September 17, 2020 adamsmusichouse, austin, bosendorfer, claude debussy, debussyprelude, piano, steinwayartist leave a comment. Ce qua vu in many ways represents the climax of debussy s first book, in terms of technical difficulty and musical intensity. Debussy preludes, book 1 by claude debussy 18621918. Though raymond monelle ends his survey of the pianto with the music of wagner, recent writings have illustrated the ongoing presence of the topic in the music of the twentieth century. Arraus approach to debussy s music was totally unlike that of gieseking, who was widely regarded as the foremost exponent of the impressionist school. To that end, this study includes numerous citations from debussy s correspondence as well as his music criticism monsieur croche et autres ecrits. They are divided into two separate livres, or books, of twelve preludes each. Bb, ab, d, g, b, eill be arranging the entire preludes for.
Brahms, liszt and schumann for so long that his 1979 recording of the first book of debussy s preludes must have come as a surprise to many. The story of debussys preludes 1909 classical music. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book i of claude debussy thesis presented. After training at the paris conservatory, debussy took several jobs to support. A third motive is the result of the development of m4 from the last measures of the previous section. Three years exist between the publication of the first and second book, with the former appearing in 1910. Preludes changed around the time of chopin when they became freestanding. Though its repeated employment of wholetone and some pentatonic scales as well as a consistent b.
Debussy s wide terms of extramusical association appear again in les fees sont dexquises danseuses the fairies are exquisite dancers, its title apparently quoted from j. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and give a descriptive analysis of twelve of the twentyfour preludes written by claude debussy. Tunes that emply the mixolydian mode include the beatles norwegian wood, the theme to the tv series of star trek and debussy s the sunken cathedral. 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. Voiles, from debussy s first book of preludes, certainly displays some of debussy s compositional affinities. Analysis debussy voiles claude debussy elements of. Societe musicale independante, claude debussy piano 19110503 in paris, salle pleyel complete jane mortier piano first pub lication. This allows performers to choose preludes with which they.
Les sons et les parfums tournent dans lair du soir. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as chopin s op. The music expresses a vast repertoire of emotions, colors and moods. Pdf thomas ades and the pianto edward venn academia.
The title of the piece was inspired by the garden of paradise, a fairy tale by hans christian andersen that was translated into french and published in 1907 194 debussy was known to have an affinity towards andersens stories, and it has been theorized that the authors character zephyr the west wind would have appealed to the composer when he was writing the prelude. Click subscribe for more beautiful music by debussy ev. You get a third disc here, too, featuring thibaudet discussing debussy in four. Though the method of development in the preludes varies, debussy s themes in.
Parting the veils of debussy s voiles page 47 doesnt feel as it should and by some sense of the poetic penumbra that still. The twentyfour preludes of debussy are published in two books of twelve preludes each. This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon debussy and his compositions. That is what was produced whenever the master pianist, michelangeli. Barries peter pan in kensington, a book given to debussy s daughter emmaclaude, known as chouchou, with illustrations by arthur rackham. Voiles, often serves merely to exemplify both his early modernist musical language.
Tobin explores a bit about the order of the debussy preludes in book i and some of the themes important to debussy. Claude debussy s preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes. Unlike previous collections of preludes, such as those of j. 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. This paper extends the historical narrative one step further to. Influenced by chopin, debussy composed twentyfour preludes in two books 1910 and 19. Michelangeli and debussy the two names bring to mind beautiful masterpieces for piano. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical history and, like the preludes of chopin, rachmaninoff and scriabin. Information from its description page there is shown below.
The project goal was to revive the origins of chamber music organizing concerts on private settings. Free free claude debussy piano sheet music sheet music pieces to download from. Ce qua vu le vent douest what the west wind saw is a musical composition by french composer claude debussy. Claude debussy s preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude. This page lists all recordings of voiles from preludes book 1 sails by claude achille debussy 18621918. Complete works for piano by jeanefflam bavouzet on. Debussy voiles from preludes book 1 this page lists all recordings of voiles from preludes book 1 sails by claude achille debussy 18621918. This allows performers to choose preludes with which they have the strongest affinity, or those to which their individual interpretive gifts are. Debussy voiles from preludes book 1 this page lists all sheet music of voiles from preludes book 1 sails by claude achille debussy 18621918.
Provided to youtube by universal music groupdebussy. Debussy began book 1 in december 1909, finishing it 2 months later in february 1910. There are passages in the locrian mode in works by rachmaninov, for example the prelude in b minor, op. Except for some mild, localized chromaticism and a short pentatonic passage, the entire piece uses the whole tone scale.
Get to know all of the debussy preludes with christina mcmaster this month. This significant compilation of 12 preludes represents debussy s mature writing style and is filled with a great diversity of compositional styles. Analysis debussy voiles claude debussy elements of music. It is the second piece in a set of twelve preludes published in 1910. Included are english translations of french terms, debussy s performance. Four pieces from book i have this construction in common.
In their published form, the preludes have their individual titles printed not at the start, but at. But arrau had played debussy from early in his career, programmed selected pieces in recitals for decades and even recorded the images, estampes and pour le piano for columbia in 1949. Book 2 was started in late 1912 and finished in april 19. While his the engulfed cathedral may be a bit stiff and slow, his arabesques sparkle, and most of the preludes are interpreted with insight and technical adroitness. In his later works, debussy took greater chances, implementing more nonresolving dissonances selfproclaimed floating chords and fragmented forms. The piece is 72 measures long, taking approximately four minutes to. Some pedaling marks at the bottom if these pages were cut off. London provides marvelous closeup sonics, not at odds with debussy s idiom as some would claim. Use of the pentatonic scale in debussy s voiles 1910, prelude.
In the second book of preludes, by contrast, what jankelevitch aptly termed. The titles are provided at the end of each prelude and left without dedication, with inspiration from. Following the model of bach and his 24 preludes and fugues from 1722, debussy also wrote his own set of preludes. The title of the piece may be translated to english as either veils or sails. I would argue the tonality of this piece as being primarily based in c major. My guitar arrangement of prelude ii voiles from debussy s preludes for the piano book 1. The method extends the systematic segmentation and representation of sapps. 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.
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