Vocalise-étude en Forme de Habanera
Difficulty: Virtuoso
It was often said that during the early twentieth century, the best Spanish music was being written by French composers. Ravel was no different in this regard — despite having only visited the country once, and for only a day, Ravel produced a large number of Spanish-themed pieces, including of course the famous Boléro, his Rapsodie espagnole, and his opera L’Heure espagnole. His Vocalise-étude en forme de Habanera takes as its basis the dance rhythms of the Spanish habanera, blended with Ravel’s characteristic harmonic language. In this edition, Phoebe Russell has adapted this work for double bass to create what is a beautiful addition to the repertoire.
