Gondola Gossip on Offenbach's Barcarolle
The Best Moments

I start the Barcarolle with a gentle orchestra introduction in a swaying 6/8 rhythm that rocks back and forth like a Venetian gondola, except you don't have to worry about falling into a canal. Funny enough, I originally wrote this tune in 1863 as a song for forest elves in my opera Die Rheinnixen, which proves that woodland sprites and Italian boatmen have the exact same taste in a relaxing evening.

In the middle section, I let the soprano, Giulietta, and the mezzo-soprano, Nicklausse, weave their melodies together so closely that they sound like two friends finishing each other's sentences over a second glass of wine. The music swells up warmly here with the chorus before drifting right back to that main tune, because on a boat ride this comfortable nobody actually wants to steer anywhere else.

I bring the piece to a close by bringing back the opening melody and letting the voices fade into a quiet orchestral postlude, like the boat finally slipping into the evening mist while everyone aboard is half asleep. Because my gout kept me from finishing the score of Les contes d'Hoffmann before I died in 1880, Ernest Guiraud handled the orchestration here, and he tucked those last D major chords into bed as gently as I ever could have.