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Vocalise - Étude en Forme de Habanera

for Soloist & Orchestra

Maurice Ravel originally composed his Piece en forme de Habanera as a Vocalise Etude en forme de Habanera for bass voice and piano in 1907.

A song without words, Ravel took as his model the slow, sultry Spanish dance called the habanera - like most French composers of the period, Ravel was fascinated by the music of Spain - and used it as the basis of a blindingly difficult virtuoso exercise for the bass voice.

This piece has been arranged and is nowadays performed for many different instrumental groups.