Composer Maurice Ravel wrote:
”The G-major Concerto took two years of work. The opening theme came to me on a train between Oxford and London. But the initial idea is nothing. The work of chiseling then began. We’ve gone past the days when the composer was thought of as being struck by inspiration, feverishly scribbling down his thoughts on a scrap of paper. Writing music is seventy-five percent an intellectual activity.”
Ravel was eager to play the premiere performance but he started to suffer from assorted health problems.
Eventually, Ravel dedicated the G-major Concerto to Marguerite Long, who received the score on 11 November 1931. It eventually premiered on 14 January 1932 with Long as the soloist and Ravel conducting the Orchestre Lamoureux.
Here is a wonderful performance of this concerto with Helene Grimaud as soloist. Pay particular attention to the second movement:
