I selected Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand because I'd always heard of it, but I've never actually listened to it == and now that I think about it, that's a bit astonishing -- and I do mean just a little bit -- because I play the piano and I'm left-handed. LOL -- I woulda thunk that I would have given it a try somewhere in the past. Well, I can never say I've never heard it anymore -- and I loved it. First, I read up on the concerto from a variety of sites. Here's some of what I learned: * Ravel wrote the concerto between 1929 and 1930 (concurrently with his Piano Concerto in G Major). * It was commissioned by the Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein who'd lost his right arm during World War I. * Some sources say the concerto is only one movement. Others say the piece is divided into two movements linked together. * Still others argue the concerto has a tripartite structure; not fast-slow-fast like most three-movement concertos, but slow-fast-slow instead. An article on Wikipedia states, "Towards the end of the piece, some of the music of the early slow sections is overlaid with the faster music, so that two tempi occur simultaneously." * An article on the website for the Houston Symphony describes the structure of the concerto thoroughly; it includes these lines: "The concerto is structured as one movement with two clear parts. The slower first part begins with low, whispering arpeggios in the double basses, which accompany a murky contrabassoon solo....(this) is soon interrupted by a jazzy melody in the horns based on three notes of a descending scale. The rest of the piece evolves organically from these two ideas....A grand orchestral crescendo builds to the beginning of the faster second part of the concerto: a march. Fragmentary ideas appear above the steady tread of the march accompaniment, until the soloist introduces a new, dancing melody above it." The complete article is HERE, and it is definitely worth a read! Okay -- so my thoughts? * LOL -- upon my first time listening, I wasn't even sure that the concerto had begun. The Houston Symphony article was not exaggerating when they described the double basses as "whispering" -- the opening mood is very mysterious and very -- capital letters VERY -- quiet. * I loved the drama and the range of the piano's entrance, but after watching the score for the piece (on the video linked above), I still can't understand how one hand could achieve what is written. It is fascinating how Ravel created a sound that two hands are performing the concerto -- with longer/tied notes on the top, while the same hand then jumps down to strike lower notes; however, for example, check out some of the chords outlined below. Who could play those with one hand? * The march section, which begins just after eight minutes into the piece, is as captivating as it is thrilling -- and the triplet notes above the pounding bass reminded me of the rhythms employed by Stephen Sondheim in "Into the Woods" -- albeit with a more ominous tone.
* Is it just me, or does anyone else pick up on a slight "Bolero" vibe just at the measure marked "28" (at about 10:30 into the piece)? * By about 11:30, Ravel seems to have three pieces going on simultaneously: the constant throbbing of the march, the haunting triplets on the piano (a la "Into the Woods"), and a lush, slower piece of passion in the strings. It's all quite impressive. * At one point I heard the tension of a Bernard Herrmann score for an Alfred Hitchcock movie (particularly the piano runs at section 38 -- reminiscent of "Vertigo"?), maybe some Gershwin (or even Louis Moreau Gottschalk?) around section 41, and toward the end of the piece I heard some John Williams a la his score to "Star Wars." As I stated above, Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand is impressive! I loved it.
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A New Hope:As the header above says, each week I will listen to a piece of classical music that I've never heard before, and then I will report out what I thought about it. Archives
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