SPECIAL COLLECTION | Dorothy Brandwein’s Ravel Fingerings
Published on 5/5/2022 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), 37, 44, 123.
37: “Pianists with small hands find that their speed and accuracy are particularly affected by the tension that builds during prolonged passages requiring an extended hand position. The ‘Toccata’ is very challenging for this reason. In Example 18, the left hand can easily help the right hand by sharing the notes on the upper staff.”
44: “In Example 26 the use of the fifth finger is generally avoided so that every note can be more easily played at a fortissimo dynamic.”