Description

��Virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody�� �� thus reads Ravel��s entry on ��Tzigane�� in the so-called ��Autobiographical Sketch��. Composed in 1924, there are three versions of this work: with piano, with orchestra and with luth��al, a device for keyboard instruments to extend the timbre. ��Tzigane�� was inspired by the Hungarian-English violinist Jelly d��Aranyi, to whom Ravel had already promised a virtuoso piece in 1922 following Franz Liszt��s ��Hungarian Rhapsodies��. Work progressed slowly andd��Aranyi only received the music four days before the premi��re �� but sh e still gave a brilliant performance.