Maurice RAVEL / Signed Autograph Letter / Piano Concerto in G / Contract

  

Autographed letter signed "Maurice Ravel" to Jean Bérard, artistic director at Columbia. 1/2 in-8°, in black ink on brown paper. Central fold mark inherent to the original mailing.

Very slight tear at the fold without severity. Ravel gives his advance agreement for his contract with Columbia regarding the recording of his Concerto in G. The only known letter from Ravel to Jean Bérard. Thank you for sending me the draft of the contract that you read to us the other day.

After examining it very carefully, I believe there is no danger in signing it and, on the contrary, there is great interest in reaching an agreement with the publishers on this basis. Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to come next Monday.

Therefore, I ask you to consider this letter as full approval. If you wish, I am ready to affix my signature to this contract when it takes on a definitive character." Composed from the summer of 1929 to November 1931, the Concerto in G was premiered at the Salle Pleyel on January 14, 1932. Among the composer's last masterpieces, it is one of the most difficult works in his repertoire, as the complexity of emotions unfolds within it.

Its slow movement, which constitutes one of the most intimate musical meditations that Ravel composed, remained inaccessible to him due to a lack of diligent practice. However, he conducted it with great success during his last tour in 1932. Manuel Cornejo also notes a letter from July 29, 1933, in which Jean Bérard informs Ravel of the amount of royalties from the sales of records of the Concerto in G, totaling 9,323.25 francs for the period from its release in January 1933 to the end of March 1933.

The complete work, Manuel Cornejo, Le Passeur, p.