Two Hebrew Melodies

Two Hebrew Melodies

Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)

Any Saxophone Solo with piano

Two Hebrew Melodies by Maurice Ravel arranged for any saxophone solo with piano. These two short songs are a study in contrasts: No. 1, “Kaddish,” based on a Jewish liturgical chant, is somewhat unusual in Ravel’s works. The soloist plays a melody built of Middle Eastern-inspired motifs in a near improvisation with sparse comment from the piano. Later a harp-like arpeggio figure accompanies a more song-like interpretation of the melody. In the second piece “The Eternal Enigma”, the accompaniment is very strictly metric in character and made up of repeating figures underneath an extremely simple melody.

This arrangement of Two Hebrew Melodies (2 Mélodies hébraïques, M.A 22) by Ravel is arranged for any saxophone solo with piano. It includes solo parts for B flat (soprano or tenor) and E flat (alto or baritone) saxophones. The sax part is shown in C on the piano score. The time signature of the first movement alternates between 4/4 and 5/4. The second movement is in 2/4 throughout. Both movements are in the original keys.

• The range for each saxophone part is shown below.
• Audio and score excerpts are available above.
• Registered users can download a complete sample score and full length audio file of Two Hebrew Melodies on the ‘Samples’ tab.