Ravel, "Alborada del gracioso", from Miroirs Suite

The heritage he received from his Basque mother

Great was the surprise of Manuel de Falla when the summer of 1907 Maurice Ravel told him in Paris that the only link he had with Spain was having been born near the border. On the occasion, Ravel and his close friend the Catalan pianist Ricardo Viñes had played for him a four-hand version of his latest work, the famous Spanish Rhapsody.
De Falla was very astonished by the Spanish character of the piece and so he asked the question, and the answer surprised him even more. In fact, Ravel was born in the Lower Pyrenees, in Cibure, a small French commune that barely was part of France. His mother, a woman with an exquisite conversation, was of Basque origin and had spent her youth in Madrid. It was all due to his mother's heritage.

But the Rhapsody was not Ravel's first flirtation with Spanish airs. Nor would it be the last. Two years ago he had finished Miroirs, a suite for piano in five movements, the fourth section of which he entitled, in Spanish, Alborada del Gracioso. The five pieces are dedicated to five friends, all members of a group of artists, musicians, and poets who met under the name of Societé des Apaches, a term coined by the pianist Viñes to signify a brotherhood of marginalized or proscribed artists, or simply outcasts.

Ravel, in 1825 (1875 - 1937)

Ricardo Viñes was also the one who premiered Miroirs in 1906, at the Érard Hall in Paris. Later, at the request of Sergei Diaghilev, creator of the Russian ballets, Ravel orchestrated La Alborada... with great success; and it is thus, in its symphonic version, that it has become best known, but from time to time, a daring pianist boldly confronts La Alborada in an encore.

Alborada del Gracioso
The short play, of course, is written in the popular Spanish vein, and its very Spanish title deserves a few words. By "alborada", we mean a song at the hour of dawn, and "el gracioso" is the witty and sly character of the Spanish comedy theater of the Golden Age who winks at the spectator in search of his complicity.

In its seven-minute length, it demands considerable virtuosity. It is dedicated to the music critic M.D. Calvocoressi, who wrote of it with great admiration, noted it as "a great independent scherzo in the manner of Chopin or Balakirev... the humor and lively fantasy of La Alborada deserve the highest praise."

The rendition is by Ukrainian pianist Vitaly Pisarenko, winner of the 2008 Franz Liszt International Competition.