Achille-Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918) was a French
composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the
most prominent figures associated with Impressionist
music, though he himself intensely disliked the term
when applied to his compositions. In France, he was
made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. A
crucial figure in the transition to the modern era in
Western music, he remains one of the most famous and
influential of all composers.
His music is noted for its sensory compo...(+)
Achille-Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918) was a French
composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the
most prominent figures associated with Impressionist
music, though he himself intensely disliked the term
when applied to his compositions. In France, he was
made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. A
crucial figure in the transition to the modern era in
Western music, he remains one of the most famous and
influential of all composers.
His music is noted for its sensory component and
frequent eschewing of tonality. Debussy's work usually
reflected the activities or turbulence in his own life.
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.
Claude Debussy's Préludes are two sets of pieces for
solo piano. They are divided into two separate livres,
or books, of twelve preludes each. Unlike previous
collections of preludes, such as those of J.S. Bach and
Chopin, Debussy's do not follow a strict pattern of key
signatures. Each book was written in a matter of
months, at an unusually fast pace for Debussy. Book one
was written between December 1909 and February 1910,
and book two between the last months of 1912 and early
April 1913.
The works in Debussy's second book of Préludes
(1910-1913) are similar in intent to those of Book I|
(1907-1910). Several of them look ahead to Debussy's
later style, in which the composer's earlier
impressionistic, almost Romantic poetry was supplanted
by a greater concentration upon technique and
neoclassical objectivity. In addition, perhaps because
Debussy's style is so prone to mannerism, several of
the Préludes in Book II bear strong similarities to
those from the earlier set.
Claude Debussy began his three movement piano suite,
Pour le piano, L. 95, around 1896 and completed it in
1903. There was a great deal of evolution in the
composer's style during these years; his songs and
orchestral writing had become wholly unique. It was not
until this late date in his career (he was in his late
thirties when he began this suite) that Debussy chose
to incorporate the idiomatic challenges of the piano
into his personal vocabulary. Looking at the whole of
his output, with such piano masterpieces as Estampes
and his etudes to his credit, it is difficult to
imagine why it took so long for the composer to begin
writing great piano music.
The suite's finale is a Toccata that is poised and
energetic, extroverted and graceful. Performers will
find it daunting and enlightening. Demanding
unflappable technique and poise, it concludes the suite
admirably with the message that Debussy has mastered
the piano's unique language on his own terms.
Although originally written for Piano, I created this
arrangement for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
