The title of Ravel’s Miroirs (1904/05) can be interpreted as “reflections” of the human world of experiences. Among the nature pictures in this cycle, “Une barque sur l’océan” is particularly popular, forming a pianistic complement to Debussy’s orchestral work “La mer”, which was written at about the same time. The spacious arpeggios, with fifths, fourths and seconds hovering above them in subtle rhythms, paint a maritime tableau that is in a genre all of its own: on the one hand we have a stylised picture of a boat at the mercy of the wind and the waves, while on the other hand an allegory of the volatile nature of human life. This is the second, separate edition of a piece from Ravel’s “Miroirs” to be published by G. Henle Publishers, after “Alborado del gracioso” (HN1295).
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French