Ravel Gaspard de la nuit

Composed in 1908, it was inspired by the "petits Poèmes en prose" of the very romantic, strange and hoffmannesque poet Alosius Bertrand.

Ravel wanted to propose musical equivalents to the litterary text, as was his wont.

The lines then are the starting point of marvellous "poems for the piano"

like Jeux d'eau (1901) and Miroirs (1905).

Gaspard de la nuit is an impressionnist work. It is considered as one of the greatest piano pieces in the 20 th century, it's a triptych.

Ondine is the moan of a water nymph neglected by the poet.

She tenderly sings with magic tonal imprecision, she insists in a passionate crescendo, implores in the roaring of the bass parts, then vanishes in sudden showers of arpeggios.

Le gibet is a the dark striking picture of a hanged man in the faint light of the setting sun.A pianissimo groan mingles wuth the implacable swinging of the metronome.

Scarbo is a gnome lloming out of nightmarish visions, in this scherzo, a frantic agitation rages in a fury of booming repeated notes.

A chaotic rhythm,dissonances, extraordinary and quasi orchestral sonorities eventually fade like a bad dream.

Those are "pages for the piano of a transcendant virtuosity " said Ravel: they are indeed very difficult to perform.

From the hazy impressionist brusf stroke to the clear-cut line of counterpoint, he has worked his way well beyond the boundaries of virtuosity, thus producing one of his most expressive pieces.

	Ondine	Title price : 1.99 € (as downloaded) Add to your shopping cart Duration : 7:13 Composers Maurice Ravel Reference : PMA0027T0124

	Gibet	Title price : 1.99 € (as downloaded) Add to your shopping cart Duration : 5:10 Composers Maurice Ravel Reference : PMA0027T0125

	Scarbo	Title price : 1.99 € (as downloaded) Add to your shopping cart Duration : 9:16 Composers Maurice Ravel Reference : PMA0027T0126