Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major

Joseph-Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a French composer and pianist, of Basque origins.

Always deemed a composer of the Impressionist era by traditional musicology, Ravel was much more than an impressionist. Actually, his style defies any attempt of classification. He remains, to this day, ungraspable. His music, at most, may be defined as 'hovering' between Impressionism and Modernism.

In his style, one notices tinges of the Romanticism of Beethoven and Wagner, XVIII century French classicism, the XIX aura of Fauré and Chabrier, Liszt, Chopin, Debussy, and American jazz, amongst other influences.

The features of Ravel's music include:
1) Innovation, without following the contemporary trend towards atonality as pioneered by Schönberg. In his case, it relied on the use of modal melodies instead of diatonic scales (major or minor) for their predominant harmonic language;
2) Extended harmonies and intricate modulations;
3) In his music, one shall be able to notice his predilection for nineth and eleventh chords and unresolved appoggiaturas, with the effect of provoking more tension;
4) As suggested by his famous Boléro, Ravel was very influenced by dances and movement. His favourite was the minuet. There were others, like the passacaglia, the waltz, the forlane, the czardas and the Cuban habanera.

Some of Ravel's piano works are found to be amongst the most complex in terms of technical difficulty, but always based on musically perfectly logical concepts. Not only are they technically perfect, but they also require from the performer the right expression.

In the following piece, notice how exquisitely Ravel juxtaposes the melodic lines over trills, instead of weaving it over a progression of chords. Also notice how the composer explores the full extension of the instrument, apart from the lovely tinge of American jazz.

A classical performance, by Mme. Martha Argerich and the Dutoit Orchestre National de France. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq1ueeJucA8