A Boat on the Ocean: Ravel's "Une barque sur l'océan" from Miroirs-Performance, analysis, commentary

15:50 start of the complete performance
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[@armandpellerinhautenauve448]

I think your analysis of what that piece represents is on point. Actualy, in french a "barque" is not any type of boat, it's a rowboat. I always found the title very striking: you get a feeling of awe and immediate danger. I never thought of the motive that emerges from the arppegios as representing the voice of the fisherman, nor did I take the time to truly reflect about the structure of the piece, so you really gave me a whole new understanding of it. Thanks !

[@dageustice]

This might already be obvious to most, but I realized I could visualise the part at 17:34 such that the left hand represents the wave and the right hand represents the boat: as the wave slowly approaches it, the boat or fisherman is waiting in awe, until it hits. The wave drags the boat with it, and we see the left hand drag the right hand with it to the deeper notes.

[@adamchaupiano]

thank you, Cole. Very inspiring commentary and playing. Learning a lot from you.

[@emielgeerts]

Glassine, bewitching, cloaked in a mysterius yet magical haze... everything Ravel needs to be. Bravo!!!

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you!

[@MrInterestingthings]

Haze : yes that fits so much of Ravel's music . whereas Messiaen is cuivre and brassy and Debussy is always laughing and rustic when not giving us urban Paris . The Debussy etudes are worth one of cole's Reviews !

[@pawdaw]

Absolutely love your narrative ideas. Too often performances of Une barque sound like endless swirling arpeggios. There is the beauty and the vastness of the water; but there is also the constant feeling of threat, danger, even doom. That tension should be always be there. The glittering surface should never hide the darker undercurrents...

[@nickk8416]

Beautiful playing Cole. BTW, I really didn't hear any missed notes. Bolet, Horowitz, Schnabel, all the greats for that matter miss a few notes hear and there. It's the artistry that matters and captivates us. You explained that so well in the video.

[@grahamtwist]

W O W ! Your commentary on this piece by Ravel was most illuminating . . . but it did not fully prepare me for the sheer virtuosity of the performance that was about to follow! Absolutely mesmerising, Cole! I am in total awe once again. If there were any slips or errors in your playing (not that my ears detected any!), well, at least you would retain your human status because to be flawless with such a challenging score would surely elevate you to be in the company of the gods! (And I totally agree: obsessing about a note-perfect performance rather than striving for artistic perfection is probably best left to a robot). The music is just exquisite. This is my first experience of "Une barque sur l'océan" and I will be returning to it often as I have never heard a piano create such a sound picture before. You are really amazing! I will leave the last words (nearly!) that I write here to the French philosopher and musicologist, Vladimir Jankélévitch, who saw the music as a “praise of arpeggios: the dripping barcarolle, with its broken chords over which float fifths, fourths and seconds, evokes the great lullaby of the ocean and the undulation of a boat which rises and falls again in the liquid valleys”. Never have anyone's fingers been kept so busy! B R A V O !❤

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thanks Graham! You always have a new quotation for me-love it!

[@grahamtwist]

@@TheIndependentPianist Haha! Jankélévitch may have found some words for Ravel's masterpiece . . . but he would have been so bewitched by your performance, Cole, that he would have struggled to find enough superlatives (as do I!).

[@WaltzTime]

Such an evocative piece, and beautifully played! Thank you!

[@murds1]

You're absolutely brilliant, I used to play piano a lot, and recently I found classical music and compositions to be super helpful when studying. This is by far my favourite, I hope to be able to play this one day with the same gravitas as you!

[@pagorami5253]

thank you so much!!! currently learning this peice. loved the commentary.

[@Scriabinfan593]

I just want to be good enough to be able to play this piece flawlessly.

[@GB-mi5he]

What a great breakdown and performance. I can tell you love this piece. The ending was delicate just like I prefer :)

[@avihuboneh723]

Fascinating. Thank you. The second theme reminds me of La Mer (Debussy). A nod to another sea/ocean musical picture?

[@notrueflagshere198]

I've never heard that before. It sounds perfect to me.

[@hermodnitter3902]

One of my favorite pieces ever since I first heard it (André Laplante recording which I also like very well). It was very interesting to hear your interpretation of the different elements combined into the piece. I'd like to learn it but it's probably too difficult for me, at least to play fluently and well (but I'll start on another Ravel soon; La Vallée des Cloches)... :)

[@kofiLjunggren]

Overall fantastic job on this one!

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you!

[@MrInterestingthings]

This is the right piano for Ravel . : "Glassine "a commentator said . Ravishing ! I've been binging on your channel ! It brings joy , solutions to queries I've had for years . Your middle voices and the line shared by l.h and r.h in the opening is so clear and musical as is your entire performance ! An issue that matters not much to me : When we read Ravel's bio we find that he played Chopin's 4th ballade and the 2nd concerto at the end of his piano studies but later on it seems he didn't keep up the technique and asked Casadesus to step in for some recordings hewas supposed to make . Every pianistssays these recordings are the worst imaginable so how can it be Robert Casadesus playing

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thank you! I haven’t heard those recordings from Casadesus, I’ll need to check them out. Ravel did plenty for the world without being a virtuoso pianist, so I’m fine with him letting his technique slide :-)

[@comradestannis]

Great job

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Thanks so much!

[@user-lb4ew7gr2j]

nice

[@dp6740]

Incredible video as always, love your work, have you thought about making a vídeo in the Gershwin/Wild studies? Especially the "Liza" , I dont see to much about that etudes here in youtube

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Yes, good idea, I should do that. I do have a performance of myself playing those etudes on another channel up on KZbin, but I should really do an analysis.

[@androidkenobi]

Hello! At the moment I'm obsessed with 1 note, the G# at 11:00 that starts the red box. I managed to find out there did exist 90note Erard pianos at the time, and it would be 3 to 4 yrs before the 97 bosendorfer imperial. Did Ravel have a larger piano or did he choose this note to f with us?

[@TheIndependentPianist]

Yes, I think he must have had one of the Erards you mention! Like this one: www.frederickcollection.org/Erard1877.htm It has exactly the note that he calls for here. On most 88-key pianos we have to make do with the low A as a sub. Originally I thought he was just showing his ideal realization, but actually he probably actually had the note.

[@neilkilleen3911]

Sumptuous

[@daphnisetchloe]

You articulate yourself amazingly. Could you explain why Ravel should/shouldn't be considered an impressionist?

[@TheIndependentPianist]

I think one could argue that the precision of his sound effects, and his neo-classical bent both contradict the notion of impressionism being vague, unformed, hazy, misty etc. Many of Ravel’s effects are very lucid, clear and bright. Formally he is usually very clearly structured as well. On the other hand his music is very vivid so in that sense he certainly does create “impressions!” Thank you for your comment :-)