Scarbo is fast and demonic
E752069
"Scarbo" is the fiendish, whirlwind-like final movement of Ravel’s piano suite *Gaspard de la nuit*, notorious for its extreme technical difficulty and nightmarish, demonic character.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Scarbo | 0 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
piano piece movement
ⓘ
solo piano work ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | third movement of Gaspard de la nuit ⓘ |
| associatedWith | high-level piano virtuosity ⓘ |
| basedOn | poem "Scarbo" by Aloysius Bertrand ⓘ |
| character |
demonic
ⓘ
fiendish ⓘ nightmarish ⓘ whirlwind-like ⓘ |
| composer | Maurice Ravel NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| compositionYear | 1908 ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | France ⓘ |
| depicts | a mischievous, demonic dwarf-like figure ⓘ |
| difficultyLevel | among the most difficult pieces in the piano repertoire ⓘ |
| genre | Impressionist piano music ⓘ |
| inCollection | Gaspard de la nuit, M. 55 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| inspiredBy | Romantic-era literary fantastique ⓘ |
| instrumentation | solo piano ⓘ |
| key | E major (with extensive chromaticism and modal shifts) ⓘ |
| languageOfTextSource | French ⓘ |
| mood |
agitated
ⓘ
menacing ⓘ sinister ⓘ |
| movementNumber | 3 ⓘ |
| notableFor |
atmospheric depiction of a goblin-like creature
ⓘ
complex polyrhythms ⓘ extreme technical difficulty ⓘ rapid repeated notes ⓘ virtuosic piano writing ⓘ wide dynamic range ⓘ |
| partOf | Gaspard de la nuit ⓘ |
| period | early 20th century ⓘ |
| positionInWork | final movement ⓘ |
| precededBy | Le gibet NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| premiereDate | 1909-01-09 ⓘ |
| premierePerformer | Ricardo Viñes NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| premierePlace | Paris NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| publisher | Durand NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| requires | advanced virtuoso technique ⓘ |
| style |
programmatic
ⓘ
virtuosic ⓘ |
| subjectOf | numerous piano competitions and virtuoso recitals ⓘ |
| technicalDifficulty | extreme ⓘ |
| tempoCharacter | very fast ⓘ |
| textureFeatures |
dense chordal passages
ⓘ
rapid repeated-note figures ⓘ sudden dynamic contrasts ⓘ |
| typicalDuration | 8–10 minutes ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.