The Classical Music Book

266

THE ONLY LOVE AFFAIR

I HAVE EVER HAD WAS

WITH MUSIC

PIANO CONCERTO FOR THE LEFT HAND (1929 –1930),

MAURICE RAVEL

D

uring the 19th century, the

concerto grew in size and

scope in much the same

way as the symphony. In fact,

some examples, such as Ferruccio

Busoni’s Piano Concerto in C major,

are essentially symphonies with

solo parts that enhance the

orchestral lines as much as they

provide dramatic conflict.

New forms

With the rise of Modernism, the

traditions of the concerto and the

form itself were challenged, leading

some composers to new avenues of

expression while others clung to

traditionalism. Composers such

as Elgar, Richard Strauss, and

Rachmaninoff continued to focus

on virtuosity in the solo part, which

was balanced by a sumptuous

orchestration. In contrast, Modernist

composers such as Debussy,

Stravinsky, and Schoenberg took a

different approach. In some cases,

they took Classical and Baroque

music as their models but used

dissonant material to create

exciting neoclassical works.

Prokofiev, Bartók, and Ravel

continued to write concertos that

resembled the Romantic form in

terms of length, orchestration,

and ethos, with soloists providing

dramatic conflict with the orchestra

in a structure that showed off their

virtuosic abilities. However, in

these works, there is a far greater

focus on orchestral color and

nontraditional accompaniments.

Wind and percussion instruments

often had equal roles to the strings,

and a movement might even omit

strings entirely, as in Bartok’s

Second Piano Concerto.

Restriction and freedom

One composition that broke all

conventions was Ravel’s Piano

Concerto for the Left Hand, a one-

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Piano concertos for

the left hand

BEFORE

1840 Charles-Valentin Alkan

composes his Fantasie for the

left hand, the first concert

piece for one hand.

1878 Brahms publishes his

Bach D minor chaconne for

the left hand alone.

1902 Hungarian composer

Géza Zichy, the world’s first

professional one-handed

pianist, writes the first piano

concerto for the left hand.

AFTER

1931 Prokofiev completes his

piano concerto for the left hand.

1940 Benjamin Britten writes

Diversions for piano left hand

and orchestra.

2012 Nicholas McCarthy is

the first one-handed pianist

to graduate from the Royal

College of Music.

Great music must come

from the heart. Any music

created by technique and

brains alone is not worth the

paper it is written on.

Maurice Ravel

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