21. The song 'Sur l’herbe' was written while Ravel was battling charges of ‘debussysme’ and plagiarism in the musical press; that’s probably why the last line, ‘Hé! bonsoir la Lune!’ (‘Good evening, Moon!’) cheekily quotes Debussy’s ‘Clair de lune’. #Ravel150 22. In his first opera, L’heure espagnole, Ravel not only parodies Wagnerian leitmotifs, but uses ‘Tristan’ chords as a deliberate comic shorthand (‘thwarted desire!’). #Ravel150 23. When the director of the Opéra-Comique rejected his opera Ravel wrote, ‘I realise now that the least innocent foible of Carmen, Manon, Chrysis or Queen Fiamette was picking their nose too much.’ #Ravel150 