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Ravel's title is the standard French word for ‘Gypsy’, but the piece has Eastern European, Jewish and even at times Scottish music influences.

The soloist, whom the composition casts as a formidable, even fearsome presence, appears to have the world at his or her fingertips. It is this soloist who begins with a cadenza that, after a minute or so, introduces the principal theme, which is then varied and developed, soon with kaleidoscopic intervention and support from the orchestra.