Piano Concerto in G major

This concerto opens with a literal whip-crack, and from that first percussive snap the first movement launches into a bright, jazz-inflected sequence of five distinct themes, the first nodding toward Basque folk melody and the later ones drawing on the rhythms and harmonies Ravel absorbed during his 1928 North American tour. The slow middle movement (Adagio assai) is a complete contrast: the solo piano begins alone with a long, unbroken melody that Ravel reportedly constructed 'bar by bar', taking the slow movement of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet as a structural model. The finale (Presto) returns at high speed to the jazzy energy of the opening, and in a characteristic structural twist, it ends exactly as it began.

What to listen for

In the slow movement, notice how the piano carries the main melody entirely alone for roughly four minutes before the orchestra enters. When the cor anglais (an oboe-like woodwind with a deeper, more nasal sound) takes over that same melody later in the movement, the piano shifts from melodist to accompanist, scattering rapid ornamental figures in the upper register around the slower-moving line below. In the first movement, instead of a single piano cadenza, Ravel places three separate solo passages in sequence: first for harp, then for woodwind, and finally for piano, each one stepping forward before the main material returns.

Recommended recording

Martha Argerich with Claudio Abbado and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra has been frequently cited for its combination of rhythmic precision and tonal clarity in the outer movements.

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