Jacques Ibert: A Giddy Girl for piano

I remember walking into the Music Room at Coatbridge High School and hearing a pupil playing a neat little piece. This was more than fifty years ago. She told me it was A Giddy Girl by someone called Jacques Ibert. I never knew whether she was practising it for an exam or just learning it for fun, although it has been used as an ABRSM Grade 5 piece. I asked if I could try it myself, sat down at the piano, and got no further than the fourth bar.

Since then, I have made a little progress with the piece, but more importantly, I have discovered much more music by Ibert.

Jacques Ibert (1890–1962) was the ultimate "free spirit" of 20th-century French music. Born in Paris, he was a brilliant student who managed to win the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1919 - on his first attempt - a feat made even more impressive considering his studies were interrupted by his service as a naval officer in World War I. 

Ibert is often described as "eclectic." He famously refused to join any specific musical "club," like the Impressionists or the then avant-garde "Les Six." Instead, he wrote music that was simply pleasant to hear, blending sparkling wit, Mediterranean warmth, and elegant craftsmanship. Whether he was writing a silly circus-like tune in Divertissement or the lush, travel-inspired Escales (Ports of Call), his work always feels luminous and full of life.

Later in his career, he became a major cultural diplomat, directing the Villa Medici in Rome and leading the Paris Opéra. He believed that "all systems are valid," a philosophy that allowed him to compose everything from film scores to flute concertos with the same effortless charm.

A Giddy Girl is the fourth number in Ibert’s 1922 piano suite, Histoires. This collection of ten pieces was written between 1912 and 1922; most were composed during Ibert's years at the French Academy at the Villa Medici, inspired by his travels to Spain, Italy, and Tunisia. Overall, they represent a subtle balance of Impressionistic textures and Neoclassical structures.

Subtitled “Dans un style de romance sentimentale anglaise” - translated as “In the style of a gentle English love song” - the actual “giddiness” of the title is conveyed through sharp articulation and rhythm.

Lasting about 90 seconds, the work is structured in a loose ternary (A-B-A) form. The opening bars establish the “giddy” motif driven by a whimsical, uneven rhythm; despite being written in 4/4 time, the music suggests a folk dance or even hints at a waltz. This playful character is reinforced by a texture of staccato notes and rapid grace notes, evoking the "hopping" steps of a flighty protagonist.

The central section is marked ‘Un peu plus lent’ (a little slower) uses similar rhythmic structures in the accompaniment but adds a melody in the upper register of the right hand giving a gentle lyricism.

A reprise of the initial theme is ornamented with chromatic grace notes that heighten the sense of mischief, leading to a short coda with some wayward modulations before finally ending on the tonic G major.

A Giddy Girl serves as a musical "snapshot” - a refined, humorous vignette that perfectly captures Ibert’s core philosophy that music should be a source of pleasure and light-hearted fantasy.

Listen to Jacques Ibert’s  A Giddy Girl for piano on YouTube, here. It includes the full score of the piece.