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Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Concerto for Piano in G Major
Composed: 1929-31
Premiered: 1932, Paris
Duration: 23 minutes

Ravel’s two concertos for piano and orchestra – the one for the left hand only and the G Major Concerto – were composed more or less simultaneously; both were completed in 1931. The composer had overcome one of his periodic spells of inability to find original musical ideas. At such times it was his custom to fill his time by orchestrating piano works, both his own and those of others. For the first time in his life he visited Spain, whose atmosphere he had so frequently and successfully captured in his music. This trip, together with a hectic tour of the United States and Canada in 1928, released Ravel’s creative energies once more. This was to be his last productive period, and these concertos, apart from a short song cycle, were his last works.

In writing about his G Major Concerto, Ravel stated that “a concerto can be light-hearted and brilliant, and there is no necessity for it to aim for profundity or big dramatic effects.” He considered calling it a divertissement instead of a concerto. He said at one point that he modeled it after the concertos of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, and the slow movement was composed “with the assistance of” the slow movement of Mozart’s clarinet quintet. Hearing it now, one has the impression that Ravel was also reflecting his experience of the rapid pace of North American life; some influence of jazz and the work of Gershwin (whom me met and admired) can also be heard.

Ravel originally intended to learn the solo part and perform the work on a world tour. He practiced to the point of exhaustion, but his failing health made it impossible for him to continue. Marguerite Long, a great champion of French contemporary music, played the premiere in 1932, with Ravel conducting. In defiance of his doctor’s advice, Ravel and Long took the concerto on a tour of 20 European cities, and they also recorded it. The recording is still available today, but not everyone is convinced that this performance is an ideal one. Ravel was a conscientious, but not very flexible conductor.

This brilliant, light-hearted work gives no hint that the composer was in failing health. Although he lived for another six years after its completion, he was effectively imprisoned by his deteriorating neurological condition, unable to communicate or understand what was going on in the world around him.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Concerto for Piano in G Major
Composed: 1929-31
Premiered: 1932, Paris
Duration: 23 minutes

Ravel’s two concertos for piano and orchestra – the one for the left hand only and the G Major Concerto – were composed more or less simultaneously; both were completed in 1931. The composer had overcome one of his periodic spells of inability to find original musical ideas. At such times it was his custom to fill his time by orchestrating piano works, both his own and those of others. For the first time in his life he visited Spain, whose atmosphere he had so frequently and successfully captured in his music. This trip, together with a hectic tour of the United States and Canada in 1928, released Ravel’s creative energies once more. This was to be his last productive period, and these concertos, apart from a short song cycle, were his last works.

In writing about his G Major Concerto, Ravel stated that “a concerto can be light-hearted and brilliant, and there is no necessity for it to aim for profundity or big dramatic effects.” He considered calling it a divertissement instead of a concerto. He said at one point that he modeled it after the concertos of Mozart and Saint-Saëns, and the slow movement was composed “with the assistance of” the slow movement of Mozart’s clarinet quintet. Hearing it now, one has the impression that Ravel was also reflecting his experience of the rapid pace of North American life; some influence of jazz and the work of Gershwin (whom me met and admired) can also be heard.

Ravel originally intended to learn the solo part and perform the work on a world tour. He practiced to the point of exhaustion, but his failing health made it impossible for him to continue. Marguerite Long, a great champion of French contemporary music, played the premiere in 1932, with Ravel conducting. In defiance of his doctor’s advice, Ravel and Long took the concerto on a tour of 20 European cities, and they also recorded it. The recording is still available today, but not everyone is convinced that this performance is an ideal one. Ravel was a conscientious, but not very flexible conductor.

This brilliant, light-hearted work gives no hint that the composer was in failing health. Although he lived for another six years after its completion, he was effectively imprisoned by his deteriorating neurological condition, unable to communicate or understand what was going on in the world around him.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.