Claude Debussy (born Achille-Claude Debussy) was among
the most influential composers of the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. His mature compositions,
distinctive and appealing, combined modernism and
sensuality so successfully that their sheer beauty
often obscures their technical innovation. Debussy is
considered the founder and leading exponent of musical
Impressionism (although he resisted the label), and his
adoption of non-traditional scales and tonal structures
was paradigma...(+)
Claude Debussy (born Achille-Claude Debussy) was among
the most influential composers of the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. His mature compositions,
distinctive and appealing, combined modernism and
sensuality so successfully that their sheer beauty
often obscures their technical innovation. Debussy is
considered the founder and leading exponent of musical
Impressionism (although he resisted the label), and his
adoption of non-traditional scales and tonal structures
was paradigmatic for many composers who followed.
Debussy wrote successfully in most every genre,
adapting his distinctive compositional language to the
demands of each. His orchestral works, of which
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and La mer (The
Sea, 1905) are most familiar, established him as a
master of instrumental color and texture. It is this
attention to tone color?his layering of sound upon
sound so that they blend to form a greater, evocative
whole?that linked Debussy in the public mind to the
Impressionist painters.
"Beau Soir" (French for "Beautiful Evening") is a
French art song written by Claude Debussy. It is a
setting of a poem by Paul Bourget. Debussy was twenty
or twenty one when he wrote this song (ca.1883), and
his music was marked by the aesthetics of the
period.
Although this work was originally written for Piano and
Solo Voice (Chant), I created this arrangement for Oboe
and Concert (Pedal) Harp to highlight the somber
elegance and delicate arpeggios.