Ravel Jeaux D'eau

[robo1001]

Just wondering how hard this peace really is? Wondering if I should take it on or not!

Any help would be musch appreciated.

[ravel]

Hey,
i took 3 months to get this piece. Its not really that hard. well i played ondine first, and jeux d'eau is considered easier than that.  Actually some parts in it are quite hard, like the central part with the chromatic runs, was the part that gave me most of the problem.  The hard part lies in creating the tone color, as in most of ravel's other pieces. Otherwise its not that hard a piece. Even when you have got the notes all right, its gonna take a while to create the required tone.Good luck.

[nicko124]

Just wondering how hard this peace really is? Wondering if I should take it on or not!

Any help would be musch appreciated.

The piece is considered difficult and you should only really approach it if you are advanced. If you want to compare it in terms of difficulty to another piece than i guess you can say it is as difficult as Un Sospiro by Liszt: it's about the same length as well.
All in all it is a virtuoso piece so be ready for a challenge technically.
It is an amazing piece of music though and a good recording of it (Pascal Roge) can be very moving.

In case you haven't got the sheets for it than you can get them here:-
https://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/dlpage_new.cfm?composition_id=1245

[robo1001]

Thanks Niko124, I just heard the piece the other week and really loved the sound of it.  I've looked over the score and it does look hard, but I'll give it a go I think anyway.  I've been learning Un Suspiro funnily enough recently and haven't found that too bad actually.

[nicko124]

Thanks Niko124, I just heard the piece the other week and really loved the sound of it.  I've looked over the score and it does look hard, but I'll give it a go I think anyway.  I've been learning Un Suspiro funnily enough recently and haven't found that too bad actually.

Apparently for a Liszt piece Un Sospiro is only of average difficulty which i find hard to beleive because i found it challenging enough.
As for Jeux d'eau it is actually dedicated to Liszt and is meant to be written in a similar style to the composer, the title is also similar to a Liszt piece which i can't remember right now.

Anyway best of luck with Jeux d'eau!

[pianomann1984]

Be cautious if you have smaller hands - it's very stretchy.  Apart from that it isn't that difficult if you already have experience in this kind of music

[lostinidlewonder]

Tough piece. Was actually Ravels first piano master pieces to be recognised. There are lots of big stretches(eg: in bar4 midway for the RH) and lots of strange hand sharing and crossing over of hands(like the 3rd bar after the first a tempo marking). Arpeggios have to be crystal clean (like the at the 3rd 3 cordes marking) and your double note with one finger touch perfect(especially following the rapide just after the Lent, tres expressif near the end of the score).

[pseudopianist]

Apparently for a Liszt piece Un Sospiro is only of average difficulty which i find hard to beleive because i found it challenging enough.
As for Jeux d'eau it is actually dedicated to Liszt and is meant to be written in a similar style to the composer, the title is also similar to a Liszt piece which i can't remember right now.

Anyway best of luck with Jeux d'eau!

Villa d'este?

[The Six]

Jeux d'Eau was dedicated to Gabriel Fauré.

[nicko124]

Jeux d'Eau was dedicated to Gabriel Fauré.

Ok you may be correct in saying this but where is your source, i admit to going a bit far with saying it was a dedication to Liszt. It is written in the style of Liszt though and i think i read somewhere else that it is dedicated but i might have misread it or something.
See the link below for more information on Jeux d'eau.


https://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47219D24CA97620C69B304AC0B77EF3078F11AEAE0721425AD3FB3247C3187DFD6EF0AB89EC982ED535ABE02FA1450DD3CAEB1AFBD6673E3788EFB60045&sql=42:16313~T1

[lostinidlewonder]

Yep it was dedicated to Faure. It is not really written in Liszt style, might sound as brilliant as, but the feel, structure, the way the hand moves with the piece doesn't feel like Liszt when I play it. It opened a whole new way of piano playing and innovation and in a direction unique to Ravel imo.

[musicsdarkangel]

Ravel took a composition class with (i think the teacher being) Faure, and one day, he braught this piece in and astounded the class.

Pretty cool, eh?

Yeah, I'd say it's difficult.

[thorn]

Its not really that hard. well i played ondine first, and jeux d'eau is considered easier than that.

really?? 

i wanted to learn a good "water" piece and took both to my piano teacher and he told me i would be better off learning Ondine because it's easier......

the chromatic section (leading up to the glissando) in jeux d'eau gives me hand cramps- but apart from that i find it easier than the other two of ravel's water pieces.

[etudes]

maybe you can try  jeux d'eau Villa d'este (spelling) from liszt first to get an idea what can you do with ravel
btw both liszt and ravel are difficult both technical and musical difficulty

[ravel]

I havent played Un barque sur la ocean,  but i think it has a level of difficulty intermediate between jeux d' eau and ondine. Agreed though the chromatic part is hard and it does get really stretchy there for the fingers. but other than that, i think ondine is harder, The climax of ondine is just " crazy " . i just cant imagine how ravel came up with it.  but ofcourse in both pieces , its really hard to pull of a convincing performance, you have to be really good in creating color. Argerich recording is ofcourse phenomenal. Other than that i liked pascal Roge's recording too .samson francois has a very unusual recording of jeux d eau.

[nicko124]

Out of Un barque sur la ocean, Jeux d'eau and Ondine i prefer Jeux d'eau. I do adore the opening to Un barque sur la ocean though as it really does paint the picture of an ocean to me. Having said that the openings to each piece are very nice.

I recomend deciding which of the three you prefer and than judge the difficulty against your skill level. They all seem of equal difficulty to me though, but i haven't played them all: only Jeux d'eau.

[nanabush]

I don't know why, but I'm flying through Jeux d'eau Compared to Ondine.  I find stretchy hand patterns much easier then however you describe ondine.  I can't get through the second page of Ondine after a week of practice, but I got to the third in Jeux D'eau in just one day...  I have a fairly large hand span, so the only matter for me would be memorizing the combination of left-right hand because I find the peice has too much movement to be looking at the music.  Just my opinion, Jeux d'eau IS easier than Ondine...

[pianomann1984]

I played Une Barque Sur l' Ocean in my 1st year Bmus exam last year.  It's really not that difficult (I would say Jeux D'eau is harder).  The real difficulty in all Ravel is to achieve that 'Undefined Clarity,' as my teacher likes to call it.  It's a feeling where you can hear every note on the page in sparkling detail, but the effect is of a general wash of sound.  It takes much control, and surprisingly strong fingers (I had to do a lot of 'wall-bar' work before I could master the works.).

[ramseytheii]

I don't know why, but I'm flying through Jeux d'eau Compared to Ondine.  I find stretchy hand patterns much easier then however you describe ondine.  I can't get through the second page of Ondine after a week of practice, but I got to the third in Jeux D'eau in just one day...  I have a fairly large hand span, so the only matter for me would be memorizing the combination of left-right hand because I find the peice has too much movement to be looking at the music.  Just my opinion, Jeux d'eau IS easier than Ondine...

Definitely easier.  Perhaps because the rhythms in Jeux d'eau are for lack of a better word foursquare.  It's not square by any means.  But you don't have this asymmetry of Ondine, the asyemmetry right from the opening right hand figuration, and then the adding and subtracting notes from arpeggios.  Perhaps much more regular....
It's not generally recognized, but all three water pieces, Jeux, Une barque, and Ondine, are contrapuntal masterpieces, not just harmonic waves.  In fact I recall reading once that Ravel demonstrated to a pianist friend how Jeux d'eau was as strictly structured as a Bach fugue... or was it another piece?  Anyways, look deep enough, and you will find an astounding number of hidden melodies, like an ancient treasure chest buried at the bottom of the ocean - in all three pieces, but Jeux d'eau especially.

Walter Ramsey