Documentary: 100 years of Ravel’s Tzigane

The Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts, which offer courses for both musicians and architects, have released a documentary about French composer Maurice Ravel’s popular violin and piano work, Tzigane, for the centenary of the work’s composition. Joe Kerr, programme director of the Fontainebleau Schools, only recently discovered that the piece was premiered at the Fontainebleau Palace on 13 August 1924, prompting the production of this retrospective documentary.

In the film, musicians, musicologists, students and school directors discuss the piece’s history, composition, influences and the composer himself, as well as the links that can be made to architecture. Violinist Anaïs Feller is also shown playing the piece and receiving coaching on it. She explains her journey in developing her artistic vision for the work. 

Director of documentary, François Bibonne, said of the project’s aims: ’I wanted to show through Tzigane the influence of eastern folk music on classical music and how it teaches violinists to be open to the world, like visual artists or even architects.’

The documentary was also directed by Studio Thi Koan.

Playing

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.