Tzigane (Concert rhapsody for violin)

Description

Full Orchestra Score

– First scholarly-critical Urtext edition of the work
– Presented are both versions: for violin and orchestra and for violin and piano
– Includes Jelly D’Aranyi’s fingering

In 1922 Maurice Ravel heard the young Hungarian violin virtuoso and niece of Joseph Joachim, Jelly D’Aranyi, in concert in London. Following the performance, Ravel spent the remainder of the evening requesting D’Aranyi to play numerous gypsy tunes on her violin, probing her on the technical limits of the instrument. The result of this encounter is Ravel’s virtuoso classic “Tzigane”.

Written originally for violin and piano or luthéal (a mechanism invented in 1919 that attaches to a piano, producing a sound similar to the rich overtones of the Cimbalon), the premiere took place in London in April 1924. The composer had finished the work only days beforehand. Ravel later orchestrated “Tzigane” and both versions remain a “must” for music-lovers and aspiring violinists today. Jelly D’Aranyi performed both versions regularly throughout her long career.