Inspired by Béla Bartók’s violin sonatas, Ravel planned his own sonata for violin and piano in 1922, but at first did not get beyond sketches. Many interruptions ensued and the work was only finished in 1927. He dedicated it to his violinist friend Hélène Jourdan-Morhange. Regarding the sonata’s sparse, thinned out compositional structure and instrumentation, Ravel later emphasized that the sonata proved the tonal incompatibility of the violin and piano.

Yet it still succeeded in winning a pe...