Ravel Sonatine

[dnephi]

I recently heard an excellent performance of this piece.  The colors, shades, and gorgeous sound was enchanting.  What a magnificent piece!

How difficult is it to play it as effectively as it deserves?  What do you think of the piece yourself? 

Warm regards,

Daniel

[frigo]

I love Ravel's Sonatine too. I have never played it, sorry I can't help you, but it appears to be a dificult piece to interpret, with all the feelings it diserves, as you said.

[nanabush]

I learned the piece about two years ago;  It's got some nice difficult sections that take some time, but the end product is amazing.  The first movement has some tricky sections (including the first few phrases) where both hands have to twist together blending many notes while the melody stands above... that was not easy to learn, and is by no means easy to play 

The second movement is my favorite; it's got a couple jazzy chords that sound really cool, and again this takes a very delicate touch.  Not overly difficult, just some awkward chords.

The third movement I compare in difficulty to the third Danza Argentinas by Ginastera (I was learning both at the same time)... it has some difficult patterns and again requires an extremely soft touch at a very fast pace throughout.  Unfortunately my piano at home isn't the greatest, so when I'm playing this I can't get a good sound out of this.  Lots of ppp sections that involve overlapping hands with lots and lots of fast patterns.  Very cool piece, probably the funnest to learn out of the three.

My thoughts on the piece, took me about a month of solid practice with a few other pieces.  I wouldn't say it's too difficult; for example, the most difficult section would be comparable to something like the revolutionary etude; Once you have the patterns down (the final 3 or 4 pages of the last movement are very strange) and you're hands can handle the pace, you're good to go!

[rallestar]

This is a great piece! I've played and performed any movements, and I can honestly say that the hardest thing for me was getting the first measures good.

The 3rd movement is very hard too - It's just getting this french sound that's so hard.

But with the other repertoire I know you're considering, I bet you could do this, give it a shot. It's a great piece that has given me many hours of happiness, I bet you won't regret learning it!

[kitty on the keys]

Dnephi, One of my favorites ! I have to finish the 3rd movment. Voicing is a challange in the opening section--some places you can re-arrange the hands.  Use lots of wrist and arm for the chords of the second movement. Dont go over board with rubato--let the music do it. Have fun and the work you put into it will pay off----and listen to various CD's. Many differnt tempos.

Kitty on the keys

[dan101]

This work has a wonderful overall effect, regardless of the difficulty level. As already stated, it's well worth learning.