Jacques Offenbach's (1819-1880) Barcarolle is from the opera, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), composed mainly between the years of 1877 - 1880. Since Offenbach died before the opera was finished, composer Ernest Guiraud (1837 - 1892) completed the opera in 1881, following Offenbach's musical sketches. Charles Griffes' Barcarolle for Piano is a transcription of an intermezzo from the fourth act of the opera, the duet called, "Belle Nuit, o Nuit d'Amour" (Beautiful Night, o Night of Love).

This piece is a lilting and exemplary concept of a barcarolle. In 1910, during the time Griffes was teaching at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, he took Offenbach's beautiful barcarolle and transcribed it for piano, his main instrument and medium for composition.

Griffes seems to try to stay as close to the original barcarolle as possible. There is a sustained trill for many measures at the beginning, high on the piano. Where the woodwinds would have come in lightly after the trill, he transcribes them into high, soft notes on the piano. The tempo is the same as the original: easygoing and gentle. He brings in the main theme with strength of purpose, and with the triple meter staying steady underneath the melody line. Griffes does an excellent job of transcribing the barcarolle, retaining the feel of the meter and the loveliness of the melody. The first recorded performance of this transcription was made in 1999 in Santa Rosa, CA.

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