Alborada del Gracioso (Aubade of the Jester) for piano

Maurice Ravel was born in the French Pyrenees near the border of Spain. His mother was of the Basque origin and was raised in Madrid. The Spanish influence of the composer’s mother is prominent throughout Ravel’s compositions. In 1905, Ravel wrote a set of five piano pieces named Miroirs. The fourth piece of the set, Alborada del Gracioso, is among the first compositions where Ravel experimented with Spanish elements. This piece became so immensely popular that in 1918, Ravel transcribed it (among one other from the same set) for full orchestra.

For pianists, Alborada del Gracioso is notorious for the extremely fast repeated notes, where Ravel specifically instructed to never slow down to compensate for the difficulty. The double-note glissando passages in the final section of the piece can easily injure pianists’ fingers, especially under unresponsive pianos or ones with sharp key edges. The title itself does not reveal much about the character of the piece, save for the word “Alborada”, which refers to morning music (opposite to “serenade” for evening music). Little bursts of fast triplets among steady eighth notes permeate throughout the piece, imitating the sound of a Spanish castanet player. The seven-minute piece is set in three sections; the two lively outer sections that share the same theme and rhythmic motives and a deeply expressive and melancholic middle section in the middle. The style of the middle section is inspired from “Cante jondo”, a vocalized type of flamenco music typical from the Andalucía region. The return of the opening theme is followed by a festive explosion of pipes, horns and drums that wraps up a rather boisterous dance of clowns.