I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the celebrated pianist Nicolas Horvath for enthusiastically
bringing my Debussy works to public attention in their solo piano formats, both through his recent
recitals across France and through this Naxos Grand Piano release (GP822). In some cases these are
true piano pieces (like Toomai des �l�phants), in others they are piano reductions of orchestral scores
(like F�tes galantes), while in others they are piano solos in their own right that also exist in orchestral
versions (as in the incidental music for Le Roi Lear). Needless to say, most of these tracks are world
premi�re recordings, and this is certainly true of A Night in the House of Usher and its companion piece Un Jour affreux avec Le Diable dans le beffroi (?A Dreadful Day with the Devil in the Belfry?) which I arranged specially for Nicolas in November 2018 as a virtuosic, almost Lisztian paraphrase-fantasy. To remind us of the plot as the dramatic scenes unfold, Un Jour affreux avec le Diable dans le beffroi, like the start of No-ja-li) has a narrator (spoken in French by Florient Azoulay on the Grand Piano recording):

[After an overture rising from the underworld, with a polka and a citation of a chldren?s folksong Savez vous plantez les choux?, a carillon rings out]: Hearing it, the Dutch villagers start to count, with the bells of the belfry / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 8, 9, 11, and 12 / Perfect! / 13!?!/ The bell rang 13 times / 13! / The Devil is here where the clock should be! / Damn! / The bells are cracked. / The Devil laughs fit to burst / He pulls from the pocket of his coat, a small dancing master?s violin / ?My God!? says the devil ? and he tunes his violin slowly / The Devil leads the villagers in a fantastic and relentless jig [making jokes at the expense of concertos by Beethoven, Brahms and Tchaikovsky] / The Devil directs the villagers towards the canal ? where he jumps to the other side, laughing all the time / The villagers try to imitate him, but they fall into the water. / [In Part 2] the villagers are transported to a hedonistic and lively Italian village. They are similarly transformed: the men have crooked hats ? the women have wide open bodices! They dance a mad Tarantella / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 13 / shouting ?Hey there! (Hola?) / Jean, the young hero, makes a fervent prayer to God against the Devil / The prayer is answered and the bell again rings normally! / The expression of the Devil changes: he shudders! / Everything goes black / The devil disappears in a brief red glow ? / And the carillon and the bells chime as usual / 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 / Perfect! / But the Devil?s grinning face ap-
pears once again where the clock should be ? briefly

Song List: A Babe Was Born A Blood Red Rose Reminds Us Still A Garden You Once Made A God of Surprises, Beyond Expectation A Man Lay Beaten, Left for Dead A Rabbi Sat Against a Wall A Woman Stood Accused Ain't No Grave All People Need a Home As at Pentecost You Came As Children, We May learn to Love As Colors in the Sky Beside the Great Cathedrals Can You See Christ Can You See the Living Christ Chill of the Nightfall Each Seeking Faith Is Seeking Light Elijah Bowed Down on the Earth Fair Wind and the Sky Is Clear God, Help the Weary Travelers God, Help Your Church to Learn God, You Are Like a Place Remembered Guide My Canoe, Spirit Wind He Is The Way He Will Never Let Go My Hand Hope of the Earth I Saw an Angel in the Road I Will Not Always Walk This Earth In Every Changing State of Mind In the Stillness of This Hour Jesus, Live in Us Jesus Lives! Jesus, Partner, Lover, Friend Jesus, We Come to the Table Justice Like a River Lead Us to Still Waters Let Flow Our Tears in Grief for This Lilies Of The Field Look: Such Horror, Torn, then Tortured Mother, Child, and Birthing Spirit Much Brighter than a Thousand Suns My Child Is a Flower New Every Morning Is Your Grace No Obvious Angels Our God Is a Rock Our Life in the Spirit Out of Joy and Out of Need Peace Child Planter of Gardens, Sender of Rain Prayer Is the Cry of the Heart Remember the Rock that Bore You Samuel, Samuel, I Am Calling Startle Us with Joy The Earth Is Like a Burning Bush The Grass Will Green Again The Road to Capernaum The Saints of Old Cry Out There Is No Smell Like Fresh-Baked Bread This Hurt Is Not the Final Word True Union Is a Gift of God We Are People, Made by God We Are Your Children We Are Your People We Give You Thanks for Every Faith When Human Life Is Bought and Sold When I See the Rain With the People We Have You Give Rest to All Who Come to You You Set Your Seal upon Each Heart You Walk This Earth