Maurice Ravel's Stunning Piano Writing

Ravel’s Gaspard de La Nuit was written in 1908. It’s three movements contain some of the most intricate, poetic and technically difficult piano music ever written. They were inspired by the fantastical poems of Aloysius Bertrand. The first movement, Ondine, is about a seductive underwater nymph, and Ravel’s music is unprecedentedly rich and virtuosic in presenting an array of shimmering watery textures of various sorts. The music in this extract comes from the climax of the movement, in which giant tertiary steps of harmony are presented in complex cascades of notes in both hands. On the page it looks almost unplayable, but the passage is worked out with extraordinary precision so that the patterns lie under the fingers with the thumbs playing a crucial melodic role.
MUSICAL EXCERPTS USED IN THIS VIDEO
Maurice Ravel: Ondine from Gaspard de la Nuit (1908)
Louis Lortie, piano solo.
John Coltrane: Giant Steps (1959)
#Ravel #gaspard #musicprofessor
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Edited by Ian Coulter ( www.iancoultermusic.com )
Produced and directed by Ian Coulter & Matthew King

[@caesargreco7115]

OKAY, RAVEL IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC, BUT LETS GIVE SOME PRAISE TO HOW PERFECT THIS SHORT ANALYSIS IS. No, like seriously, this is the perfect video when I want to show my English or biology or whatever teacher something at the end of class. The highlighting of the melody amongst all of the sparkles and the analysis of the chord progressions all chopped down to a 3 minute video? LOVE IT MY GUY

[@SR71YF12]

"No piano in the world is good enough for Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit". -Quote ascribed to Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli.

[@SilverChak]

Ravel is my favorite composer, I admire how he write for orchestral, also for piano

[@MrTyty527]

no wonder I feel jazzy sometimes when I listen to this awesome piece

[@robertrust]

I wrote a piece for solo piano that quotes a bunch of Ravel’s piano music to learn better how to write for a piano. Really helpful exercise for both technique and creativity.

[@specialperson335]

Well, the cadenza in the first movement of Prok 2 will forever be a classic.

[@mista_yann462]

That Giant Steps sound, decades before Coltrane, is pretty damn amazing to hear. Thank you for this great video!

[@boundaryconditions1119]

For me, the most thrilling piano climax will always be the coda to the first movement of the Appassionata. I prefer Richter's, but there are many great recordings!

[@GhtPTR]

Night rat, that's what it means in French. Gaspard is a long forgotten slang for rat ; French used to be extremely colourful a few decades back with many words for the same thing ; money, for example, could be pèze, flouze, oseille, mornifle, pognon, blé and others. Young people are having a hard time understanding movies from the 50's and 60's while they were incredibly hilarious, akin to The quest for the holy graal of the Monthy Pythons. Anyway, excellent video about, unfortunately, a lost world.

[@erickborling1302]

Ask Steve Vai about this.

[@belartful]

Ravel is one of a kind..and to me the greatest Composer that ever lived..no one approaches his sense of musical beauty and sophistication,and orchestra arrangement.

[@SR71YF12]

Wonderfully educating and highly entertaining clip. I have become addicted to Ravels music, but I am at least equally addicted to his fellow countryman Debussy who wrote some thrilling piano climaxes as well. Hommage à Rameau played by Michelangeli in 1962 never disappoints. La Cathédrale Engloutie played by Richter is simply majestic. Speaking of Richter and Ravel, Richters reading of Ravels Miroirs (in Prague 1965) is nothing short of miraculous.

[@MikeWalls7829]

This piece is really satisfying to play and I implore any pianist to give it a go, even just parts of it that you can manage, it's such a fascinating and beautiful thing in so many ways and will push your technique to the max.

[@pawdaw]

I learned this as a student and would say that it took about 6 months for it to feel comfortable under the hands. There are challenges in pretty much every bar. All the repeated notes and the hands getting in the way of each other. The extreme dynamics. But - when it all comes together - Ondine is one of the best things you can play. Put it this way - you want to get better so you can play it.

[@paularnold9009]

Among the greatest climaxs in piano music has to be the end of the massive cadenza in the 1st mvt of Prokofiev’s 2nd piano concerto.

[@bulliwoody3674]

Thank you for this

[@brianballinger100]

Ravel often gets lauded for his orchestral craftsmanship. But his piano writing is just as incredible!

[@markokassenaar4387]

Thank you! Brilliant and enlightening.

[@solpiano]

So helpful !❤

[@SillyWillyFan47]

Fabulous teasing out & highlighting of the salient parts.