Classical Music | Violin Music

Recorded on 03/17/2010, uploaded on 06/02/2010

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Tzigane                   Maurice Ravel

This piece by Maurice Ravel is one of the most famous virtuoso pieces of all time, although the composer is better-known for his impressionistic piano and orchestral scores, his violin sonata, and string quartet.  The word "tzigane" in French originally comes from the Hungarian cigány which means "gypsy".  The exotic flavors associated with this word are perfectly expressed by Ravel's precise and demonstrative writing.  The original piece was written in 1924 for violin and luthéal, a piano-like instrument with "registers" to manipulate the sound and add more colors, and later was adapted into versions for piano accompaniment and for orchestra accompaniment. 

A long "gypsy violin" solo begins the work and the accompaniment slowly begins the dance.  After many variations on the simple theme and introductions of new themes overlapped with old ones-what one could imagine real improvisers doing on the spot -the trademark "fast and furious" end is the perfect finish to the only piece of the violin repertoire with so much panache.      Michael Cansfield

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.