Maurice Ravel struggled to establish the manuscript of the reduction of the Waltz for Two Pianos

Lucien Garban, a great friend of Maurice Ravel with whom he maintained a rich correspondence, was one of the principal arrangers and orchestrators of Editions musicales Durand; he was the one who helped Ravel to correct proofs to prepare the engraving of his scores.

However, Ravel encountered difficulties in establishing the manuscript of the reduction for two pianos of one of his great orchestral works: the Waltz.

"I think the manuscript of the "Waltz" for two pianos will arrive at the Durand house on Monday. I might as well have started all over again: I spent more time scraping, cutting, and pasting than actually transcribing. Enclosed are a few observations, mainly concerning questionable passages I discovered in the draft of the orchestral score. Perhaps they were corrected in the final copy."

...no time to ship it today. I need the piano part for the observations. So it will be for Monday.

But I'm sending you this anyway. Here's why: Dr. Vidal just called me, and Geiger asked me not to forget the recommendations to the jury members for the piano competition on the 7th of this month. From Garban. Which competitors? Which jurors? Telegraph or telephone me at 24. Châteauneuf-en-Thymerais (E. & L.). In haste... affectionate regards to you both. Maurice Ravel

Provenance: formerly in the Jacques Lebeau collection

Maurice Ravel. Correspondence, writings and interviews. Edition established, presented and annotated by Manuel Cornejo (Gallimard, 2025). Volume 1, p. 1045, letter no. 1291.