Ravel - Tzigane
Tzigane was commissioned by and dedicated to Hungarian violinist Jelly d’Arányi, great-niece of the influential violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim. The original instrumentation was for violin and piano (with optional luthéal attachment).
The name of the piece is derived from the generic European term for “gypsy“ although it does not use any authentic Gypsy melodies. In Ravel’s days in Paris gypsy/gitan/tsigane/tzigane did not so much refer to the Roma (Gypsy) people in any strict sense: the “gypsy” style of the work was rather a kind of popular musical exoticism, comparable to the Spanish exoticism in Wagner’s day, or the Janissary exoticism in Mozart’s day (Rondo alla Turca).
The composition is one movement, with an approximate duration of ten minutes. Though the composer is almost universally regarded as following a mainly Impressionist idiom, Tzigane clearly demonstrates Ravel’s ability to imitate the (late) Romantic style of violin showmanship promoted by such composer-virtuosi as Paganini and Sarasate.
Ravel - String Quartet in F major - IV. Vif et agité
Ravel - Boléro
This is the “Music Wall” mural on the side of the old Schmitt Music building in downtown Minneapolis. Like other American cities of the 1970s, citizens and business owners in Minneapolis were concerned about beautifying the older downtown buildings. Schmitt hired the repair of the old bricks and bricked up 32 exterior windows. He asked a company employee to choose notes from a musical score that could be painted as a mural over the enormous facade. The employee searched through the store’s sheet music and came up with the most graphically attractive piece of music she could find, Maurice Ravel’s “Gaspard de la Nuit.” Pianist Van Cliburn posed playing a Steinway concert grand piano in front of the mural for a now famous photograph, which attracted the attention of national newspapers.
Schmitt’s has since vacated the building, and it is now the sales office for the Nicollet on the Mall luxury condo project, but the famous mural remains - an informal downtown Minneapolis landmark. If you put the listed coordinates into Google Maps and click “street view”, you can get a good look at this mural as if you were standing right there!
Ravel - Prelude 1913
Ravel composed this wonderful little Prelude in 1913 as a conservatory test. The students where not allowed to see the score before it was to be executed and the tricky part about it is to read the score right to for the hand crossings that must be applied to execute it properly. It is also well used by today’s teachers for the same purpose but also as an exercise to apply the appropriate velocity to achive the tenderness of the prelude. It is my view that any pianist should play this at least once in their life.
Ravel - La Valse (transcription for two pianos)
Ravel - La Valse
Ravel - Jeux d’eau
Ravel - Prelude 1913
Ravel composed this wonderful little Prelude in 1913 as a conservatory test. The students where not allowed to see the score before it was to be executed and the tricky part about it is to read the score right to for the hand crossings that must be applied to execute it properly. It is also well used by today’s teachers for the same purpose but also as an exercise to apply the appropriate velocity to achive the tenderness of the prelude. It is my view that any pianist should play this at least once in their life.
