Le Gibet
French work
Definition
The Gallows — the programmatic subject of the second piece of Gaspard de la nuit: a hanged man swinging at sunset, accompanied by a distant tolling bell.
Interpretive Guidance
The repeating B-flat throughout the entire piece is the tolling bell. It must remain absolutely consistent in dynamic — neither louder nor softer than when it began. The challenge is sustaining that constancy for nearly seven minutes while the harmonies around it shift.