This suite of three pieces for piano was inspired by the prose poems of Aloysius Bertrand (1807 - 1841), which were first published posthumously in 1842 under the title Gaspard de la nuit: fantaisies à la manière de Rembrandt et de Callot; they are works of an intense romanticism, fascinated by the mediaeval and the mysterious.
Ravel was first introduced to the work by his friend, the pianist Ricardo Viñes who subsequently gave the work's first performance in Paris on 9 January 1909.
The complete French text of the poems can be found on the web in Denis Constales's coded version. (Ondine appears in Livre 3, no.9; Le gibet in the "compléments" at the end; and Scarbo in Livre 3, no.2 and in "compléments").
A web-page has been devoted to the work by Jura Margulis, giving English translations of the three poems which inspired Ravel's music, together with useful background information.
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