When pianists think of Gaspard de la nuit (“gaspard” comes from an old Persian word meaning “treasurer”), their hearts stop. Ravel’s masterpiece, as famous for its depiction of Aloysius Bertrand’s poems as it is infamous for stunning virtuosity, is like a realistic dream, a lucid world of darkness and terror evoked through refinement and detail. Ravel brings to life Bertrand’s poems using a new and forward-looking technique, a classical form, and a vast knowledge of keyboard composition to convey the likes of mermaids, monsters and corpses. Though daring technical devices and harmonies were an integral part of Ravel’s realization of the poems, the sheer technical accomplishment of the work is in itself an outstanding feat. The music extends the capabilities of the ten-fingered, two-handed pianist, and in the process makes Gaspard de la nuit one of the most challenging and virtuosic compositions ever written. Yet, for all of its remarkable innovations, Gaspard de la nuit is confined to a strict, classical structure that is in many ways like a conventional sonata: an opening movement of moderate speed, a central slow movement, and a fast, impressive finale (Perlemuter, 1988). However, this exacting approach to compositional form did not hamper Ravel’s realization of the poetry; in fact, it was with a classical form that Ravel could follow Bertrand’s work like a blueprint, thematically reconstructing every dancing demon and burst of water. Ravel was a master of using the piano– everything from scales and arpeggios to rhythms and articulations unique to the instrument– to create specific objects and emotions. Detailed, almost tangible images make Gaspard de la nuit unforgettable, defining its im- mortality as a masterpiece which is both a brilliant and ground-breaking technical study, and a hauntingly evocative musical recreation of Bertrand’s poetry.
Ravel focused on particular pianistic challenges in his “transcendental” writing; “the solution of technical problems was his primary purpose in composing Gaspard de la nuit” (Dubbiosi, 1967). For example, parts of Ondine consist of lightning-fast arpeggios with each hand in contrary motion on different tonal keys (creating dissonance). Other technical demands include the interaction between the hands, glissandi, repeated notes, and functions of the thumb.
The division of melodies and chords between hands had been used before by Liszt’s rival Sigismond Thalberg, who created a three-voiced effect by having an inner melody surrounded by two accompaniments. Ravel created more range through “doubling the melody in octaves and the placement of the harmonic accompaniment within the limits of the melody voices” (Dubbiosi, 1967). When one hand plays the melody, the other joins in the melody or plays accompanying notes in such proximity that specific hands playing certain notes are no longer obvious.
Glissandi are used primarily for imagery in Ondine. The conventional glissando is a sweeping motion with one finger over the white keys of the piano (Liszt used glissandi in the “classic” form in many of his virtuoso showpieces). However, Ravel bids the pianist use the black keys, which is not only very difficult, but also creates tonalities less prominent in Western music.
The use of repeated notes “was to become a hallmark of Ravel’s style” (Hopkins, 1986). Repeated notes are divided between octaves, shared by both hands, played unimaginably fast,and, famously, form the integral structure of Le Gibet.