Maurice Ravel composed his G Major Piano Concerto late in his career, following a concert tour of the United States he undertook in 1928. That visit proved so successful that the composer immediately began planning for a second one, during which he hoped to perform a concerto of his own with American orchestras. After returning to his home, near Paris, Ravel began writing such a work toward the end of 1929.
Ravel presented the concerto to his friend Marguerite Long, a well-known French pianist, who gave the first performance in January 1932.
Ravel took pains to distance this work from the Romantic paradigm of the heroic concerto, stating: “I believe that a concerto can be gay and brilliant without necessarily being profound or aiming at dramatic effects.”
Here is French-born pianist to play this wonderful music for you. Pay particular attention to the second movement:
