Une barque sur l'ocean, from Miroirs

Program Note:

Some journeys are far more modest, less spiritually fraught with personal meaning. At the center of Maurice Ravel’s (1875-1921) five musical tableaux titled Miroirs stands Une barque sur l’ocean (A Boat on the Ocean). Each work in Miroirs was dedicated to a fellow member of the Apaches, an avant-garde collective that Ravel joined around 1900. The premise of Une barque is made manifest by its title. A small boat offers a closeness to the sea that can be both beautiful and serene as well as frightening. For the sea, like this piece, is ever changing. The pianist’s fingers are in constant motion, mirroring the tide’s ebb and flow. Abundant pedaling allows the rush of 32nd notes to embody a wash of colors upon the surface of crashing waves. The whole work offers to the performer constant challenges, and it requires a fluid technique (particularly with arpeggios) that astounds both ear and eye.

(c) Jason Stell