The Solo Piano Version of Maurice Ravel's La Valse

The solo piano version of La Valse is well worthy of
study and performance, but it has often been
unjustly neglected in reviews of Ravel s
piano music. La Valse was originally written as a
choreographic poem for a ballet performance. It was
only later transcribed for two pianos and for solo
piano. This book, therefore, discusses the thematic,
harmonic, and rhythmic aspects in the piece in light
of Ravel s compositional principles. In the chain of
waltzes, ten distinct melodic themes are identified.
The melodic material, phrase structure, scales,
modes, pedal point centers, tempo and rhythm are
also examined. Finally, the book focuses on the
challenges of performing the solo piano version and
suggests how performers might resolve some pianistic
and musical problems, such as three-staves writing
and glissandi. The book should help the pianists
practicing this amazing piece. In some
extraordinarily difficult passages, the performer
must show creativity and transcribe the piece once
again. As soon as the technical and creative
challenges are resolved, the pianist and the
audience alike are rewarded with a beautiful and
truly unforgettable piece.

Autorentext
Jeni Maneva has a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance from West Virginia University, Master's from the University of Maine and Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the National Academy for Music and Dance, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She has performed many solo and chamber music recitals and appeared with the UMaine and WVU orchestras.

Klappentext
The solo piano version of La Valse is well worthy of study and performance, but it has often been unjustly neglected in reviews of Ravel's piano music. La Valse was originally written as a choreographic poem for a ballet performance. It was only later transcribed for two pianos and for solo piano. This book, therefore, discusses the thematic, harmonic, and rhythmic aspects in the piece in light of Ravel's compositional principles. In the chain of waltzes, ten distinct melodic themes are identified. The melodic material, phrase structure, scales, modes, pedal point centers, tempo and rhythm are also examined. Finally, the book focuses on the challenges of performing the solo piano version and suggests how performers might resolve some pianistic and musical problems, such as three-staves writing and glissandi. The book should help the pianists practicing this amazing piece. In some extraordinarily difficult passages, the performer must show creativity and "transcribe" the piece once again. As soon as the technical and creative challenges are resolved, the pianist and the audience alike are rewarded with a beautiful and truly unforgettable piece.