Scarbo
French work
Definition
The gnome — the programmatic character of the third piece of Gaspard de la nuit, depicting a malevolent, shape-shifting supernatural creature.
Interpretive Guidance
The most technically demanding of the three. Ravel described wanting to write something more difficult than Balakirev's Islamey. The piece requires absolute command of rapid repeated notes, sudden dynamic extremes, and complex textures.