4. SUITE FOR SOLO
PIANO (1904-1905)
MIROIRS:
EACH MVT. DED. TO
MEMBER OF LES
APACHES
5. MIROIRS MOVEMENTS
• Noctuelles ("Night Moths")
• Oiseaux tristes ("Sad Birds”)
• Une barque sur l'océan ("A boat on
the Ocean")
• Alborada del gracioso ("The
Gracioso's Aubade”)
• La vallée des cloches ("The Valley of
Bells")
An aubade is a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, which is in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn.[1] It has also been defined as "a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak".[2]
strictly: aubade is a song from a door or window to a sleeping woman.[3]
Albas, which are exemplified by a dialogue between parting lovers, a refrain with the word alba, and a watchman warning the lovers of the approaching dawn.[3]
repertory of troubadours in Europe in the Middle Ages.
In the 20th century, the focus of the aubade shifted from the genre's original specialized courtly love context into the more abstract theme of a human parting at daybreak.
In 1883, the French composer Emmanuel Chabrier composed an "Aubade" for piano solo, inspired by a four-month visit to Spain.[5] Maurice Ravel included a Spain-inspired aubade entitled Alborada del gracioso in his 1906 piano suite Miroirs.[6] The composer Francis Poulenc later wrote (in concerto form) a piece titled Aubade; it premiered in 1929.[7]