The town is quiet, kissed by the last rays of the setting sun. Behind the cottages, laundry flaps in the gentle evening breeze. Twisting curls of smoke rise from chimneys. In the distance, a church bell tolls.
Leaves scuttle across the courtyard, which is empty save for a dying man swinging from the gallows.
As the rest of the villagers go about their daily business, he raises his darkening eyes for one final glimpse of the sun, and listens to his death knell. Ravel augments the unsettling mood of 'Le Gibet' with repeated use of the B-flat, which suggests the ominous sound of the church bell. For three years, pianist Sarah Cahill displayed a similar determination, playing nothing but Ravel . Her dedication shows through in this recording, which captures all of the chilling beauty and impressionistic complexity of one of Ravel's darkest and most compelling works.