Description
Mélodie Arabe by F. Godefroid
Melodie Arabe is a republished as a facsimile edition that was corrected by the editor in 2023, but without additional markings. It is a unique piece in the Godefroid canon, with a left hand constantly moving above the right hand from p. 4, to interject a trebly accompaniment figure after sounding a wide chord in the bass. Godefroid was left-handed, which explains his propensity for a busy and weighty left hand. It puts our hand coordination to the test while compelling us to acquire firm placing reflexes.
Unsurprisingly, Mélodie Arabe dwells in the minor mode. It goes for a haunting and poignant expression, with a romanticist’s understanding of the melismatic character of North African Arabic music. As in most Godefroid pieces, melody reigns supreme. Yet a case could be made for an evocation of either the visual arabesques of Moroccan mosaic tiles, or the undulations of the snake’s body under the snake charmer’s spell.
On p. 5, the trill should be started on the main note D, but the turn at the end should be relegated to the very end, to avoid the encroaching of a C natural with the final C sharp. On p. 7, the à Volonté passage is an ossia, a simpler option provided by the composer to the performer seeking to avoid the quick two-handed harmonics.
