Ravel composed his two Piano Concertos simultaneously: the G major Concerto was written in 1929-31 and the D major Concerto (for the left hand) in 1929-30. With the exception of the song cycle Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (1932), they are his last works, the final manifestation of one of the most ingenious and eclectic creators of twentieth-century music. The Piano Concertos are actually Ravel's only abstract orchestral works; virtually all the rest of his orchestral music stems from the theatre or the dance, or is orchestrated from piano works. Ravel dedicated the G major Concerto to the famous pianist Marguerite Long (1874-1966), whose interpretation of early twentieth-century French music had an authority that derived from her friendship with Fauré, Debussy and Ravel. The first performance, given by Mme. Long in January 1932 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, with Ravel conducting the Lamoureux Orchestra, was an enormous success. Long and Ravel later recorded the piece. French lightness and elegance, Jazz elements and neo-classical style, engaging melodies and rhythmic verve are the salient features of this Concerto. The bold harmonic writing and the extraordinary and subtle orchestral timbre are the main ingredients that create its unique sonority. The two brilliant outer movements reveal the influence of Basque and Spanish music (Ravel was born to a Basque mother in Ciboure, France, near the Spanish border) as well as that of Gershwin, Stravinsky, Saint-Saëns and Satie, whereas the central slow movement evokes the spirit of Mozart and Fauré (with whom Ravel studied composition). The very beginning of the Concerto is striking: a single clapping sound of the whip, bitonal piano arpeggios and a playful melody for solo piccolo against soft string pizzicatos and tremolos and a barely audible drum roll. The piano arpeggios turn into glissandos and a solo trumpet takes up the piccolo tune, which is the principal theme of the opening movement. The second theme, introduced by the piano alone, is rather dreamy. The following succession of motives is broken by a toccata-like passage of the piano with jazz-like interjections from trombone and trumpet. This passage is developed to a climax and then unexpectedly restates the principal theme. The rest of the movement is built on all these elements and includes an elaborate piano cadenza, preceded by a quasi cadenza for harp. MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937) C O N C E R T O I N G M A J O R F O R P I A N O A N D O R C H E S T R A ca. 22 mins. Allegramente Adagio assai Presto
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