At her November 2018 concert, Tomoko performed Ravel’s
"Chansons madecasses" with flautist Tod Brody, cellist Eric Gaenslen, and soprano
Miwako Isano.
This composition, written in 1925-1926, marked a turning
point in Ravel’s career, when he focused more on melody and linear ensembles. The
music is very impressionistic with its evocative sensuality. Ravel had a
long-term interest in ethnic music. However, the work veered away from his
usual Spanish inspiration. Apparently, Malagasy traditional music was known in
France at that time.
The text is based on the 18th century Creole poet
Evariste-Desire de Parny, whom Ravel was reading when he was commissioned to
write a chamber work. The poems cry for liberation from Madagascar’s colonialism
and slavery.
The first song, “Nahandove,” recounts a native woman’s section. The
voice interprets the story as the other instruments provide an evocative
landscape.
The second song, “Aoua!!”, shrieks about dangerous white
men. The title’s rendition in minor thirds, the piano’s percussive role, the
undulating flute, and the ensemble’s bitonality together paint a sharp warning picture.
The third song, “Il est doux de se coucher,” begins with a melancholy
flute, evoking the end of the day (the song is translated as “it is sweet to
lie down”). The voice then takes center stage, seems to drift off, and then bristly
ends – to the realities of day.
Altogether, Ravel’s experimental music embodies the text in
a dramatic and erotic way. Today’s listeners feel the quartet’s pull in a very
immediate way.
