“Virtuoso piece in the style of a Hungarian rhapsody” – thus reads Ravel ’s entry on Tzigane in the so-called 'Autobiographical Sketch'. Tzigane was inspired by the Hungarian-English violinist Jelly d’Aranyi, to whom Ravel had already promised a virtuoso piece in 1922 following Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsodies”. Work progressed slowly and d’Aranyi only received the music four days before the premiere – but she still gave a brilliant performance.