I find this harmony utterly incomprehensible, but damn, Ravel's orchestration is masterful! It's amazing how many colors and textures he can evoke from merely two instruments
The harmony is not incomprehensible, it's just constantly shifting, and it's instrumentation, not orchestration. Of course Ravel has many colours and textures, he was a fucking genius, one of the all time greats. Seriously, better than most big name composers.
I understand what you mean by incomprehensible, but it's in such an amazing way!! It's almost like a Bach fugue that in its many layers can lose that secure feeling of vertical harmony. I'm amazed by the way Ravel's harmony in this piece flows.
@@kennethdower7425 Ravel is definitely considered one of the “ big name composers “. If he had lived longer , his harmonic language might have approached that of Florent Schmitt’s.
I was just listening to this piece for the first time, and while I was in midst of the finale, I thought "what does this remind me of?" - until I discovered your comment. Eureka! It does have a very Bartókian flavour to it, absolutely.
It's a great shame that we don't see more of Ravel's sonatas of this type (apart from another one for piano and violin) forming a more substantial suite, akin to Beethoven's late five string quartets. These late works - absolutely enigmatic, experimental for their time; filled with harmonic, textural and structural surprises; yet simultaneously musically compelling - have always been exhilarating to me.
Timothy Zhou, it's not intelligible in terms of functional harmony, but I find it emotionally rich and resonant, and it tickles the sensation of the brain too. I wish I had the skill to create an accompanying animation, maybe with fractals.
The mysterious and cantabile "Lent" 3rd movement also reminds me of what Beethoven did in those slow movements of his final quartets (yes, I know that was long ago). And the 2nd movement is simply a percussive feast.
The 1st movement was written in homage to Debussy, after his death. This was subsequently expanded into a four-movement sonata - perhaps in reference to the series of chamber sonatas that Debussy was writing towards the end of his life.
In addition, it is part of a larger set of works called "Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy" with works from a large number of notable musicians, other than Ravel, contributing, such as Satie, Bartok, and Stravinsky.
I find this harmony utterly incomprehensible, but damn, Ravel's orchestration is masterful! It's amazing how many colors and textures he can evoke from merely two instruments
The harmony is not incomprehensible, it's just constantly shifting, and it's instrumentation, not orchestration. Of course Ravel has many colours and textures, he was a fucking genius, one of the all time greats. Seriously, better than most big name composers.
I understand what you mean by incomprehensible, but it's in such an amazing way!! It's almost like a Bach fugue that in its many layers can lose that secure feeling of vertical harmony. I'm amazed by the way Ravel's harmony in this piece flows.
@@kennethdower7425 Ravel is definitely considered one of the “ big name composers “. If he had lived longer , his harmonic language might have approached that of Florent Schmitt’s.
"Sonata for a Good Violinist and VERY Good Cellist."
Doubt it's worse than his quasi-piano sonata Gaspard de la Nuit is for us pianists
@@commentingchannel9776 this is pretty damn hard on the cello 😅
these extended syncopated passages are scary
7:37 huh, one key for the violin and another for the cello. interesting!
The last movement reminds me a fair bit of Bartók’s string writing.
agogobell28 -- I agree......BRAVO from Acapulco!
@@steveegallo3384 You are everywhere!
I was just listening to this piece for the first time, and while I was in midst of the finale, I thought "what does this remind me of?" - until I discovered your comment. Eureka! It does have a very Bartókian flavour to it, absolutely.
This is the first interpretation of this piece that makes sense to me. Beautiful.
Making ecstatic as usual.Unforgettable experience,indeed.
Virtuoso string writing.
It's a great shame that we don't see more of Ravel's sonatas of this type (apart from another one for piano and violin) forming a more substantial suite, akin to Beethoven's late five string quartets. These late works - absolutely enigmatic, experimental for their time; filled with harmonic, textural and structural surprises; yet simultaneously musically compelling - have always been exhilarating to me.
Not beautiful in any way.
@@chivellisport-secretsofhor6848 you have virgin ears. you cant comprehend this yet
Un Ravel assez ardu, très loin de ses sompuosités orchestrales habituelles, mais passionnant, et magnifiquement servi par deux grands artistes.
Ooh, was just looking for this score. Thanks for the upload!
Spectacular greetings from INDIA
Naresh Naresh -- Indeed.....and from ACAPULCO too!
Timothy Zhou, it's not intelligible in terms of functional harmony, but I find it emotionally rich and resonant, and it tickles the sensation of the brain too. I wish I had the skill to create an accompanying animation, maybe with fractals.
The harmonic structure is quite clear. You should have had a better teacher.
17:12 !!!
I know it too, thank you for finding it.
The structures you bring ever belong to I think another world
How lovely 🙏
Freaking brilliant, an obvious throw(back>forward) to Bartok ..sheesh!
5:30 6:51 like wtf XD. Ravel master
Real Rock
classical metal
The mysterious and cantabile "Lent" 3rd movement also reminds me of what Beethoven did in those slow movements of his final quartets (yes, I know that was long ago). And the 2nd movement is simply a percussive feast.
True
17:12
Nice.
II or IV?
👏🙇
The second movement clearly inpired the music in The Grand Budapest Hotel
I find the rhythms and articulations/percussive techniques here very interesting. I only wish that the notes sounded good.
How does Ravel not sound good to you 😭😭
he said he wanted it to be stripped out of harmony. he did it beautifully
What does this have to do with Debussy? Is he saying that him and Debussy were not on the same page?
A la memoire de Claude Debussy -- (Dedicated) to the memory of C Debussy. It was written two years after Debussy died
The 1st movement was written in homage to Debussy, after his death. This was subsequently expanded into a four-movement sonata - perhaps in reference to the series of chamber sonatas that Debussy was writing towards the end of his life.
In addition, it is part of a larger set of works called "Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy" with works from a large number of notable musicians, other than Ravel, contributing, such as Satie, Bartok, and Stravinsky.