When Ravel began planning the G major Piano Concerto in 1928 he was at the peak of his career, and his music was the focus of numerous festivals and celebrations, these including an Honorary doctorate from Oxford University.
Ravel decided he wanted to write a concerto for himself to perform in a projected world concert tour, and in 1929 he set about the task in earnest only to be interrupted by a commission from Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein for the Concerto for Left Hand. Ravel worked furiously over the next two years composing both concertos simultaneously while also fulfilling conducting and recording commitments.
The G major Concerto was eventually completed in 1931, but due to Ravel’s already delicate health, the solo part was entrusted to the Marguerite Long who gave the première, with Ravel conducting, at the Salle Pleyel on 14 January 1932.
The G major Concerto was an instant success. The critic Emile Vuillermoz praised the composer for his ‘profound invention’ and ‘freshness of inspiration’, and declared the concerto to be ‘the finest artistic manifestation of the season’.
Among Ravel’s last completed works, the concerto synthesizes many of his most characteristic features: his love of sumptuous orchestral sonorities, jazz, Spanish music, and 18th-century elegance.
Here is pianist Martha Argerich performing this amazing work:
