Debussy preludes book 1 program notes for band

Preludes, book 1 6 epigraphes antiques en blanc et noir robert and gaby casadesus 1956 ns 0105. In french literary circles, the style of this period was known as symbolism, a movement that directly inspired debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant. Debussys colouristic masterpiece, a bewitching compendium of scents, colours and sounds. This allows performers to choose preludes with which they have the strongest affinity, or those to which their individual interpretive gifts are. Canope preludes, book ii, 19 sep29 by steve bryson.

The first book ends with minstrels, inspired, it has been said, by a black streetband that debussy had heard in. This blog is dedicated to discussion of the performance of the piano pieces of claude debussy. Sep 29, 2006 this piece is pure debussy a beautiful, quiet contemplative tone poem. Its a gentle opening for the first book of preludes, full of mild and ruminative chords. Debussy preludes book 2 free downloadable sheet music. Alfred masterwork library sheet music book by claude debussy 18621918. Among the most important 20th century composers, and the most influential. Of the manifold wonders in preludes, book i, i will mention several in which i think schepkin especially shines.

Written in the short span of two months, december 7, 1909 1910, the preludes reveal the evolving impressionist style of the composer during the midpoint of his composing career. Prelude to the afternoon of a faun is that it is one of the foundational works of. I can do just as good a water nymph as you in fewer notes. Le cathedrale engloutie 1910 achilleclaude debussy 18621918 was born in st. Both books 1 and 2 of debussys popular piano preludes are contained in this one sturdy volume. Ilya itin, piano this video was recorded at the golandsky institute international piano festival at princeton university.

Browse alfred music from alfred music at sheet music plus. Recorded live during the marion rubin berman 31 piano honors concert april 12, 2012 in necs jordan hall in boston. Claude debussys preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. Perhaps the trumpet calls beginning at 128 came from a brass band in the distance. In his notes to this cd, he points out that voiles, in the plural, can mean either veils or sails. Sep 05, 2012 claudeachille debussy 1862 1918 preludes, livre 2 1. Soyoung choe performs excerpts from debussys preludes, book 1. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and give a descriptive analysis of twelve of the twentyfour preludes written by claude debussy. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as chopins op. Mme debussy said her husband wrote the piece after an autumn walk.

Dressed in a chic tan turtleneck, untucked, but with a belt clasped around it, arturo benedetti michelangeli sits at the piano in an intimate studio in october, 1978. It depicts an old legend from brittany that states, to punish the people for their sins, the cathedral in the mighty city of ys is engulfed by the sea. Claude debussy h18621918 by the time he began writing the first book of preludes, claude debussy had established himself as an important and prolific composer having already produced most of the works that history would label masterpieces. Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano. Unlike previous collections of preludes, such as those of j. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy showing 14 of 68. Standard notation, introductory text and performance notes does not include words to the songs. Also recorded here is the second book of preludes, in a poetic and evocative performance. Im only an amateur pianist, but have been playing debussys piano works since the late 70s. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude. His piano works include two books of preludes and two of etudes. As he plays debussys book 1 preludes, you notice how effortlessly his arms, hands, and fingers are choreographed to the music. Orchestras may sound increasingly identical so that one band or another tackling yet another beethoven symphony.

The next two preludes take us abroad for the last time. Debussys most dramatic contribution to music history was his disregard for traditional chord structures and tonality. Standard notation, introductory text and performance notes does not include. Debussy dover music for piano by debussy, claude isbn. His playing seeps with atmosphere and he delves deep into the composers sound world. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical. It is characteristic of debussy in its form, harmony, and content. Program note from heritage encyclopedia of band music the engulfed cathedral by claude debussy is the tenth of twelve preludes for piano, book i. Initially, debussy and other pianists who gave early performances of the works including ricardo vines played them in groups of three or four preludes, which remains a popular approach today. Ivan moravec fell short of sheer apollonian distance and control in his debussy, and yet that is still marvelous. His readings of the first book of preludes, and the first set of images is going to be much, much, much more than soothing pastel background music listening. Preludes book 2 debussy preludes, opus 32 rachmaninoff by lawrence budmen while an entire concert of preludes may seem repetitive at first glance, the term had a very different meaning to various composers. Debussy was born in 1862 in st germainenlaye, the son of a shopkeeper who. Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano debussy, claude on.

Playing debussys piano works an amateurs thoughts about. Bach and chopin, debussys do not follow a strict pattern of key signatures. A good recording of the debussy preludes should feel like an occasion, and steven osborne delivers. Claude debussy, french composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. It was published in 1910 as the tenth prelude in debussys first of two volumes of twelve piano preludes each. Maybe debussy, who distrusted prolixity and technical brilliance, was saying. While in an opera or ballet, a prelude may be a mood setting introduction to. Debussy rather admired english sangfroid those were the days, but was not beyond giving it the occasional dig in the ribs, as here in his quotation of god save the king. The real pollini emerged, for me, after intermission when he offered a group of debussy preludes from book i. As for his piano compositions, after he completed the second book of preludes the only. Adopting the major piano works including the preludes, bartok absorbed the liberated message as deeply as he absorbed the idiom of the hungarian peasant. He was one of the most important figures in music at the turn of the 20th century. Debussy preludes, book 1 by claude debussy 18621918. But where bach and chopin used their preludes as something of a technical exercise, composing one for each musical key, debussys were freeform and full of his signature expressive indulgences.

Program notes by phillip huscher claude debussy born august 22, 1862, saintgermainenlaye, france. It is that, rather than their picturesque qualities, that changed history. Debussy s music virtually defines the transition from lateromantic music to twentieth century modernist music. These works have been central to stevens repertoire for many years and he brings them to the studio after. Claudio arrau considered it to be one of debussys greatest preludes and said its miraculous that he created, in so few notes, this kind of depth. Canope preludes, book ii, 19 playing debussys piano works. Here in his first debussy recording for hyperion he presents the two books of images. Traditional diatonic harmonies have little driving force in these pieces, replaced by modal melodies and.

Concert by steven osborne 41102 prelude and fugue in csharp minor bach preludes book 2 debussy preludes, opus 32 rachmaninoff by lawrence budmen. Debussy established impressionism as a pianistic style and used evocative terms to shed light on the mood or character of each piece. Breiner for orchestra debussy completed his two books of preludes in 1910 and 19 respectively, and they contain some of his most visionary and poetic writing for piano. These are the workings of a master of color and expression, light and darkness, harmony and melody, texture and rhythm. Well, debussy obviously agreed but that didnt stop him putting his own stamp on the genre. Engulfed cathedral, the tr patterson wind repertory.

In book 1 he maintains the pianissimo marking of voiles bflat bass pedal point with remarkable consistency, providing a gentle anchor for the drifting wholetone chords elsewhere. Engulfed cathedral, the tr longfield wind repertory. There is throughout the sense of going on a journey, even awe, to osbornes interpretations. Debussys piano pieces require deep thought and understanding. Any recordings you find of sviatoslav richter playing any of debussys preludes are also worthy of consideration. I provide the original scanned version and the filtered, because the filter does some changes smoothening, sharpening borders and some portions of the scan get lost sometimes when they are too small e. The three sonic pictures that debussy published in 1905 as the first book of his images are remarkably different in tone, but each stands at a distinct distance from the musical practice of its time. The paperback of the complete preludes, books 1 and 2. Engulfed cathedral, the tr longfield wind repertory project. In general debussy is careful to set consecutive pieces in different keys. It represented debussys laconic reaction to the pervasive influence of the slow waltz in frances coffeehouses, dancehalls, and salons. I mentioned daniel ericourt above because he is an highly underrated pianist who does much for the music of debussy in a very special way a keyboard colorist, which is what this music requires. In these pages ill try to summarize what references i have on the performance of.

Any recordings you find of sviatoslav richter playing any of debussy s preludes are also worthy of consideration. Achilleclaude debussy 22nd august 1862 25th march 1918 was a french composer. Pollini is considered an intellectual pianist, i wondered if he wasnt presenting a thesis on french music in this program. This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon debussy and his compositions. I personally find some of these easier on the eyes reading the notes than stuff like feuilles mortes, but technically, theyre more difficult. It is the eighth piece in the composers first book of preludes, written between late 1909 and early 1910. Debussy was the composer who freed western music from the claustrophobic confines of functional harmony, the set of rules that for 300 years had governed which chords fit best with which others according to how well their bass notes got along. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the impressionist and. Instantly view and print claude debussy piano sheet music online debussy. Often dubbed a musical impressionist, but his music always has a strong sense of form.

Three years exist between the publication of the first and second book, with the former appearing in 1910. Im only an amateur pianist, but have been playing debussy s piano works since the late 70s. Steven osborne has already made a name for himself in french music with a disc of alkan and a profoundly moving performance of messiaens vingt regards. Therefore, the twentyfour preludes composed between 1909 and 19 rep resent not only debussy s last programmatic offerings for the piano, but also his most mature ones. However we chose to interpret the meaning of this music, schepkins voiles are gossamer, radiant, and shot with light. The germanenglish pianist walter morse rummel, a student of leopold godowsky, gave the premiere of the entire second book of preludes in 19 in london.

The engulfed cathedral is the tenth prelude in the first volume of debussys preludes. Order from your preferred classical music cd store arkivmusic. To achieve this, debussy incorporates two unconventional scale patterns whose echoes will be heard throughout the preludes. Here he reaches between those two to tackle one of the pinnacles of the piano repertoiredebussys two books of preludes. Aug 19, 2016 the composer who benefited most from this liberation was bartok, who was introduced to debussys music by kodaly in 1907. Debussys music virtually defines the transition from lateromantic music to twentieth century modernist music. Composed in 1907 this volume of images, comprised of three contrasting pieces, demonstrates conciseness, deep dramatic content and colorful tonal imagery.

For 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon, 2 horns arr. Canope preludes, book ii, 19 playing debussys piano. Gifted from his early years with a preternatural and keen understanding of writing for the piano, this cd displays debussys prodigious gifts in full display as rendered by baldis sensitive playing. Fast passagework, arpeggios, lots of voices floating around, etc. The first performance was given on october 15 of that year in paris. Maurizio pollini plays chopin, debussy and boulez new.