Jeux d'eau for Piano

It was unmistakably Liszt’s piano piece “Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este” that inspired Ravel to compose one of his most famous works in 1901: “Jeux d’eau”. Laid out in sonata form, its sound is governed by myriad motions of water and sustained by innovative, highly virtuosic piano textures against a freely migrating and richly coloured harmonic backdrop.

Nicolas Southon has re-evaluated the work’s many sources, including memoirs from musicians close to Ravel such as Vlado Perlemuter, Jacques Février and Hélène Jourdan-Morhange. Special attention has been devoted to the original part-writing in Ravel’s notation. Rounding off the new edition are an informative Foreword, a trilingual glossary as well as fingering and notes on performance by Ravel specialist Alexandre Tharau