This passage is really the most unusual in the whole piano concerto. I've heard the concert several times, and the audience is always breathlessly silent and wonders: What kind of sounds are these?
The high register horn melody is very reminiscent to the one Ligeti uses in the 7th mvt of musica ricercata and the 2nd of the violin concerto. The texture here is also Ligeti-esque at times - this is my favourite moment of this concerto I reckon. Ravel was miles ahead!
Ravel was a wizard of orchestration. I'd like to witness a music director of a movie who uses Ravel's orchestral pieces in a original and creative way.
0:20 I think you meant to say A phrygian, in the melody the only accidental is Bb:) The horn melody later is also just C minor, because it transposes down a fifth. Loosely speaking, the harmony here is based on A phrygian major or A octatonic, which is why the key signature is marked one Bb (A phrygian major is the dominant of D harmonic minor). This is also why we have a C minor melody over an A7 triad in strings at 049: The pitch set of the C minor horn melody are C F Eb D Bb, and A7 is A C# E G, and these are both contained in either A phrygian major or A octatonic. If you look at the bassoon and flute runs, you'll see that the modes actually change, but it's still largely an A phrygian kind of sonority.
Yes you're right I did mean A Phrygian, I'm not sure how I accidentally wrote A mixolydian there. Though I don't see how you can call the horn melody C minor when you have A♮at the very end. Since, like you've pointed out, the melody is essentially transposed a 5th down, it would then make sense to be A Locrian, a 5th below A Phrygian. A octatonic is problematic as well because it fails to account for the sense of bimodality that's quite evident in these passages...
@skylarlimex ah that's true, didn't read the horn passage until the end. I still personally hear C as the root, so that would make a C dorian. I think octatonicism is great for accounting for the bimodality however, as the symmetry around minor thirds allow us to perceive both A and C as roots, since they're a minor third apart
This might be my favorite piece period Oh what could have been, this is sadly his final composition. A few months after its premiere was the taxi accident from which he would never recover. Towards the end of his life he broke down after a performance of Bolero "And yet, I still have so much music in my head!"
hey! I've been following you for quite some time, I love your videos and your choice of music, they made me discover a lot of breathtaking pieces. I wanted to suggest a piece, The Death of Aase, from Peer Gynt Suite (E. Grieg), it's - in my opinion - the best of the whole suite, and I think it would be great for a video. Thanks for your time, have a nice day!
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This passage is really the most unusual in the whole piano concerto. I've heard the concert several times, and the audience is always breathlessly silent and wonders: What kind of sounds are these?
Yes, really incredible sonorities he gets out of the orchestra!
Ravel is just incredible. As someone who wishes to learn and improve as a composer in their right, Ravel's music always leaves me astonished
Ravel has mastery in technique and a bucketloads of inspiration
I knew it was the piano concerto in G just from looking on the thumbnail 😂😂
Propably my favourite piano concerto! ❤ Thank you😊
Wow! And to think I was trying to make it as obscure as possible!
Thank you! I love seeing your analyses of french composers, especially Ravel.
Top orchestration. Top concerto.
The high register horn melody is very reminiscent to the one Ligeti uses in the 7th mvt of musica ricercata and the 2nd of the violin concerto. The texture here is also Ligeti-esque at times - this is my favourite moment of this concerto I reckon. Ravel was miles ahead!
and that is the age old question right there: which came first, the chicken or the egg!!! which you answered anyway.
Yeah Ravel is pure genius. Goosebumps
As if it were a soundtrack to a Cocteau film; almost supernatural sounding!
I. LOVE. HIM. Ugh there's no other composer I've ever seen able to fully utilize the orchestra to create such beautiful effects!!!
Ravel was a wizard of orchestration. I'd like to witness a music director of a movie who uses Ravel's orchestral pieces in a original and creative way.
0:20 I think you meant to say A phrygian, in the melody the only accidental is Bb:)
The horn melody later is also just C minor, because it transposes down a fifth. Loosely speaking, the harmony here is based on A phrygian major or A octatonic, which is why the key signature is marked one Bb (A phrygian major is the dominant of D harmonic minor). This is also why we have a C minor melody over an A7 triad in strings at 049: The pitch set of the C minor horn melody are C F Eb D Bb, and A7 is A C# E G, and these are both contained in either A phrygian major or A octatonic. If you look at the bassoon and flute runs, you'll see that the modes actually change, but it's still largely an A phrygian kind of sonority.
Yes you're right I did mean A Phrygian, I'm not sure how I accidentally wrote A mixolydian there. Though I don't see how you can call the horn melody C minor when you have A♮at the very end. Since, like you've pointed out, the melody is essentially transposed a 5th down, it would then make sense to be A Locrian, a 5th below A Phrygian. A octatonic is problematic as well because it fails to account for the sense of bimodality that's quite evident in these passages...
@skylarlimex ah that's true, didn't read the horn passage until the end. I still personally hear C as the root, so that would make a C dorian. I think octatonicism is great for accounting for the bimodality however, as the symmetry around minor thirds allow us to perceive both A and C as roots, since they're a minor third apart
Great analyis - more, please!
Ravel's "Concerto in G" is one of my all-time favorite pieces and its orchestration is an absolute masterwork.
I really loved your analysis❤. May I request La Valse, too? That’s also a wonderfully orchestrated piece; by Ravel, isn’t it!
Yes maybe one day!
This might be my favorite piece period
Oh what could have been, this is sadly his final composition. A few months after its premiere was the taxi accident from which he would never recover. Towards the end of his life he broke down after a performance of Bolero "And yet, I still have so much music in my head!"
0:46 elephant
hey! I've been following you for quite some time, I love your videos and your choice of music, they made me discover a lot of breathtaking pieces.
I wanted to suggest a piece, The Death of Aase, from Peer Gynt Suite (E. Grieg), it's - in my opinion - the best of the whole suite, and I think it would be great for a video. Thanks for your time, have a nice day!
Lovely piece that I enjoy playing in four-hands piano, thanks for the suggestion!
Ravel best orchestrator
What programd do you use to put these together? Amazing analysis!
Final Cut Pro! Thank you
0:53 Petroushka what are you doing here?
...and the end of the phrase sounds like Gershwin...
I'm quite convinced that the first and last movements were inspired in part by Petrushka
I do *not* envy that horn player.
Nor the oboist!
Deadly slow tempo for the hornist!
Shoenberg uses 4 harps.
And ravel gets the most out of 1