Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major

Program notes

About the Work

Ravel began work on his Piano Concerto in G major in 1929, though he had toyed with the idea of a concerto on Basque themes as early as 1906. He worked on it alongside a second concerto, the dramatic Left Hand Concerto commissioned by the one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein, and completed the G major in 1931.

He had intended to premiere the work himself, but poor health forced him to entrust the solo part to the pianist Marguerite Long, to whom he dedicated the score. The premiere took place at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on January 14, 1932, with Ravel conducting. It was an immediate triumph, and composer and soloist went on to take it on tour across Europe.

Ravel named Mozart and Saint-Saëns as his models; his only wish, he said, was to write “a genuine concerto, that is, a brilliant work, clearly highlighting the soloist’s virtuosity, without seeking to show profundity.” Yet beneath its sparkling surface lies remarkable sophistication: Basque folk melodies, Spanish colors, and jazz idioms are woven together with classical clarity.

What to listen for tonight:

• First movement (Allegramente): A whip-crack launches us into a kaleidoscope of themes: a jaunty Basque-flavored tune on piccolo, Spanish inflections, and unmistakable jazz colors with blue notes in clarinet and trumpet. Listen for the unusual sequence of cadenzas: first harp, then woodwinds, finally the piano.

• Second movement (Adagio assai): The concerto’s emotional heart. The piano enters alone with an endless, hypnotic melody spanning 34 bars, inspired by the slow movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. When the English horn takes up the theme, the piano floats ethereal embellishments around it. This movement is often called one of the most beautiful in all piano literature.

• Third movement (Presto): A breathless finale that returns to the first movement’s high spirits. Jazz rhythms propel the music forward in a virtuosic race between soloist and orchestra. In a characteristic Ravelian touch, the movement snaps shut as abruptly as it began.