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Ravel Miroirs commentary
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One of Ravel's more popular works, the set Miroirs (or Mirrors in english) has some of my favorite of his music. Each one of the five pieces evokes a mirror looking into a different scene, alternating between harmonically inclined slow ambiance pieces reminiscent of Debussy, and rapid pieces requiring high technical preciseness. There are orchestral arrangements of the third and fourth pieces but I quite like the solo piano versions personally. • 0:03 1. Noctuelles (difficulty - 6/10). A scene of night moths evokes an atmosphere that I like to think of as night moths fluttering between the dim night lights as darkness occasionally plunges us into the world of dreams. Ravel's textural effects in this pieces are phenomenal, but rather hard to achieve and require a superb sense of touch. Luckily, precision isn't as important in this pieces as some of the others. • 5:27 2. Oiseaux tristes (difficulty - 3.5/10). A lone sad bird sings in the evening air, abandoned by all of its friends. (T⌓T) • 10:25 3. Une barque sur l'océan (difficulty - 6/10). The most popular of the set, an endless sequence of arpeggios sweeps us first over a small bay, then into the mighty ocean where we ride an enormous sequence of waves. Precision is paramount in this piece, as is keeping the water flowing without pause. • 18:46 4. Alborada del gracioso (difficulty - 7.5/10). Another popular one, this jester's morning love song is more of a lively Spanish dance that I like to think of as a daybreak dance overlooking the spectacular cliffsides of Spain. The challenging dance is broken up by the breathtaking view in the middle, only to return at speed in the end. The precision in this piece is more rhythmic in nature, while the repeated notes can be quite hazardous in tempo. • 25:16 5. La vallée des cloches (difficulty - 2/10). My favorite of the set and maybe my favorite Ravel piece! A slow ringing of bells at eventide echoes ponderously between mountains, as if an entire valley has become a grand cathedral. The harmonies are intimate, and the way they shift with mood is quite special.
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