Luis Rodriguez

MUH3212

McKenna Milici

5/4/17

952 words

Concert Review

Joseph-Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, France on March 7th, 1875. He would then

move to Paris at the young age of three months. His father, Pierre Joseph Ravel, would

encourage him to pursue his musical talent. Pierre Joseph Ravel was an engineer and an amateur

pianist.1 In 1882, Joseph-Maurice Ravel began to study with piano pedagogue, Henri Ghys.2 He

would eventually study harmony with Charles-Ren and by 1887 was composing. From 1900 to

1905 he would fail to win the Prix de Rome because of Ravels constant attempt to break

convention. An example of this is the fact that in his final attempt in the contest, he ended his

work with a major 7th chord.1 This resulted in his elimination of the contest. Ravel was a genuine

admirer of Debussys music and payed tribute to him in works like Noctornes (1909) and

Sarabande and Danse.3 He did not believe himself as an imitator of Debussy though.1 Ravel

would go onto to have a successful 50+ year career of performing, composing, conducting and

teaching. In 1932, he would compose his first Piano Concerto in G. He took part in a European

tour where he conducted the Concerto, having pianist Marguertie Long play the work. On

October 9th 1932, Ravel was involved in an unfortunate taxi accident.4 This resulted in Ravel

1 Barbara L. Kelly. "Ravel, Maurice." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press
2 Seroff, Victor I. Maurice Ravel. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Pr., 1970.
3 Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz. Maurice Ravel: variations on his life and work. London: Calder
& Boyars, 1969.
1
4 Barbara L. Kelly. "Ravel, Maurice." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 2
Seroff, Victor I. Maurice Ravel.
mostly staying out of the public eye until the Parisian premier of his Piano Concerto for the left

hand. It was composed for pianist Paul Wittgenstein. He was successful concert pianist who had

an arm amputation because of a gunshot wound in WWII.5

Ravel saw the concerto as a chance to paint a saddening picture of useless heroism; one

that he might have related to having been a soldier in the French Army during WWI.5 Ravel at

the time of his 2nd piano concerto was embodying many impressionist values in his music. He

creates unique colors and timbres by utilizing impressionistic techniques such as extended

harmony, non-functional root movement, programmatic music, and more. His 2nd piano concerto

was no exception to this featuring a harmonically ambiguous opening motif in the basses, E-A-

G-D.6 Both concertos are jazz influenced, although in his 2nd piano concerto Ravel goes for a

more traditional concerto style to not give the impression of insufficient weight in the sound-

texture.2 He discusses that there is a jazz section that is built from the themes of the first section.

This jazz influence could possibly have come from his North American tour in 1928.1

The performance I have selected to review is one by French pianist, Hlne Tysman. I felt

that overall her performance embodied a sentiment of grandeur and reverence that Ravel was

trying to exude. The concerto can be viewed as one large movement or three small movements

(slow-fast-slow).6 I feel that the orchestra does a really great job of creating soundscapes that

embody impressionistic ideals. For example, the basses play the opening arpeggiating figures in

3
Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz. Maurice Ravel: variations on his life and work.
Kanat, Ayhan, Selim Kayaci, Ugur Yazar, and Adem Yilmaz. "What makes Maurice Ravels
deadly craniotomy interesting? Concerns of one of the most famous craniotomies in
history." Acta Neurochirurgica152, no. 4 (2009): 737-42.

5 Howe, Blake. "Paul Wittgenstein and the Performance Of Disability." Journal of Musicology
27, no. 2 (2010): 135-80.
6 "Concerto for the Left Hand." IMLSP. http://imslp.eu/files/imglnks/euimg/7/77/IMSLP01581-
Ravel_-_Piano_Concerto_for_the_Left_Hand__Orchestral_Score_.pdf.
a very legato, un-articulated manner. This gives a blurry impression of the harmony and pulse.

This blurry impression allows the listener to hear the lines as a timbre rather than individually

articulated notes. That impression is interrupted by Tysmans virtuosic cadenza. I believe that

Ravel might have had two ideal in mind when writing the more technical piano parts like this

one. The first ideal is that although Paul Wittgenstein had suffered from a physical trauma, Ravel

would not allow this to limit his creative or expression of the artist. Tysman plays it in a way that

seems effortless, in no way giving the impression that playing a concerto for the left hand is a

crunch or disability. Another ideal is that the texture would still have to sound full. Tysman gives

the idea of a full texture by quickly transitions between octaves; giving the simulation that there

are two hands working in conjunction. The full texture comes from the grace that Tysman has her

in with her touch on the piano. Some of that grace is lacking in the large tutti sections of the

orchestral. The decrescendo and diminuendo felt rushed when the orchestra is bringing back in

the soloist the second time. To me this breaks the continuous one movement feeling of the piece.

I felt that this sense of grace is necessary to evoke the intense emotional content Ravel is

illustrating. The allegro highlights the dynamic shocks that Ravel was characteristic for. I thought

the orchestra did an incredible job of coming down in volume while simultaneous not losing

energy. The orchestra effectively plays the overlapping duple and triple rhythms but not

overemphasizing either. In conclusion, this is an incredible performance on behalf of both the

composer and orchestra. It contains the melodic care and attention that is needed for the intended

emotional impact of the piece, while still maintaining the rhythmic drive.7

7 HfmFRANZLISZTweimar. "Maurice Ravel - Piano Concerto for the left hand (Full)."
YouTube. December 16, 2011. Accessed May 04, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=KJTUUKAdZDU.
 Bibliography

Barbara L. Kelly. "Ravel, Maurice." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford
University Press, accessed May 1,
2017, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.proxy.lib.fsu.edu/subscriber/article/grove/musi
c/52145.

Howe, Blake. "Paul Wittgenstein and the Performance Of Disability." Journal of Musicology 27,
no. 2 (2010): 135-80.
Kanat, Ayhan, Selim Kayaci, Ugur Yazar, and Adem Yilmaz. "What makes Maurice Ravels
deadly craniotomy interesting? Concerns of one of the most famous craniotomies in
history." Acta Neurochirurgica152, no. 4 (2009): 737-42.

Seroff, Victor I. Maurice Ravel. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Pr., 1970.

Stuckenschmidt, Hans Heinz. Maurice Ravel: variations on his life and work. London: Calder &
Boyars, 1969.

"Concerto for the Left Hand." IMLSP. http://imslp.eu/files/imglnks/euimg/7/77/IMSLP01581-

Ravel_-_Piano_Concerto_for_the_Left_Hand__Orchestral_Score_.pdf.

HfmFRANZLISZTweimar. "Maurice Ravel - Piano Concerto for the left hand (Full)." YouTube.
December 16, 2011. Accessed May 04, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=KJTUUKAdZDU.