Gauche

The abbreviated story of Ravel’s Concerto pour la main gauche en ré majeur, written for pianist Paul Wittgenstein:

In 1930, the French composer Maurice Ravel (author of the famous Bolero) composed the Piano Concerto in D major at the request of an Austrian pianist, Paul Wittgenstein, who, as the title implies, was left-handed.

Well, that’s not quite accurate. See, as the story goes, in World War I, Wittgenstein had been shot in the right elbow and captured by the Russians, then sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia. At some point during the horrific sequence of events, Wittgenstein’s right arm was amputated.

Thus ends the abbreviated story of Ravel’s Concerto pour la main gauche en ré majeur, for pianist Paul Wittgenstein.

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Now that you know the story, it’s time to look at this, from the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s very own Zachary Lewis:

In [the pianist’s] hand, the score's downward-dashing motif was like a focused stream of bullets...

[dismay]
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