About Ravel's Valses Nobles et Sentimentales

[candypiano]

Hi guys, just wondering have anyone played any section from (or the entire) Ravel's Valses Nobles et sentimentales.  Recently, I plan to work on this piece.  I'd like to know if there's any  technically challenging passages and the general background information on this composition.  Also, comparing to Ravel's and Debussy's other pieces (such as La Valse, Images, etc.), how would you rank this piece in terms of its difficulty?

Thank you all!

[austinarg]

First and foremost, welcome to the forum! 

I've never played this piece, although because of my undying love for everything that is Ravel  , I've listened to this piece several times. The main difficulties of this piece are in its wide chords (for example, in the first movement you must play 5 note chords spanning a 9th on both hands!) and jumps, and also its tricky rhythm, which you may find unusual.

It would help if you provided a description of your musical background. Have you played any of Ravel's other pieces? If you haven't , I'd recommend you to play some of his shorter pieces first, like the Pavane, the Menuet or the Sonatine, in order to familiarise yourself with his musical style.

About its difficulty, I would place it just below Miroirs, it is the easiest of Ravel's long pieces, but that doesn't mean it is easy!

I don't know much about Debussy, so I can't help you with that, sorry 

[candypiano]

To austinarg: Thank you very much!  That is very helpful.  This piece is actually my first time working with Ravel.  However, I have previously played many pieces by Debussy.  I hope learning this piece will be a fun process 

To all: More opinions on this piece please!  Anyone?

[werq34ac]

I'd say La Valse is just a really difficult version of the valses s&n. You'll find they have a lot of similar motifs.

Anyway, having read through the valses, I'd say it is about as difficult as Images, maybe easier. I'd say it's just above Jeux D'eau and the Sonatine, though I could be wrong.