RAVEL | Gaspard de la nuit: Ondine: mm. 71–72

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/28/2022 with the author’s permission

First appeared in Dorothy Woster Brandwein, "Divisi Fingering in Selected Passages from Ravel's Solo Piano Works" (DMA diss., University of Missouri–Kansas City, 1981), 30, 55, 96.

29: “A recurring harmonic figuration in "Ondine" which encompasses two or three octaves presents an extreme problem for the right hand (Example 10). The difficulty is the rapid shift of the thumb required at the bottom of the pattern which propels the hand back up to the top. These shifts can nearly always be avoided by playing the lowest note of the pattern with the left hand.”

54: “The rolled chords in Example 38 must all be played quickly so they do not disturb either the rhythmic pulse or the phrasing. In each case, divisi fingering eliminates the wide stretch required of one hand. Example 38 illustrates how the notes in each rolled chord may be shared by both hands. The notes of the rolled chords in "Ondine" are especially easy to blend at a soft dynamic level….”