Ravel Piano Concerto for Left Hand

Can't really get the cadenza part out of my head after listening to it yesterday at Lincoln Center performed by NYPhil under David Robertson's baton. This is an exciting and beautiful composition. Worth mentioning is, it is a non-traditional one movement piano concerto where it has dramatic contrasting effect compare to usual-light-hearted temperament of most piano concerti.

As usual, you can find that there are "chord-sweeping" sessions dominating the piano part in Ravel's works. One thing special about this is Ravel combined his unique style of harmony with some jazzy effect. You can enjoy the visual excitement when you watch it live. But without listening live it radiates same excitement.

Here is a version by Richter. Part II is very exciting as it is building up to the climax (cadenza). You can feel the gradual inclination of the intensity and yes it is so excitng.
Part I

Left Hand vs Right Hand

Your left hand and right hand should always compliment each other like a husband and a wife. However, there is always a dominant hand. Most people are right hand dominant. Some are left hand dominant.

In most cases, the dominant usually leads the sub-dominant hand. However, if the right hand is too far more capable than left hand, it is time to train your left hand so that you can achieve some kind of balance. So that besides right hand complimenting left hand, left hand is also capable of complimenting right hand.

Sometimes, without training, your left hand is playing too loud and drown your right hand's beautifully crafted melody. Sometimes, when the right hand give the left hand a chance to voice out, left hand is too nervous, inconfident or incapable of doing that.

Some very good piece for training the independence of your left hand are first movement of Corigliano's Etude Fantasy, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 4 in B-flat major for the left hand and Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand in D Major.

In these pieces, wide leaps, playing both melody and accompaniment with only left hand helps to challenge the pianist's other side of brain to think about more actions at one time for left hand.

Corigliano's Etude Fantasy


Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand Concerto in D Major (The Beautiful Cadenza Part) performed by Leon Fleisher


Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no 4 first movement performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy

Sviatoslav Richter plays Ravel "Pavane"

Maurice Ravel - "Pavane pour une Infante Defunte" Live recording, 1954

Martha Argerich,Ravel Jeux d'eau

originally telecast july 31,1977

Let the water wash away all your bad fiery energy, calm your mind, and restore your pureness.

Take a deep breath

Ondine is another water piece introduced by Vita M blog after Chopin's Barcarolle. It is one of the character pieces from Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, a set of 3 compositions inspired by French poet, Aloysius Bertrand's poems. There are a lot of water-like sound arrangements since this is about a water ghost "Ondine" who tried to seduce men into her water and drown them. As usual, you will find technical parts for piansits in Ravel's composition. In "Ondine", the challenging part is the repeated right hand chords that are supposed to be repeated in "micro-seconds" and the challange to maintain the softness and even-ness of the chords. Water has been a very popular extra-musical reference for many composers. ( Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, etc. ) This is probably because water resembles elegant, smooth, fluidity, zen-like quality of piano sound. A piece about water is always an incredible composition.

The original poem, Ondine:
" Ecoute ! - Ecoute ! - C'est moi, c'est Ondine qui
frôle de ces gouttes d'eau les losanges sonores de ta
fenêtre illuminée par les mornes rayons de la lune ;
et voici, en robe de moire, la dame châtelaine qui
contemple à son balcon la belle nuit étoilée et le beau
lac endormi.

" Chaque flot est un ondin qui nage dans le courant,
chaque courant est un sentier qui serpente vers mon palais,
et mon palais est bâti fluide, au fond du lac, dans le
triangle du feu, de la terre et de l'air.

" Ecoute ! - Ecoute ! - Mon père bat l'eau coassante
d'une branche d'aulne verte, et mes soeurs caressent de
leurs bras d'écume les fraîches îles d'herbes, de nénu-
phars et de glaïeuls, ou se moquent du saule caduc et
barbu qui pêche à la ligne ! "

*

Sa chanson murmurée, elle me supplia de recevoir son
anneau à mon doigt pour être l'époux d'une Ondine, et
de visiter avec elle son palais pour être le roi des lacs.

Et comme je lui répondais que j'aimais une mortelle,
boudeuse et dépitée, elle pleura quelques larmes, poussa
un éclat de rire, et s'évanouit en giboulées qui ruisse-
lèrent blanches le long de mes vitraux bleus.


Translation:

"Ecoute! - Ecoute! - THIS IS me, this is Ondine that brushes of these drops of water the sonorous losanges
of your window illuminated by the gloomy rays of the moon; and here, in dress of makes shimmer, the lady
châtelaine that contemplates to his balcony the beautiful night étoilée and the beautiful lake gone to sleep.

"Every wave is a water sprite that swims in the current, every current is a path that winds towards my palace,
and my palace is built fluid, at the far end of the lake, in the fire triangle, earth and air.

"Ecoute! - Ecoute! - My father beats water croaking of a branch of green alder, and my sisters caress of
their arms of foam the fresh islands of grasses, of nénu- phars and of gladiolas, or make fun of of the null
and bearded willow that fishes to the line! "

*

His murmured song, she implored me to receive his ring to my finger to be the spouse of an Ondine, and to
visit with her his palace to be the lake king.

And as I replied for him that I liked a mortal one, sulker and upset, she cried some tears, pushed a laugh
brightness, and faints in sudden showers that ruisse- white lèrent alongside my blue vitraux.

Performed by Martha Argerich.

Schedule for a Piano Lesson at TEN PIANO STUDIO