SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/4/2022 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), 56, 78.

55: “Divisi fingering allows the rapid flourishes of notes written in small notation to lie conveniently beneath the hands. Without divisi fingering, the extra arm or wrist motion required to play the notes could be detrimental to the fluidity and speed which the passage require.”

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/21/2022 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), 41, 78.

40: “Rapid leaps from one range of the keyboard to another require extra energy and may interrupt the flow of both the rhythm and the phrasing. However, a pianist can maintain his energy level while increasing his accuracy and musical expression by dividing notes, as shown, in the measures of Example 22. With divisi fingering, the angularity of abrupt motion from one register to another is lessened by allowing the right hand more time to move.”

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/21/2022 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), 28, 78.

28. “The expressiveness of many passages in ‘Noctuelles’ is impeded by the angularity of the right hand figuration. Example 8 shows that if the left hand plays notes which are convenient to its position, then the right hand can more comfortably and smoothly phrase the highest melodic notes of the pattern.”

78, fn4: “Careful balance must be maintained between the melodic motif and the notes of the figuration.”

“This D-natural is in the middle of the left-hand’s current position. Playing it with the left hand allows the remaining right-hand triplets to be played with a simpler fingering.”

Submitted by Michael Clark

Published on 4/13/2020

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 79.

79, fn5: "The stems of the notes in these chords imply this distribution between the hands."

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 79.

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 79.

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 79.

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 79.

“I have yet to find a satisfactory fingering for the right hand alone in m. 63. This redistribution is counterintuitive, but after careful practice, I find it more accurate and effective than keeping all the notes in the right hand.”

Submitted by Michael Clark

Published on 4/13/2020

“This fingering allows greater control of voicing and avoids the hands overlapping.”

Submitted by Michael Clark

Published 1/11/2020

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 36, 79.

35: “Example 17 contains measures from several of Ravel's piano pieces in which an extended pattern is written for one hand or the other. In passages such as these, divisi fingering can alleviate any muscular tension which might occur from the constant use of one hand.”

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 38, 79.

37: “The measures in Example 19 from '‘Noctuelles,’ ‘Ondine,’ and Valses nobles et sentimentales further illustrate situations where the left hand is able to alleviate momentarily some right hand extension by playing selected notes in the passage-work.”

Original:

Suggested performance:

“This redistribution is less crowded and highlights the shape of the triplet line.”

Submitted by Michael Clark

Published on 4/13/2020

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 80.

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 28, 80.

28: “The expressiveness of many passages in "Noctuelles" is impeded by the angularity of the right hand figuration. Example 8 shows that if the left hand plays notes which are convenient to its position, then the right hand can more comfortably and smoothly phrase the highest melodic notes of the pattern.”

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 80.

SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings

Published on 4/22/2022 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), 80.