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Do you think a one-armed man could have a career as a piano soloist? For one determined young man, the answer was, “Yes.”

All you have to do is see the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D Major, by French Composer Maurice Ravel. It is a true testament to his brilliance, and will as man to do what he loves best.

Paul Wittgenstein was a concert pianist who had launched his career in the year before World War I broke out. Sadly, he lost his right arm during the fighting. After the war, Wittgenstein was not willing to admit that his dream of a concert piano career was over.

So he began working on his left-handed technique. If he could arrange two-handed works in a single handed state, he would be able to pull off something no other pianist had attempted. By the late 1920s, he had mastered his technique and fel it was time to approach the all-star composers of the world.

While many refrained from the idea, Sergei Prokofiev, Richard Wagner, Benjamin Britten, and Maurice Ravel gave him the help he needed.

At this time, Ravel had never written a concerto before, though he had written piano solos. He was working on his Piano Concerto in G, more traditionally intended for two hands, and was feeling blocked. Enthusiastically taking up Wittgenstein’s challenge, Ravel studied the left-handed Etudes of Camille Saint-Saens. Ravel was determined that his left-handed Concerto would not be a mere stunt, but a noteworthy addition to piano repertoire.

And so it proved to be. Such is Ravel’s craftsmanship that it is not at all obvious to a listener, that the piano part is written for just one hand. It is a dense, emotionally deep work which portrays the struggle of the one-armed pianist to overcome his tragic injury, and reinvent himself.

Though the piece has sometime been described as being in two movements, most experts agree that it is a piece written in one movement, but with three sections. Unlike most concerti, The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand is structured as Slow-Fast-Slow, rather than Fast-Slow-Fast.

While these individuals did all they could to please Mr. Wittgenstein, it was extremely difficult. When Wagner brought forth work, the complaint revolved around the orchestration being too powerful for a single-handed pianist. When it came to Prokofiev’s suggestions, Wittgenstein simply wouldn’t play them.

Even with the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, Wittgenstein complained about the long solo cadenza right after the opening. During one instance he even told Ravel; “If I had wanted a solo piece, I wouldn’t have commissioned a concerto.” However, Ravel stood his ground, and over time, Wittgenstein began to like it.

The Concerto for the Left Hand by Ravel is not just a work of immense musical merit, but also a testament to the indomitable human spirit.