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

@Cemballo

Жыл бұрын

Nice quote of one of the greatest pianists ever. (Concerning one of the greatest composer ever I think) A long time ago he participated at the famous belgian piano concour and he had the choice between an Steinway D and a belgian concert grand (Hautrive Brussels 1935) He prefered this unknown brand and as a piano restorer I had to prepare this old timer for a Ravel recording in the museum for music instruments last year. Very nice and mysterious « Ravelian » sound.

@SR71YF12

Жыл бұрын

@@Cemballo That is a very interesting story. Michelangeli was famous for his perfectionism not only in terms of the almost impossibly high standards he aimed for in his playing, but also with regard to the condition of his pianos. He often travelled with two Steinways and sometimes due to circumstances such as temperature and humidity, neither of them met with his approval despite the efforts of the piano tuners, as recounted by Celibidache in an interview which is available here on KZread. He was incredibly sensitive to sound and could hear the slightest deviation in the sound of a piano hammer striking the string which not even his piano tuner picked up. There are several anecdotes about his sensitivity to sound in documentaries about him, and he clearly was a connoiseur of the piano. So based on that and on your description of the Hautrive Bruxelles concert grand, I can believe that he found this piano intriguing and suitable for his purposes

@Cemballo

Жыл бұрын

Interesting! Thanks

@bozzigmupp510

Жыл бұрын

Why is no piano adequate :(

@AndreyRubtsovRU

19 сағат бұрын

by definition it isn't. because it was about pushing the limits for him. so if any piano would be good enough - he'd push it further

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

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much. Nice comments like this make it all worth while!

@gilbertdaroy6080

Жыл бұрын

I agree. This is NOT one of your run'-of-the mill analysis of a musical segment by a great and humble composer. This is an Inspired harmonic dissection that's also entertaining. Good job.

@Chesterton7

Жыл бұрын

AGREE!

@stephenn77

Жыл бұрын

I had no idea Coltrane borrowed from this!

@lucasjustice

Жыл бұрын

Your caps lock is on- oh, wait no you got it. Wait now it’s back on again

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

@simonsmatthew

Жыл бұрын

RIP Burt Bacharach, student of Darius Milhaud and another great admirer of Ravel.

@randomchannel-px6ho

7 ай бұрын

Herbie hancock and others have been vocal that they've taken some inspiration from Ravel.

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

@jacobtapianieto9655

Жыл бұрын

He is such an artisan when we talk about his orchestral works and orchestrations.

@SilverChak

Жыл бұрын

@@jacobtapianieto9655 totalmente cierto

@markokassenaar4387

Жыл бұрын

@@jacobtapianieto9655 And you know what's funny?It sounds so lush, yet his orchestration is pure efficiency. Only well-connecting resonances are used. It is not minimalism, but it certainly is not over-the-top whipped cream, like many German composers.

@alvodin6197

Жыл бұрын

What if he didn't write orchestra, then you wouldn't like him as much? He would be inferior?. And, is that your opinion,.or someone you've been told? People into classical music are so conforming, it's like people don't think for themselves.

@markokassenaar4387

Жыл бұрын

@@alvodin6197 Literally nobody said this about Ravel in this series of comments. You interpret other people’s words at will and while you’re at it, identify people who love classical music as asses who think as a group. Maybe you should just come off your high horse.

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

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

It's harder to hear when the piano is playing those huge arpeggios!

@Oneirovore

Жыл бұрын

Ravel praised jazz as an underappreciated American artform.

@sledgehog1

4 ай бұрын

​@@OneirovoreAnother proof of it was how he refused to give lessons to George Gershwin because he feared he'd influence George's 'jazzy' composition style.

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.

@bruno_dias

Ай бұрын

Many will agree with you on that praise for his unbelievable capacity of "orchestral arrangement", although some other giants could be mixed in the discussion (Bach, Berlioz, Mahler, Stravinsky, Shostakovitch, Sibelius, Britten, etc.) but you lost me completely in the "greatest Composer that ever lived..no one approaches his sense of musical beauty and sophistication"... Everything on that last statement is almost impossible to define and utterly subjective.

@Vincent-ig2cb

28 күн бұрын

Everyone's favourite composer is the greatest composer that ever lived.

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.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Superb choices. We will look at Debussy soon...

@Tennisisreallyfun

Жыл бұрын

Ravel, Debussy, Chaminade, Poulenc, etc… There really isn’t in history a period of time quite like this, where a complete musical identity was summarized so utterly completely in every possible way, by citizens of really only one small country.

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

@hugginduff

Жыл бұрын

I played gaspard years ago in music school, and it is the greatest piece written for solo piano...the structure is such an achievement and is so much fun to play. I got a real high by the end. but i agree the cadenza in the first movement of the Prokofiev 2nd is astounding.,..unplayable, it is my fav concerto but is i never played...Why is that.? too difficult? people hate it? it is so much better than prokofiev 3rd....

@ralphiesal

Жыл бұрын

@@hugginduff prokofiev’s 3rd piano concerto is much more well written than the 2nd.

@burrenmagic

Жыл бұрын

@@hugginduff if you could play Gaspard, arguably the hardest, then you should be able to?

@babyblue1194

Ай бұрын

@@ralphiesalagreed, and no one can play it like Martha Argerich

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.

@dennischiapello3879

Жыл бұрын

One of my favorite moments comes during the secondary theme. The shimmering repeated triads in the right hand begin to sparkle due to octave displacement, the left hand begins the melody: then the right hand takes over the melody while still playing those sparkles (!) so that the left hand can add a sumptuous arpeggio in the bass. It sounds like three hands playing. It was so much fun to play--and again, it fit the hand perfectly.

@susanlloyd

8 ай бұрын

Totally agree. I’m a amateur and enjoy playing the beginning

@MikeWalls7829

8 ай бұрын

I got all the way up to the climax with it's insane splits and stopped there, it's been 15 years I think I'm gonna have another go, wish me luck!

Thank you so much for this video. I’ve been playing this piece for a few months now and this section never gets old

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.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Well done, learning Ondine.

One of my most favorite musical moments ever. Rare time I actually forget I'm listening to someone playing a piano, it's just pure emotional release.

This sent chills up my spine more than once! Thank you for this in depth look at Ravel's master work.

This is an awesome video! The first time I heard this piece (especially the climax) it really changed my view on music! The harmonies were something I had never really heard before, and the crystal clear rain drop-like textures that ornament the piece are just gorgeous, and remind me of a starry night sky. Thanks for making this video! It has made it clear for me why this piece is so wonderful.

Really appreciate the simplified score!

Ravel is beyond a piano master and a superb orchestrator, he's one of few people I'd consider music gods. Man I'll never get enough of his music! And thank you for all the straight-to-the-ponit videos, very much appreciated.

This is arguably the greatest piece ever written by a composer!!! Just amazing on so many different levels!

Thank you! Brilliant and enlightening.

You're slowly introducing me to Ravel's works and orchestration and I'm loving it! I have a lot to learn from him!

Fabulous teasing out & highlighting of the salient parts. And lots of sparkles!

Thank you for this

So helpful !❤

I am absolutely elated to see you cover my favorite part of Gaspard, it truly is an incredible progression and really shows how incredible of a composer Ravel truly is. Thank you IMMENSELY for this concise yet detailed analysis!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much. Always exciting to hear how much people love this piece

KZread randomly put this on my recommended, I'm assuming because I've lurked on Ravel videos for years as he's been my favorite composer for ages, so I'm very happy to see this. Always love finding people who also cherish his incredible talent. He moves me like no other composer can.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

He's pretty special!

This is really special musical analysis. Especially the stripped down parts that sound pretty “enormous” in and of themselves? What a composition, and what a mind to conceive of such subtle beauty and bold emotion. Incredible.

I can't tell how I truly appreciate this video.

Thank you for your analysis which makes me get more understanding of the inner beauty of the masterpiece 😊 Hope you can make more wonderful videos of such kind ❤

Wow! I love how you have presented this… your analysis follows a climactic arc of its own. Thank you for opening this door to Ravel’s sublime genius.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

What an incredible build up!!! This is the first I listen to it. Thanks 🤓

I appreciate you letting the music speak for itself with only some text to guide. Most people on yt have a tendency to give their spoken commentary inbetween clips but to be honest man I just want to listen to Ravel :)

Oh my, how I have practiced this passage a million times and never really mastered it like this. Beautifully played by whoever is playing! There is also another passage a bit earlier in the piece that is actually surprisingly difficult even though it sounds like it should be relatively easy. But it wouldn't get to be a good video I suppose because this here is the absolute climax of the piece. Nice vid, thank you.

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.

@Elo10073

2 ай бұрын

100%

Thank you for this, and for using Louis Lortie’s beautiful interpretation. He is my favorite for all Ravel and Chopin … and more. Applause for your video!

I am so glad this came up in my feed (and I just subbed to the channel) as I am more than a little obsessed with Gaspard. I have been collecting various recordings of it bit by bit; my first taste of it was from a wonderful vintage LP of the piece played by Argerich (I think her start of Ondine brings to mind the foam created by waves lapping the shoreline). I randomly picked it out from a shop in NYC years back. Since then I have other versions such including Michelangeli, Nojima. I managed to get the record of Gina Bachauer playing it coupled with Sir Laurence Olivier reading of the poem in translation, which shed a great deal of light on Bertrand's work. I plan to listen to many more renditions of this fascinating masterpiece. Cheers!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! That sounds a fascinating journey into the music (and poems) via those recordings. I too first heard this music played by the wonderful Marta Argerich. Her performance is utterly sublime!

*Marvelous!*

During my graduate studies as a music theorist, Ravel and Stravinsky were my favorite composers. Their music not only had interesting abstract sequences, but they craftily evaded that sequential nature in their sound, which is difficult to achieve as a composer.

Thank you very much.

One of my favorite composers! Thanks for your videos, I love them (Btw incredible how many times i’ve listened to this piece and never noticed the Coltrane pattern lmao)

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

We only noticed a resemblance when we created the simplified score!

@bounderby99

Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessorColtrane was a huge fan of Ravel. “Impressions” is called “Impressions” because it uses part of a Ravel melody

love this!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you.

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

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

I think both are equally incredible.

@markokassenaar4387

Жыл бұрын

Fun fact: many of his works were piano compositions first. When orchestrating, he found ideas in the colors of the harmonics and overtones of the piano.

Damn! What a gem analisis. Love it.

I started learning this section a few days ago, there's a video of me practising it on my channel, incredible harmonies and textures, and such beautiful music.

I didn't know Lortie had recorded this. (I wondered right away who this pianist was). Ethereal, haunting. This piece, when played to its fullest expressive haunting potential, should last maybe about 40 minutes. Not 22 minutes. It's unimaginably heart breaking with the most glorious pastiches of glistening harmonies and color. It does take a finely tuned concert piano to set the player free

would love to see a video on turangulila mvt 6! i have loved that movement for so long based on how the orchestra interacts with the solo piano. great video!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Ah yes - 'Jardin du Sommei d'Amour'! I too have loved that movement for years. It has a very special magic about it. I will try to do a video at some point...

This is great, I love Ravel's piano music, and it's nice to see someone with a jazz theory perspective looking at the harmony in this way.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you - actually I can't pretend to be a Jazz theoretician at all, but I am a big fan of cross-disciplinary perspectives. Far too many things (in music and elsewhere) are weirdly - and unhelpfully -compartmentalised!

@timbruer7318

Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor I agree :)

❤ when giant steps started i was WOW. Ravel is the BEST

fantastic video, I love how you just let us listen and give us all the info on the text :)

What a massive rise for this channel, when I first saw it, it was at 300-499 and later 500 after my subscription. Now, it's at an impressive 3k!

I heard "Giant Steps" even before you said it! Coltrane knew who to listen to. He also got his "Love Supreme" motif from the great Aaron Copland. Maurice Ravel was truly a genius!!! Decades ahead of his time.❤❤❤❤❤

Very cool!

Thanks!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

God, this is amazingly well done! Congrats on the video!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for your support!

That was a very intriguing analysis.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you

My professor specialized in Ravel during his career. I still can't fathom doing such thing

Bravo!

Great analysis.

Charlie knew. You know. I know. Maurice Ravel. It is under the hands. I wish you had my picture so I, as well, could pop into the frame in tempo, admiring Ravels take on triangles and protractors. Outstanding content. Subscribed.

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.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

'Helpful' - understatement of the year!

@robertrust

Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor it’s also turned out to be one of my more popular works. Here’s a link if you’d like to have a listen. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qqqBpLikcqquhrQ.html

That was very interesting! I will try to learn the piece!

great vid. subbed.

Very good videos. Congratulations for this.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you.

Really cool piano climax is also in piano etude from A. Scriabin d sharp minor. Ashtonishing chords and sound. I remember playing this piece for a recording in our Slovak radio. Beautiful memories.

I recognized that Giant Steps chord progression immediately. Delightful

How genius is he...I can't say no more

Thanks🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

great music video 🎼

please keep creating this Impressionist related content Professor!

Marvelous

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Yep Gaspard Ravel’s are one of my favs, epic mention for me also is Chopin ballade 1 and 4

gaspard de la nuit; my favourite piece

Thanks for a great video. The piano climaxes that immediately come to mind are those in the final movements of Beethoven's opus 109 and 111- the giant, layered wall of sound that he creates in the final variation of op 109 with the trill in the center and the melody picked out above it and the cascading scales underneath it, is truly transcendent and overwhelming in a great performance. And similarly in opus 111, when the theme returns in its original form after that modulating passage, but now with that extraordinary left hand accompaniment murmuring underneath it, and builds to such a heart rending climax. Honourable mentions- Chopin's polonaise fantasy and Debussy's l'isle joyeuse

@Juscz

Жыл бұрын

I was also thin king of mentioning Beethoven's Op. 109 6th variation, but thank you for having already done that.

I’ve known for years that I should become acquainted with the music of Maurice Ravel, but maybe for lack of trying my imagination just wasn’t sufficiently smitten for that balloon to leave the ground. That has now completely changed. Excellent short video.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Wonderful to hear that our little film enabled you to have a Damascene experience with Ravel's music. He really is amazing!

Wow!

Wonderful analysis professor. This is something that I like to do myself, to take passages out of Gaspard and other Ravel in order to study them closer. I especially love your breakdown of the 'tune' from the harmony. May I recommend to fellow Ravel'ers of the Ivan Ilic perfomance extract of the cadenza from the left-hand concerto also on KZread. An equally stunning piece of piano writing made easy to study.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Ravel is so cool!!!!! i want to learn this piece in the future when i become a better pianist.

@themusicprofessor

10 ай бұрын

A friend of mine decided to learn the piano by playing this piece very slowly. It wasn't a particularly sensible thing to do (he only managed the first couple of pages very slowly)!

Yeah, first time I heard this piece I heard giant steps. Super cool

i think i might cry

Merci de me faire re-découvrir (entendre) Ravel d'une nouvelle façon! de Montréal, Québec

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Merci beaucoup. C'est merveilleux à entendre.

Beautiful ❤️✨

Yes, you nailed it. I had a close friend who played Gaspard when we were in music school together, and when I first saw that exact passage with the big climax (I believe it's measure 61), it became a part of my life ever since. (That's been about 60 years ago.) And now I listen to lots of comparative performances of Gaspart, particularly that first movement, just to see how well they handle that climax. I could never play it myself, but I'm very particular about how it should be done. I've heard it done right (in my eyes) by maybe only three or four people. That's one of the most fun places in music, along with the Bach Chaconne and his BWV 225 Motet.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I'm new to Ravel, and this sounds incredibly Jazzy. I can't believe it..

Stunning

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

The incredible climax of the Piano Sonata no.4 by Scriabin

@talastra

Жыл бұрын

Did you mean 4 or 5?

Some of the best 3 min of my life

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Superb. Thank you.

In his legendary 1960 Prague performance, Michelangeli plays the build up and the following climax in Ondine like no other pianist I have heard, especially in the "Un peu plus lent" part. Here he achieves what I can only describe as a maelstrom effect that is nothing short of supernatural (the "Crikey!" is indeed justified here!), before things start to calm down. Watching this video made me appreciate Michelangeli's Gaspard even more than I already did.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Michelangeli was an extraordinary pianist.

@talastra

Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor This is true.

@simonsmatthew

Жыл бұрын

I don't know whether you have heard Ashkenazy's version, but it is dreadful. Yet he won all sorts of prizes for it and acclaim from his acolytes. I agree when I heard Michalangeli's version I was gobsmacked. Funny how some people can really make the piece make sense. I would also recommended listening to Ravel's own remastered recordings. A Camadessus, a student of Ravel is another good one. Ravel himself was rarely impressed with the way pianists played his music, even during his own time (he would be horrified now). One of his complaints was unimaginative and 'uninnovative' pedalling. His hero was Mozartl, and indeed despite its complexity, what we really have here in the Ondine is a classical first movement of a Sonata in strict sonata form. This gives a lot of clues about how this should be played. He also makes a point about returning to tempo.

@talastra

Жыл бұрын

@@simonsmatthew This is an interesting comment, and I'm especially intrigued to see my intuition, that Gaspard de la Nuit reads like a classical sonata to me, may in fact be correct. Thanks! :)

@simonsmatthew

Жыл бұрын

@@talastra The exposition states the first subject in the tonic key, there is a bridge and then the second subject is in the dominant (G-sharp).The recap contains a few surprises, but I would argue this is the fundamental construct. Overall I would argue that Gaspard de la Nuit is closer to the Mozart sonatas than the Haydn ones, particularly due to the long final movement.

The fast "Coltrane" bit also brings to mind "Vertigo's" love theme.

Mad lad

The build up and release in "La Valse" is also mind-blowing

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Just wait for our next video...

Bolero is still my favorite of his. I did my own version of those changes.

Wow the ending parts... I heard Harpsicord playing... beautiful flowing crystal sound...

Upon further reflection, along with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto no. 2 cadenza, the last movement of Bach's Mass in B Minor is pretty gobsmackingly shattering as a climax.

my favourite piano climax is definitely scriabin sonata no. 9. very well planned. i cannot even describe what is happening

wow it was delicious to read the french notes

i was painstakingly boiling this piece down into changes when suddenly someone did it for me ‼

Ravel's Left Hand Piano Concert brought me here!! This is mindblowing!!!

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

The Left Hand Concerto is a piece we want to look at in future.

@rockyblaq510

Жыл бұрын

@@themusicprofessor the melodies and motifs in that piece is nothing short of NOSTALGIA!!

The climax of Franck's Prelude Chorale and Fugue is just as monumental as this.

Thanks for this analysis. I always wonder what is going on with ravel's harmony

very good video, you got a new sub

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Welcome to the channel!

stuns

Going to perform Ondine this Sat. The more I study Ravel’s works the more I’m entranced by his genius. Working on Scarbo now as well. Le Gibet I’ll save for last. Just start playing the piece. Your hands will thank you.

@themusicprofessor

Жыл бұрын

Good luck!