Here's the second half of the Bertrand poem that inspires this part of the piece... "Listen! - Listen! - My father whips the croaking water with a branch of a green alder tree, and my sisters caress with their arms of foam the cool islands of herbs, of water lilies, and of corn flowers, or laugh at the decrepit and bearded willow who fishes at the line." Her song murmured, she beseeched me to accept her ring on my finger, to be the husband of an Ondine, and to visit her in her palace and be king of the lakes. And as I was replying to her that I loved a mortal, sullen and spiteful, she wept some tears, uttered a burst of laughter, and vanished in a shower that streamed white down the length of my blue stained glass windows. [How perfectly Ravel summons these images.]
Back in my student years I fell in love with this piece, but I felt it was out of my league technically. Life took me in different directions after studies, and it's only the last couple of years I've had the time and motivation to practice more seriously and add more to my repertoire. These videos have helped so much and now I feel like I might actually be able to play this properly. What a dream! Thank you so much
For me are so helpful especially the both tips at half way part 1) one hand play only certain groups making brain work fast enough to control 2) play with eyes shut tough technical bars. So hard, but so good to improve. Amazing ideas, like having top private lesson, thank you so much!
Thank you Francesca! Yes those are both methods I use constantly in my practice (not just in Ondine!); I'm so glad if they help you too. Eyes shut in Prokofiev Toccata is one of the more memorable examples - I spent many many hours that way.
Found it incredibly useful. I am not playing this piece, but the tips you gave can definitely be implemented in other things that I am currently playing, and it was nice to see more of a deep dive (no pun intended) into Ondine. Thanks!
Hi Cordelia, thanks very much for sharing your expertise on Ravel's Ondine. Studying this piece is a life-long mission and in this it is always so refreshing to find alternatives to practicing the most difficult passages. Especially in "un peu plus lent" and "rapide et brillant". I am preparing for a concert the coming weeks, so finding this was really a bonus. Regards, Oscar
Great videos and extremely useful. You always find the exact precise words to describe what you feel and want, this is rare and very pleasant. Maintaining the d minor chord to get harmonics during the last sad phrase is genius. I don't like it dry so i was putting some pedal here but it always seemed a bit too much and i could never get it right. Letting the harmonics sound with a silent chord is a fantastic idea, i'm sure Ravel would had written it that way had he thought about it^^ Thank so much :-) Hoping to see more videos like that. The Sonatine comes to mind ;-)
Thank you so much for the kind feedback, I'm so glad it was helpful to you. More tutorials coming this year as soon as I get organised... I now have my grand piano back, and a proper piano studio! Also hoping to edit together a video about renovating the piano studio, and about moving the piano in (when I get a bit of time!)
Cordelia, Thank you so much. I can't tell you how many times I've come back to this video for help on technical and interpretive help. However, I have two unanswered questions; if you ever get to it, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I would like to add, your Ondine and Scarbo performances are my favorites of all time. Absolutely phenomenal how you are able to capture so many emotions. 1. At the climax, how do you recommend practicing the left hand alone? I think I've got the right hand down, but I can never play my left hand as fast without absolutely losing control of where my hand is. 2. How do you recommend playing the very last note of the piece? I have always played with a small ritardando and played the last note as soft as I could. However many other interpretations of this piece seem to point towards ending on a regular piano (p) volume instead of pianississimo (ppp). Again, thank you :)
Hi Ellyn, I'm so glad you have found it useful. I would practise the LH blind: divide into chunks according to hand position, then practise as chords until you can play the entire sequence as chords, up to speed, with your eyes close. For the last note I would want clarity, not a bump but still quality of sound on that C sharp harmony. And as little rit as possible - I think it should sort of zoom off into the ether, leaving the harmony behind it, rather than slowing down or 'ending'. Good luck with that LH!
Thank you so much - this is unbelievably helpful I'm really struggling with the left hand black key glissando on bar 74 - I can't make it pianissimo and smooth. Do you have any suggested fingerings for if I wanted to play it as a scale?
Hmmm. Scale doesn't work that well for me on that one, but if I had to choose I'd say 54321, then 4321 4321 4321 321. But to work on the glissando, use the side of your first finger (not thumb or back of hand), really light wrist and arm, then thumb to pluck the top D#
@@edlyness4891 did you end up using the side of the 2nd finger? I tried that (even before I saw her video) and ended up with a blister on my finger. Maybe my piano is too heavy or my skin is too delicate lol. Personally I find that the bony joint of the thumb works best, but even that doesn’t work that great unfortunately
@@hk4672 in the end I managed it with the nail/knuckle of my thumb - everyone has different hands so try a few different ways and find what works best for you I think
@@edlyness4891 Update: what I have found works best for me is to sweep the under side of the knucles + fingers 2 3 4 5 flat (hope that makes sense). Less painful, more reliable and works for both hands!
Here's the second half of the Bertrand poem that inspires this part of the piece...
"Listen! - Listen! - My father whips the croaking water
with a branch of a green alder tree,
and my sisters caress with their arms of foam
the cool islands of herbs, of water lilies, and of corn flowers,
or laugh at the decrepit and bearded willow who fishes at the line."
Her song murmured, she beseeched me to accept her ring on my finger,
to be the husband of an Ondine, and to visit her in her palace and be king of the lakes.
And as I was replying to her that I loved a mortal,
sullen and spiteful, she wept some tears, uttered a burst of laughter,
and vanished in a shower that streamed white down the length of my blue stained glass windows.
[How perfectly Ravel summons these images.]
L8 p
Awesome second part with some new insights / view on things. Next up Le Gibet and Scarbo? :-D
Back in my student years I fell in love with this piece, but I felt it was out of my league technically. Life took me in different directions after studies, and it's only the last couple of years I've had the time and motivation to practice more seriously and add more to my repertoire. These videos have helped so much and now I feel like I might actually be able to play this properly. What a dream! Thank you so much
For me are so helpful especially the both tips at half way part 1) one hand play only certain groups making brain work fast enough to control 2) play with eyes shut tough technical bars. So hard, but so good to improve. Amazing ideas, like having top private lesson, thank you so much!
Thank you Francesca! Yes those are both methods I use constantly in my practice (not just in Ondine!); I'm so glad if they help you too. Eyes shut in Prokofiev Toccata is one of the more memorable examples - I spent many many hours that way.
Found it incredibly useful. I am not playing this piece, but the tips you gave can definitely be implemented in other things that I am currently playing, and it was nice to see more of a deep dive (no pun intended) into Ondine. Thanks!
🐳
Thank you for these two videos Cordelia. Great insight on technical as well as metaphors that help to explain expressive intentions.
Thank you so much for your generosity!
Hi Cordelia, thanks very much for sharing your expertise on Ravel's Ondine. Studying this piece is a life-long mission and in this it is always so refreshing to find alternatives to practicing the most difficult passages. Especially in "un peu plus lent" and "rapide et brillant". I am preparing for a concert the coming weeks, so finding this was really a bonus. Regards, Oscar
That's great to hear - good luck Oscar!
Great videos and extremely useful. You always find the exact precise words to describe what you feel and want, this is rare and very pleasant.
Maintaining the d minor chord to get harmonics during the last sad phrase is genius.
I don't like it dry so i was putting some pedal here but it always seemed a bit too much and i could never get it right.
Letting the harmonics sound with a silent chord is a fantastic idea, i'm sure Ravel would had written it that way had he thought about it^^
Thank so much :-) Hoping to see more videos like that. The Sonatine comes to mind ;-)
Thank you so much for the kind feedback, I'm so glad it was helpful to you. More tutorials coming this year as soon as I get organised... I now have my grand piano back, and a proper piano studio! Also hoping to edit together a video about renovating the piano studio, and about moving the piano in (when I get a bit of time!)
Cordelia,
Thank you so much. I can't tell you how many times I've come back to this video for help on technical and interpretive help. However, I have two unanswered questions; if you ever get to it, I would greatly appreciate it.
Also, I would like to add, your Ondine and Scarbo performances are my favorites of all time. Absolutely phenomenal how you are able to capture so many emotions.
1. At the climax, how do you recommend practicing the left hand alone? I think I've got the right hand down, but I can never play my left hand as fast without absolutely losing control of where my hand is.
2. How do you recommend playing the very last note of the piece? I have always played with a small ritardando and played the last note as soft as I could. However many other interpretations of this piece seem to point towards ending on a regular piano (p) volume instead of pianississimo (ppp).
Again, thank you :)
Hi Ellyn, I'm so glad you have found it useful. I would practise the LH blind: divide into chunks according to hand position, then practise as chords until you can play the entire sequence as chords, up to speed, with your eyes close. For the last note I would want clarity, not a bump but still quality of sound on that C sharp harmony. And as little rit as possible - I think it should sort of zoom off into the ether, leaving the harmony behind it, rather than slowing down or 'ending'. Good luck with that LH!
@@CordeliaWilliams Thank you so much.
@@CordeliaWilliams Update; I finally got the climax. Thank you for your help.
Thank you so much - this is unbelievably helpful
I'm really struggling with the left hand black key glissando on bar 74 - I can't make it pianissimo and smooth. Do you have any suggested fingerings for if I wanted to play it as a scale?
Hmmm. Scale doesn't work that well for me on that one, but if I had to choose I'd say 54321, then 4321 4321 4321 321.
But to work on the glissando, use the side of your first finger (not thumb or back of hand), really light wrist and arm, then thumb to pluck the top D#
@@CordeliaWilliams thank you so much, ended up managing the glissando without fingering it! These videos are a godsend
@@edlyness4891 did you end up using the side of the 2nd finger? I tried that (even before I saw her video) and ended up with a blister on my finger. Maybe my piano is too heavy or my skin is too delicate lol. Personally I find that the bony joint of the thumb works best, but even that doesn’t work that great unfortunately
@@hk4672 in the end I managed it with the nail/knuckle of my thumb - everyone has different hands so try a few different ways and find what works best for you I think
@@edlyness4891 Update: what I have found works best for me is to sweep the under side of the knucles + fingers 2 3 4 5 flat (hope that makes sense). Less painful, more reliable and works for both hands!