The Perfect Combination Of Music And Poetry

With Ravel's piano poem “Gaspard de la nuit” as study subject,this paper is composed of three parts: the introduction,the text,and the conclusion.The text is divided into three chapters.Introduction: This part discusses why the author chooses Ravel's piano poem “Gaspard de la nuit” as study subject,and introduces writing ideas.Chapter 1 Life of composer Ravel and his composing characteristicsSection ?: A simple biography of Ravel Maurice Ravel(1875-1937)was a great French impressionist composer of the 20 th century,pianist and orchestration master.In 1889 he was admitted into Conservatoire de Paris,where he studied the piano under Bériot,and later studied composition under Fu Lei.Ravel's lifetime composition encompasses piano,orchestra,art songs and other fields,and was renowned throughout the world as “master of orchestral color”.His creation promoted the development of Impressionist music in the twentieth century,the piano master piece “Gaspard de la nuit”,in particular,is deemed as a milestone of pianist music of the 20 th century.Section ?: Ravel's impressionist styleRavel's early piano compositions can be characterized by their impressionist style.Influenced by impressionist poems,his music shares similarity with Debussy's compositions.However their works are not entirely the same.Debussy was arguably the originator of impressionist music,while Ravel only showed tendency towards impressionist style in parts of his works,for example “jeuxd'eau”(1901),piano suite “Miroirs”(1905),pianist poem “Gaspard de la nuit”(1908).Ravel's works after the first world war lean towards the neoclassical style under the influence of Emmanuel Chabrier and Erik Satie and the inspiration of Ancient French pianist music.Works of this period include “Valses nobles et sentimentales”(1911),“Le Tombeau de Couperin”(1917),two piano concertos in 1931,etc.Chapter 2: Creation background of “Gaspard de la nuit”: A marriage of music and poemSection ?: Analysis of Bertrand's poem-“Gaspard de la nuit”Aloysius Bertrand(1807-1841)was born in italy,moved to France at an early age.His works show the revival of the Décadentisme in France at the beginning of the nineteenth century.While his compositions did not make immediate impact in his short lifetime and his major work “Gaspard de la nuit” was published posthumously in 1842,they have deep influence on later French literature for their breakthrough from the constraints of the traditional style and pioneering contributions to modern prose poetry.“Gaspard de la nuit” created a world filled with imaginary spaces,illusory scenes and grotesque realms of dreams,rendered with unearthly texture,immersing readers in an unrestrained,thoughtful reverie.Section ?: Analysis of Ravel's piano music-“Gaspard de la nuit”In 1908,inspired by three poems in Bertrand's poem anthology “Gaspard de le nuit”,Ravel composed his “most brilliant and most virtuoso piano work”,which is subtitled “3 poèmes pour piano” and composed of “Ondine”,“Le Gibet” and “Scarbo”.The composition depicts the melancholy song of the siren and a saddening love story,monotonous and gloomy bells of the gallows,bizarre dance of Scarbo and flickering illusions.On his motivation and composing,m Ravel claimed “to compose a most difficult music,excelling Balakirev's supposedly ‘hard' Islamey”.Chapter 3: “Gaspard de la nuit”:musical form analysis and performance notesRavel's piano poem “Gaspard de la nuit” consists of three subtitled pieces.The author will use three subsections to discuss musical structure of “Gaspard de la nuit” from performing experience,and with reference to the original poems,analyze in detail musical image description,timbre design,performance skill training,pedaling,dynamics,voice arrangement and rhythm.