Ravel Toccata (Tombeau de Couperin) 

Glad you enjoy my channel. Yes I am from France. Where are you from ? Gaspard is a super difficult set. Do you have a recording of it. I would love to hear it from you.

@@laurentboukobzapianiste Yeah well: currently I am a qualified general surgeon and before I went to Medical School I received my education on a music conservatory ( received a soloist -diploma). Than I didn't rehearse for almost 15 years. Yet I started to rehearse again and it's crazy but my sound becomes better than I was young. Maybe because I realized that I do not have to make my money out of music. And I fell deep respect to music teachers. You need good nerves and that's a tough job. Cause more and more youngsters are not that much concerned about culture... I'm planing to open my own RU-vid channel. I got a lack of time to rehearse but currently I'm studying the Goldberg Variations, "Petrouchka" and Brahms Paganini Variations besides Rach 3 (only 1st mouvement. for now...) But it's on the way and I will let you know! I also explored that you encountered a lot of Beethoven works! Great! I'm more addicted to Bach, Mozart , Chopin but of course Beethoven was a genius musician and composer. I loved him when I was a young kid and I still don't understand myself why I lost the spirit of his compositions....

@@laurentboukobzapianiste Dear Laurent, I hope we'll find more time to exchange our approach in music. I already checked your channel as well. I'm 57 now and my time is running out. Played so many different composers while on music conservatory and to become a "pianist"- after my diploma I studied also jazz piano and jazz music and than finally I became a MD ( qualified general surgeon) . I'm pretty sure that you could heal my trauma. I'm traumatized by having lost Beethoven. I can't explain why. It's not that I don't like his music. When I was a small kid, I always listened to Beethoven. Barenboim and Beethoven piano concertos, conducted by maestro Otto Klemperer...Great! Of course when I decided to become a professional musician , I studied Beethoven sonatas. Not each but some of the fancy and important ones. I'm traumatized of Beethoven. Why? Didn't play Beethoven for more than 35 years. I guess with 22 the last Beethoven opus I studied was "apaasionata" op 57 , f- minor. Why can't I find access to Beethoven anymore? Did I lose the key? Or am I scary of Beethovens messages? I realy don't know Studied a bit Mozart ( piano concerto d-minor) and he was a reminder according to Beethoven ( piano concerto , c-major)....Crazy. I loved and still love this concerto ( and besides this all of it). But something inside myself refuses to approach him again. Listening to your Ravel, I feel jealous! When I was young, I started with "Jeux D'aux" and "Pavane pour un enfant defunte". Than I played the g -major concerto. It was in the 1980th when Ivo Pogorelich did (unfortunately) not win the Chopin competition but Argerich supported Ivo. And than Ivo performed "Gaspard de la nuit"- that was breathtaking because I was just 19 years old... I thought "Yeah man, I can do it, too!" - of course not on his level. I visited a concert with Ivo in Europe ( a couple of few years ago). He played Chopin f-minor concerto and he played so unbelievable great after his recovery. It was breathtaking again and he is totally underrated nowadays after he became kinda pop star back in the day. Back to Ravel: Would you agree that "Le tombeau de Couperin" is a very special suite? I don't now yet.....Never tried to play it by myself. Always loved it and it's not that much known by people who are not too much familiar with music besides the US- charts, dance floor, house, rap bla bla.... It's so precious, enlightening and inspiring - but I think it was easier to study the "Gaspard" than this you played and explained here on a pretty high level! I love all this old composers from France and Italy besides Johann Sebastian Bach. I'm talking about Couperin, Scarlatti and also not that much composers of the baroque era from England , too. There's a lot of jazz inside....Maybe not too much visible on first sight. But it's rich of fantastic chord changes and melodies. So Ravel gave me a lifelong guidance and after some breaks ( wich can take years) sooner or later again I love to rehearse and to play music by this great French composer. And what a great thread Ravel was looking for. A challenge for a composer and creative mind to create a suite of a composer who was an important composer of the baroque. I still want to support your channel and I want to motivate you to teach and to tell people more about the beloved French composers....I could imagine that people who were born and raised in France are more familiar with Couperin than th majority of musicians or music lovers from abroad, right? That's all littler wondering and beautiful, precious pieces...I stay excited because maybe in the future you will play Ravel and Couperin again....

Awwww.. Thank you so so much Anita. So happy you enjoyed this piece. It's gorgeously and extremely difficult, so making it look beautiful is way harder.. Thank you so much for listening and your comments!

Thank you very much. I truly appreciate your comments.

Merci beaucoup d'avoir écouter, et pour les commentaires. A bientôt pour d'autres commentaires sur ma chaîne ? N'hésitez pas à vous abonner et à faire partager.

@@laurentboukobzapianiste Je me suis abonne. Je suis en Floride (Orlando), Americain mais Francais du cote de ma mere.

@@KRGruner Ah D'accord ! Super. Merci encore de tout votre soutien.

Meric à toi pour ces très très beaux commentaires ! Merci d'avoir écouté ! A très bientôt pour la suite des toccatas !

Merci bcp Roselyne. Cette Toccata est vraiment bcp bcp de travail!! Merci.

Thank you so so much my dearest friend. Always enjoyed your continued support! Thank you

You're so welcome my dear friend!😁👍❤️

Wow... En effet tu es très en forme... Tout d'abord merci de tous tes très gentil commentaires vis-à vis des explications et de mon interprétation de l'oeuvre... Je trouve tes remarques hyper justes (le plus rigolo c'est que j'ai joué tout ça, mais je n'avais moi-même pas fait ce rapprochement du tout..) mais pk pas ? Maintenant, Ravel a une style très très particulier, dû à son utilisation de la modalité... et oui, ayant une (forte) personnalité, il se ressemble à lui-même (forcément)... donc ce qu'on reconnait c'est plutôt son style à lui, comme dans le dernier mvt. du Concerto en Sol (qui est, tu a raison, une sorte de Toccata.. (Une toccata est un Perpetuum Mobile).. ou dans le concerto pour la MG. Mais je suis complètement d'accord avec toutes tes reflexions ! Bravo à toi...Et merci de ce partage.

Merci bcp Elena. c'est une tres tres beau message, car c'est vrai que le but est de faire croire que c'est facile ! A tres bientôt pour la Toccata de Prokofiev !

Merci Bcp Alain pour ces tres tres beaux commentaires et ravi que tu aies aime mon interpretation de cette oeuvre incroyablement difficile en effet. Non je ne connaissais pas cette transcription. super interessant, et ils ont l'air d'avoir bcp de mal aussi dans certains passages (donc ce n'est pas dur qu'au piano lol!! Merci Alain. J'espère que tu pourras faire partie d'une de mes masterclass, ou qu'on se retrouve bientôt pour une lesson ? A bientôt. et encore merci e ce tres beau commentaire. j'apprécie énormément .

Alors, hélas en juillet je ne serai pas dispo. Mais pour une leçon, ah oui, clairement oui. D'ici un ou deux mois ça devrait le faire. Par exemple sur la 4eme Ballade de notre ami Frédéric que je vais bientôt jouer à un concert et pour un concours, et où j'aurai besoin, je pense, d'un bon dérouillage en règle ;-)

@@alainmari5801 Et bien écoute, c'est quand tu veux ! A très bientôt ! et bon courage.. la 4ème Ballade n'est pas une pièce facile !

Thank you so much Akashi for your very kind message. I totally know where you come from re: Tempo, but torn't worry, your hands will grow to do it, it's just a matter of time, patience, and self-discipline. I like your remark about relaxation, as it's exactly that ! The only to achieve fast pace playing is to learn to relax. I hope you have great teacher who can help you with this. If you are interested I can always give you a lesson, and we could talk about this piece in particular and how to relax in it. It's also about fingerings, as you may not use the proper ones, and arrangements... These are necessary in certain passages. Thank you again for your comments. Looking forward to hearing more from you about my other videos. Thank you again.

Merci beaucoup. Cela me fait très plaisir de vous lire ! Et merci de tous ces beau compliments ! J'en suis très touché. Oui Paris me convient vraiment très très bien. SI vous connaissez des gens qui seraient intéressés pour venir à mon stage de musique, n'hésitez pas à leur faire savoir. Je compte sur vous ! =) Merci encore.

@@laurentboukobzapianisteDe là où je suis, je pense qu'il serait préférable de continuer à faire ce que vous faites et vous attirerez à vous ceux qui apprécient vos œuvres. C'est super que vous ayez la traduction anglaise sur votre site pour attirer plus de monde. Je continue à étudier le piano et travaille à nouveau sur la Sonatine de Ravel, tous les mouvements et le début du Le Tombeau de Couperin. Je suis à la retraite à mon rythme. Je peux certainement transmettre cette vidéo à mon professeur et lui faire écouter. J'ai étudié en France pendant un an la littérature française et plus tard le piano donc je correspond plus à votre modèle. Pourtant je suis rare pour ceux que je côtoie.

@@JLew-ch8yu Merci de cette explication precise. Je vous comprends tout a fait. Bien entendu, je ne compte pas m'arrêter dans mes vidéos. Ce que je voulais dire c'est que toute l'aide que vous puissiez apporter sera très très précieuse. Donc merci d'avance et oui, merci de le faire passer a votre professeur. Avec grand plaisir.

Okay... I'll think about it. Thank you for your suggestion.

Awwww... C'est gentil cousinettte!! TU sais que j'habite à Paris ? donc maintenant on pourra peut-etre se voir plus ?

@@laurentboukobzapianiste 🥰

@@laurentboukobzapianiste Mais ouiiiiii

@@SPACEGIRLESCT DIs nous quand tu es libre.. fais le sur mon portable plutôt ? =) Grosses bises.. et à bientôt!

Me too! but as you know the Toccata is not part of the transcription. Thank you April! Did you see that I moved to Paris (France) too ? We are so excited about it. I hope you are doing great.

​@@laurentboukobzapianiste I will happily accept the amazing orchestration of the Toccata by Zoltán Kocsis. It's on RU-vid. I think Ravel would approve too!

@@soozb15 Okay.. I don't know it, but I will gladly listen to it. Are you a subsscriber of my channel ? Did you listen to other videos I did (like the 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas) ? Please don't hesitate to listen to and to post comments. Thank you for yours today. Totally appreciated.

@@laurentboukobzapianiste /Thank you, I will listen to them. I am currently learning the Pathetique sonata and try to listen to many interpretations.

@@soozb15 Awesome. Actually, If you become a "Member", you'll be able to listen to them LIVE in concert too. You need to be at the Gold level to watch this Concerts LIVE and all the other concerts. Thank you Suzie !

WOW!! En effet.. vous auriez eu un telephone portable, vous auriez pu garder une photo magnifique. Merci de ce témoignage !

Je vous comprends.. je pense aussi qu'elle est trop difficile pour moi aussi.. mais ne le dites a personne ! =) Merci de votre commentaire Tetsuya. J'espère que j'aurais le plaisir d'avoir certains de vos élèves dans un de mes stage international d'été ? ce serait vraiment génial de leur apprendre venant d'un maitre comme vous.

LOL.. Yep, Couperin, not so much.. that's for sure.. except maybe for the very digital type of touch one has to have to play this piece (as opposed to Prokofiev or Schumann for example). Thank you so much for your comments.