Maurice Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit, (François, Pogorelich)

Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937) ――――――――――――――― Gaspard de la Nuit “Trois poèmes pour piano d’après Aloysius Bertrand“ (1908) ――――――――――――――― Samson François (1924 - 1970) Recorded in 1958 ――――――――――――――― Ivo Pogorelich (1958 - ) Recorded in 1980s/2009 ――――――――――――――――――――――――― Gaspard de la nuit, is a suite of piano pieces by Maurice Ravel, written in 1908. ――――――――――――――――――――――――― It has three movements, each based on a poem from the collection Gaspard de la Nuit, completed in 1836 by Aloysius Bertrand. The work was premiered in Paris, on January 9, 1909, by Ricardo Viñes. ――――――――――――――――――――――――― (0:00 / 21:10 / 44:45) I thought I heard A faint harmony that enchants my sleep. And close to me radiates an identical murmur Of songs interrupted by a sad and tender voice.      Ch. Brugnot – The Two Spirits “Listen! – Listen! – It is I, it is Ondine who brushes drops of water on the resonant panes of your windows lit by the gloomy rays of the moon; and here in gown of watered silk, the mistress of the chateau gazes from her balcony on the beautiful starry night and the beautiful sleeping lake. “Each wave is a water sprite who swims in the stream, each stream is a footpath that winds towards my palace, and my palace is a fluid structure, at the bottom of the lake, in a triangle of fire, of earth and of air. “Listen! – Listen! – My father whips the croaking water with a branch of a green alder tree, and my sisters caress with their arms of foam the cool islands of herbs, of water lilies, and of corn flowers, or laugh at the decrepit and bearded willow who fishes at the line.“ Her song murmured, she beseeched me to accept her ring on my finger, to be the husband of an Ondine, and to visit her in her palace and be king of the lakes. And as I was replying to her that I loved a mortal, sullen and spiteful, she wept some tears, uttered a burst of laughter, and vanished in a shower that streamed white down the length of my blue stained glass windows. ―――― The piece was based on the poem “Ondine“, an oneiric tale of the water nymph Undine singing to seduce the observer into visiting her kingdom deep at the bottom of a lake. There are five main melodies, Ravel prioritises melodic development to express the poetic themes, keeping subordinate the simmering coloration of the right hand. ――――――――――――――――――――――――― Gibet (7:18 / 28:40 / 55:11) What do I see stirring around that gibbet? – Faust. Ah! that which I hear, was it the north wind that screeches in the night, or the hanged one who utters a sigh on the forked gallows? Was it some cricket who sings lurking in the moss and the sterile ivy, which out of pity covers the floor of the forest? Was it some fly in chase sounding the horn around those ears deaf to the fanfare of the halloos? Was it some scarab beetle who gathers in his uneven flight a bloody hair from his bald skull? Or then, was it some spider who embroiders a half-measure of muslin for a tie on this strangled neck? It is the bell that tolls from the walls of a city, under the horizon, and the corpse of the hanged one that is reddened by the setting sun. ―――― Written in E♭ minor and based on the poem of the same name. Throughout the entire piece is a B♭ octave ostinato, imitative of the tolling bell, that remains constant in tone as the notes cross over and dynamics change. ――――――――――――――――――――――――― (12:29 / 35:34 / 1:03:16) He looked under the bed, in the chimney, in the cupboard; – nobody. He could not understand how he got in, or how he escaped. Oh! how often have I heard and seen him, Scarbo, when at midnight the moon glitters in the sky like a silver shield on an azure banner strewn with golden bees. How often have I heard his laughter buzz in the shadow of my alcove, and his fingernail grate on the silk of the curtains of my bed! How often have I seen him alight on the floor, pirouette on one foot and roll through the room like the spindle fallen from the wand of a sorceress! Did I think him vanished then? the dwarf appeared to stretch between the moon and myself like the steeple of a gothic cathedral, a golden bell wobbling on his pointed cap! But soon his body developed a bluish tint, translucent like the wax of a candle, his face blanched like melting wax – and suddenly his light went out.      Hoffmann. – Nocturnal Tales ―――― I wanted to make a caricature of romanticism. Perhaps it got the better of me. — Maurice Ravel, on “Scarbo“. Written in G♯ minor and based on the poem “Scarbo“, this movement depicts the nighttime mischief of a small fiend or goblin. With its repeated notes and two terrifying climaxes, this is the high point in technical difficulty of all the three movements. ――――――――――――――――――――――――― Of the work, Ravel himself said: “Gaspard has been a devil in coming, but that is only logical since it was he who is the author of the poems. My ambition is to say with notes what a poet expresses with words.“