New Documentary Released on Maurice Ravel’s “Tzigane”

Released by the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts, the documentary celebrates the centenary of Ravel’s famed work for violin and piano

Founded in 1921, France’s Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts offers summer courses in both music and architecture through its Conservatoire American and Beaux Arts divisions. Students from both disciplines often observe each other’s work and collaborate on projects. 

The school has now released a documentary highlighting 100 years of Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, which was first written for violin and piano. 

Titled “Ravel, ‘Gypsy’ and the Olympic Spirit in Fontainebleau,” the short film was produced by the Foundation of the American Art Schools of Fontainebleau alongside direction from Studio Thi Koan and François Bibonne. 

This project began after Fontainebleau Schools’ program director Joe Kerr recently discovered that Tzigane premiered at the Fontainebleau Palace on August 13, 1924. Additionally, Ravel himself was on the faculty of the Conservatoire American in the early 20th century.

The documentary can be viewed below. 

In the film, teachers and students in the music and architecture courses at the school reflect on the story of this piece, accompanied by snippets of Fontainebleau student and violinist Anaïs Feller working on the piece for performance with guidance from the French violinist Régis Pasquier. Feller explains her artistic decisions and how interactions with the program’s architects inspired her creativity in the work. 

A performance of the Tzigane was given at the Fontainebleau American Conservatory on August 13, 1924, at the Fontainebleau Palace. The official documented premiere was in London in April 1924 by Hungarian virtuoso Jelly d’Arányi and pianist Henri Gil-Marchex. 

Jelly d’Arányi was the inspiration behind the work after Ravel saw her improvise in the Gypsy style. She received the score of Tzigane just three days prior to giving its premiere. 

The work’s title Tzigane was derived from the word “gypsy” and it was the desire of Ravel to write in this style, Galpérine explained in the documentary. 

“Ravel is a genius because he can be himself in so many styles,” Pasquier added. “He had one will: to write in the style of the gypsies. Needless to say, it was a triumph — it’s one of the most famous pieces for violin. It’s marvelous.”

Philippe Quint and Jun Cho’s rendition of Tzigane on The Violin Channel’s Vanguard Concerts Series can be viewed below.