Imslp Ravel Introduction And Allegro

Just after the Allegro begins, the harp executes a rapid ascending and descending glissando marked très vif (very lively). Most young harpists play it as a smear. Look closely at the notation: Ravel notates specific pitches at the top and bottom of the glissando. This implies a bisbigliando (whispering) effect—a brushed rather than smashed glissando. The IMSLP score shows Ravel’s original beaming, which suggests the two hands should not play simultaneously but in rapid succession.

The Introduction and Allegro is deceptively difficult. Here is a week-by-week guide using your digital IMSLP download.

The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) is the first stop for any serious musician. For Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro, IMSLP offers several critical advantages: imslp ravel introduction and allegro

Direct Search Tip: Go to IMSLP.org, type "Ravel Introduction and Allegro" into the search bar. Ensure you select the correct work (it is sometimes listed under its full French title: Introduction et Allegro pour harpe, flûte, clarinette et quatuor à cordes).

The IMSLP page includes work details that tell the story:
Commissioned by the harp manufacturer Érard to showcase their double-action chromatic harp (no pedals, just two rows of strings). Ravel, never fond of naked virtuosity, instead wove the harp into a de facto chamber concerto. The Introduction (slow, arpeggiated) melts into a fleet Allegro where the harp trades rapid-fire figures with flute and clarinet over a shimmering string bed. Just after the Allegro begins, the harp executes

Unlike a typical string quartet where each player is an individual, Ravel instructs (in French at the top of the score): "The string quartet should blend like a single instrument." This is crucial. Look at the viola part—it spends most of its time doubling the cello an octave above or filling inner harmonies. The first violin rarely soars; it is cramped in the middle register. The IMSLP parts contain bowing suggestions (from Lucien Capet, a famous violinist of the era). Use sul tasto (bow over the fingerboard) to achieve the veiled, non-metallic sound Ravel wanted.

Unlike a concerto, this is a chamber work for a specific, unusual ensemble: Direct Search Tip: Go to IMSLP

Feature note: It was commissioned by the harp manufacturer Érard to showcase their double-action pedal harp in a chamber setting.