Maurice Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole: Orchester

After “ Boléro” and “La Valse”, a third, often-played work by Ravel is now entering Breitkopf’s orchestral program, obviously in a Breitkopf Urtext edition that was supervised by the Ravel expert Jean-François Monnard. As a compositional destination around 1900, Spain was in the air, as is also confirmed by Debussy’s Iberia. Monnard’s incisive preface brilliantly draws links between the two composers who, along with Igor Stravinsky, were working in Paris during those years. The “Rapsodie espagnole” qualifies above all as a masterpiece of Ravel’s instrumental magic. This fireworks of orchestration demands a reliable and purchasable performance material that can grace the library of every professional orchestra.