Alborada del gracioso
Alborada del gracioso (Morning Song of the Jester) is famous among pianists for its impossible to muster double-note glissandi and very arduous repeated notes. Alborada is Spanish for “dawn” and refers to music performed during those hours, especially at festive occasions such as weddings. `
Manuel de Falla talks about Ravel’s Spanish music in these terms: “Ravel’s was a Spain he felt in an idealized way through his mother.” Many experts agree that Ravel’s attachment to his mother was undoubtedly the deepest emotional tie in his entire life. It is not surprising, then, that the Spanish character of Alborada is wholly genuine, with a percussive, insistant rhythm in the outer sections and the reflective lone guitar in the middle section.
It is played here with much conviction by André Laplante. To listen to the other pieces of Miroirs…