Gaspard de la nuit (Ravel)
Movements
i Ondine ii Le Gibet iii Scarbo
Notes
Written in C♯ major and 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. It is reminiscent of Ravel’s early piano piece, the Jeux d’eau, with the sounds of water falling and flowing, woven with cascades. There are five main melodies. The opening melody evokes a line of song and is similar in form and subject to the main theme in Sirènes from Debussy’s Nocturnes. This is interrupted by the second theme before opening up a longer melodic passage formed from the latter part of theme 1. Then a short simple melody introduces shimmering harmonic side-shifting. The final distinct melody is a menacing short rising figure, which prefaces the menace of Le Gibet and which later provides a bridge to the main climax. Ravel prioritises melodic development to express the poetic themes, keeping subordinate the simmering coloration of the right hand. By contrast, Claude Debussy’s works such as Reflets dans l’eau tend to treat melody more equally with harmonic and figurative impulsivity, and often position virtuosity more in the foreground.
