Piano Concerto (Ravel)
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Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major was composed in the period of 1929–1931. The piece comprises three movements: Allegramente, Adagio assai, and Presto. After his well-received piano tour of America, Ravel wanted to debut this new work himself. However, health issues precluded this possibility with his preparatory practice of Liszt and Chopin etudes leading to fatigue. Instead, Marguerite Long — who was known for her performances of Fauré and Debussy, and had asked Ravel for a new work — debuted the concerto. Ravel dedicated the concerto's score to her. The world premiere was on January 14, 1932 with Ravel conducting the Lamoureux Orchestra. The first North American performances were given simultaneously on the evening of April 22, 1932, by both the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra at their home concert halls.
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[edit] Instrumentation
The orchestra for this concerto is made up of the following instruments: piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet in E flat, clarinet in B flat, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, trumpet in C, trombone, timpani, triangle, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, wood block, whip, harp, piano, 16 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, 4 double basses.
[edit] Form
This piece is in three part form, the first and last movements being fast and the middle movement being slow. This is quite a strong, classical form which is one reason why this piece can be termed neo-classical.
The first movement is in sonata form, which is also a classical form. However, the traditional key structure of the form has been modified in this case. The second movement is in three part form, loosely tertiary. The first section, A returns highly modified after the middle B section. The final movement follows the same form as the first - a sonata with a modified key structure.
[edit] Quotes
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This article or section contains too many quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please improve the article or discuss proposed changes on the talk page. You can edit the article to add more encyclopedic text or link the article to a page of quotations, possibly one of the same name, on Wikiquote. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions. (April 2008) |
| “ | The G-major Concerto took two years of work, you know. The opening theme came to me on a train between Oxford and London. But the initial idea is nothing. The work of chiseling then began. We’ve gone past the days when the composer was thought of as being struck by inspiration, feverishly scribbling down his thoughts on a scrap of paper. Writing music is seventy-five percent an intellectual activity. | ” |
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—Maurice Ravel[1] |
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| “ | I would quote as one of the best examples of a subtle incorporation of these facets [of jazz] within a composer's style that of the Piano Concerto in G by the fastidious craftsman Maurice Ravel. | ” |
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—Don Banks[2] |
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| “ | The most captivating part of jazz is its rich and diverting rhythm. ...Jazz is a very rich and vital source of inspiration for modern composers and I am astonished that so few Americans are influenced by it. | ” |
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—Maurice Ravel[3] |
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| “ | Personally I find jazz most interesting: the rhythms, the way the melodies are handled, the melodies themselves. I have heard of George Gershwin's works and I find them intriguing. | ” |
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—Maurice Ravel[4] |
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[edit] References
- ^ New York Philharmonic. “Muti, Uchida, Ravel and Schubert.” The New York Philharmonic, http://nyphil.org/programNotes/Ravel%20Piano%20Concerto%20in%20G%20major.pdf.
- ^ Banks, Don. Converging Streams. The Musical Times, Vol. 111, No. 1528. (June, 1970), pp. 596-599.
- ^ Rogers, M. Robert. Jazz Influence on French Music. The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 1. (Jan., 1935), pp. 53-68.
- ^ Mawer, Deborah and Jonathan Cross. The Cambridge Companion to Ravel. Cambridge University Press, 2000. pp. 42
