Ravel: La Valse

[MusikFind1]

Your opinion please:

Harp II Rehearsal 51 beat 1, and Rehearsal 52 beat 1.
In the original Durand part the gliss. ends on beat 1 at both rehearsal numbers.
In the Durand score at rehearsal 51 the gliss. ends on beat 1.
In the Durand score at rehearsal 52 the gliss. ends on beat 2.

Either notation fits the harmony.
The piano-reduction does not include the gliss.
One reprint notates the ending of both glisses. on beat 1.
Another reprint notates the ending of both glisses. on beat 2.

What do you play? Any reason why?

[carl-swanson]

For me, this is deja vu all over again! This is what I went through when I was proof reading the Durand Sonate pour flute, alto, et harp against the manuscript. Not only did I find tons of discrepancies between the full score(what the harpist plays from) and the manuscript. But I also found discrepancies like what you mention between the full score and the individual flute and viola parts. Sometimes the individual parts were correct(matched the manuscript) and the full score was wrong, and other times the full score was correct and the individual parts were wrong.

I’m in the process of proof reading the Debussy Danses against the manuscript. So far, it looks like the conductor’s score is correct. I have found about 35 discrepancies in the harp part.

So, to answer your question, the real answer is to find the original manuscript and see what is there.

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I think, musically, it makes much more sense for both glisses to end on the first beat. That is what we have always done, since that is how our parts are printed. And since it is a waltz, the pulse would be on the first beat.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

One can be making a mistake in assuming a manuscript represents a composers final thoughts on a piece. One should also examine any correspondence between the composer and publisher, as the composer may well be giving changes verbally to the engraver or making changes as it is engraved. There also may have been other, later copies of a manuscript that were lost or destroyed. It is important, as Carl Swanson knows, to consult harpists close to that time to see what first- or second-hand knowledge they may have of a work. Cynthia Otis and Sara Cutler, as the harpists of the New York City Ballet Orchestra, who have performed La Valse innumerable times, would be worth consulting.

[Author]

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