Ravel's Hidden Flute Concerto 

35:31 I'd like to add that Eb on the 3rd horn (written Bb) actually reinforces the D# (written G#) on the alto flute. This is why you "think" you can still hear the alto flute even when the orchestra is loud.

19:43 that harmonic actually sounds as a C natural (and is very fun to play)

One of the remarkable scores in the repertory that still floors me since I was a teenage with its mastery of sound. ♥

Can't get enough of this

9:13 A few years ago I got into figuring out some microtonal tuning fundamentals and chords like shown here can be really interesting, involving sometimes many ways to tune it up. One possible idea: run with the idea of it being an inverted D15 chord. In "typical" jazz harmony, it's considered a mistake to have both the major 7th and dominant 7th in a chord - but if you tune it up with a more harmonic focus such that the C is tuned down 31 cents, and also tune downward the C# and F# 12 and 14 cents, you get to a D chord that covers the D harmonics of 1,3,5,7,15. And this sounds incredible. I'm pretty sure that this is not Ravel's intent here, and orchestras are not trained to try to tune like this, and (most of the time) they do not tune like this in practice, when we have a mass of strings as Ravel orchestrated here. But I find it a fun, interesting exercise to think about and play with at home.

Merci de donner autant de votre temps pour ces excellentes analyses. Votre chaîne est un précieux trésor pour des compositeurs en devenir tels que moi, quelle chance nous avons de pouvoir y accéder gratuitement. Ravel est un personnage unique et absolument fascinant dans l'histoire de l'orchestration. Ses textures n'appartiennent qu'à lui. De manière générale, lorsqu'une partition si compliquée paraît simple, c'est que le compositeur a fait du très bon travail... Suggestion pour une prochaine édition du challenge d'orchestration : Gaspard de la Nuit de Ravel. (Je plaisante.)

40:54 I still think this is the most beautiful passage in the entire piece

What an incredible work ! Thanks a lot !

Amazing lecture, thank you so much, Thomas!!

Agreed!

Watched the London Symphony Orchestra play this last night, so this was a very opportune video to have seen the day before! Made the piece make a lot more sense and I loved watching the flute run onscreen at 28:00 in person!

Remarquable! Thanks a lot for your so fine work!

Thomas, I enjoyed this analysis immensely. Thank you so much for this in-depth look at what is fast becoming one of my favourite orchestral works. Hoping we'll be so fortunate to hear a full analysis in the future!

Thanks so much, Thomas. Looking forward to your analysis of the complete score, one of my favorite Desert Island Disc pieces.

Nice flying V you got behind you there. Might we see an electric guitar orchestration video at some point? 🤔

At 188, has Ravel not split the bar for the same reason as Mahler in his Adagietto?