Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major

During a wildly successful tour of the United States in 1928, Maurice Ravel met American composer George Gershwin, and listened to jazz in Harlem and New Orleans.  These influences plus his Basque heritage (already exhibited in his Rapsodie espagnole and Boléro) are easily heard in his Piano Concerto in G major. Ravel modeled it after the light, divertimento-like concertos of Mozart and Saint‑Saëns. The Spanish-tinged jazz riffs of the first movement are followed by a gentle and delicate Adagio, and the concerto closes with a bang in its irresistible finale.