Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55
Twentieth-century
Gaspard de la nuit : Trois poèmes pour piano d'après Aloysius Bertrand is the full title of this composition by Ravel. In fact, the pieces of this suite are inspired by a collection of poems published in 1842 by Aloysius Bertrand, which fascinated the composer by their dark and gothic atmosphere, reminiscent of an Edgar Allan Poe novel. As if in a grimoire, Gaspard de la nuit tells the story of three supernatural creatures taken from these poems: the water nymph Ondine, the ambiguous and disturbing hangman from the Gibet, and finishing with Scarbo, a small and diabolic goblin. The wonderful music of Gaspard de la nuit was created to express Ravel’s angst over the death of his father. And yet, a demoniac voice creeps into his music… It is the « devilish desire to seduce and delight » (Sandrine Larraburu Bédouret, 2014).
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“After three long months of gestation, [...] it was the devil himself who wrote Gaspard”, Ravel writes in his notes. And listening to his suite Gaspard de la nuit, one truly has the impression of listening to something devilish. In fact, the technical mastery that this piece requires of the player is immense and Faustian in character. Apparently, Ravel once declared with a mischievous smile that he wanted to write a work more difficult than Balakirev’s Islamey—a renewed pinnacle of virtuosity. The structure of Ravel’s work is diabolic, etymologically speaking: Ravel based his composition on oppositions (the opposition pianissimo/fortissimo, for example), in order to put the idea of the devil into music, which means « to disunite » in Greek. Do you wanna dance with the devil? Come and listen to some of the best piano players in the world perform Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit on medici.tv!