Ravel documentary edition wins Académie des beaux-arts prize

A major edition of Maurice Ravel’s correspondence, writings and interviews has won the 2026 René Dumesnil Prize of the Académie des beaux-arts. The award recognises Manuel Cornejo, the scholar and founder-president of Les Amis de Maurice Ravel responsible for the collection.

The expanded edition was published by Gallimard in 2025, the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth. It builds on a collection issued in 2018 and brings together approximately 2,000 letters and 147 writings and interviews, alongside material documenting historical recordings.

The €3,000 prize alternates between recognising a composer and the author of a book about music. This year’s selection places documentary scholarship at the centre of the academy’s recognition, honouring work that provides readers with direct access to a composer’s words.

The presentation is scheduled for November 18 during the academy’s formal annual reopening ceremony beneath the cupola of the Institut de France in Paris.

A collection of this kind serves several overlapping audiences. Researchers can trace contacts and chronology across letters; performers can examine the circumstances surrounding works; and general readers can encounter the public and private language of an artist more often approached through familiar scores.

The distinction is also a reminder that an anniversary’s legacy can extend beyond concerts and recordings. Published during Ravel’s 150th year, the enlarged edition remains available as a reference after the commemorative season has passed.

Cornejo’s award does not concern a newly discovered composition or a change to the musical catalogue. It recognises the assembly and presentation of documentary evidence: letters, statements and interviews that enable further study. The scale of the collection gives that work a significance beyond a single quotation or anecdote, setting individual documents within a broader record of Ravel’s life and career.