpublished, existing only as stillborn sketches or destroyed altogether, Maurice Ravel’s compositional output comes out to just under 60 works, about one work for every year of his life.

He was a fastidious composer, ever attentive to any single note that strayed from his vision of immaculate perfection. It was a trait that not only led to the creation of a body of work that remains vital and popular to this day, but also led to numerous works being suppressed, forgotten or destroyed by the composer himself. One such work will be featured at the next Glendale Noon Concert: Ravel’s youthful “Posthumous Sonata for Violin and Piano” from 1897, when the composer was only 22 years old.

The origins of the work will likely remain a mystery, although evidence points to the piece having been performed at least once with the composer at the piano and none other than Georges Enesco playing the violin. But one thing remains certain: Ravel had no interest in leaving this work to posterity. The title of his later “Sonata for Violin and Piano” makes it crystal clear that this work was to be his first and only essay in the genre. It was only in 1975 that researchers discovered the earlier work among Ravel’s papers, whereupon it was promptly published.

It’s unclear whether the work was intended to be in a single movement or was meant to be followed up by others. But its fragile lyricism – redolent of César Frank, Gabriel Fauré and Jules Massenet – is attractive on its own terms, demonstrating the composer working towards honing his own emerging voice. The pre-echoes of the future master are already audible.

On the program with the Ravel will be works by two other composers who left a profound imprint on Ravel’s art: Mozart and Debussy.

Violinist Jacqueline Suzuki and pianist Frank Basile will also be playing the former’s “Sonata for Piano and Violin in E minor, K. 304” and a transcription of the latter’s wry 1910 salon waltz pastiche “La plus que lente.”

The recital will take place on Wednesday, June 21 at the sanctuary of the Glendale City Church (610 E. California Ave., corner with Isabel Street) and will begin at 12:10 p.m. Admission is free to the public. To obtain more information, visit http://glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com/ or call (818) 244-7241.

  Nestor CASTIGLIONE