Aug 19, 2016 debussy did nothing less than liberate music from the domination by functional harmony which had prevailed for three centuries. These works have been central to stevens repertoire for many years and he brings them to the studio after. Lessons 1 and 2 debussy preludes the student must look for the book the piano works of claude debsusy, by e. I assembled them in groups of three or four, without following debussys order, and completed the sequence in the spring of 2007. Debussy preludes, book 1 download free sheet music. Musical analysis as a technique for performance decisions in. As he plays debussys book 1 preludes, you notice how effortlessly his arms, hands, and fingers are choreographed to the music. Soyoung choe performs excerpts from debussys preludes, book 1. Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano claude debussy. Like vladimir horowitz and glenn gould, michelangeli employs a relatively flatfingered technique for sustained legato passages and certain rotary arpeggios such as those in ce qua vu le vent douest. O there is blessing in this gentle breeze, a visitant that while it fans my cheek. Although you wont find krystian zimermans ultrarefined fingerwork and wide dynamic range, nor paul jacobs linear perception, theres much to. Chapter 1 introduction analysis can be a valuable tool for the performer who is seeking solutions to performance problems. The paperback of the complete preludes, books 1 and 2.
The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and give a descriptive analysis of twelve of the twentyfour preludes written by claude debussy. In addition, perhaps because debussys style is so prone to mannerism. There are evocations of calm seascapes, delicate wind tracery, and snowcovered landscapes. This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon debussy and his compositions. Canope and not canopes, the frequent occurrence of groups of four in the. The primary purpose of this study is to examine various ways in which analysis can provide solutions to problems that may arise in the performance of debussy s preludes for piano. He was one of the most important figures in music at the turn of the 20th century.
The paradox is that debussy succeeded in a series of piano works starting with estampes in 1903 and culminating in the two books of preludes in 1910 and 1912 respectively in creating what can only be called an impressionist technique. There is a strong tonal relationship between the preludes that suggests that the published order of the preludes is not arbitrary. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude. In this prelude we find examples of harmonic procedures commonly used in claude debussys music like. 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.
This was the first collection of debussys preludes i ever owned and i have yet to hear another that surpasses it. New analysis applied to the prelude a lapresmidi dun faune. It is a very descriptive book where all the formal, structural, harmonic and contextual analysis of the work can be found. Both books 1 and 2 of debussys popular piano preludes are contained in this one sturdy volume. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as chopins op. Sep 29, 2009 claude debussy s painterly preludes the subtle, elusive quality of debussy s twentyfour preludes is captured perfectly by pianist paul jacobs, who plays them with a tolling, belllike sound. Playing debussys piano works an amateurs thoughts about. Appendix bapproach to melodic analysis debussys use of sameness and continuity in melody fig. Quietly teeming, delicate, and atmospheric, the texture is dominated by sweeping arpeggios that require a high degree of control on the part of the pianist.
Page 1 of 1 start over page 1 of 1 this shopping feature will continue to load items when the enter key is pressed. Oct 23, 2018 provided to youtube by universal music group debussy. Unlike other collections of preludes by great composers, debussy s do not follow a strict pattern of key signature. Debussys preludes were written quicklyhe wrote book i between.
My analysis of canope debussy preludes for piano, book ii. Built by pairing two major triads a tritone apart, and then placing those notes in scale order, the tritone scale brings a nice level of tension to your lines that you can use to build energy when soloing over 7th chords in a jazz or fusion context. Claude debussys preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. Debussy preludes book 2 richter showing 185 of 85 messages. The easiest debussy piano pieces and the most difficult. Recorded live during the marion rubin berman 31 piano honors concert april 12, 2012 in necs jordan hall in boston. Debussy, preludes, book 1, number 2, sails, 1910 paul jacobs. This blog is dedicated to discussion of the performance of the piano pieces of claude debussy.
This was the first collection of debussy s preludes i ever owned and i have yet to hear another that surpasses it. Not only is the title full of mystery, but the piece. The first performances of these pieces were done in groups of three or four the. Debussys music virtually defines the transition from lateromantic music to twentieth century modernist music. Debussys style was very groundbreaking for the time around 1900 and featured innovations such as. P ierrelaurent aimards muchpublicised recent claim in an interview with a german newspaper that debussy is a greater composer than wagner is by no. Im only an amateur pianist, but have been playing debussys piano works since the late 70s. Provided to youtube by universal music group debussy. In these pages ill try to summarize what references i have on the performance of.
Preludes, book 1 6 epigraphes antiques en blanc et noir robert and gaby casadesus 1956 by claude debussy. Interpreting discontinuity in the late works of debussy columbias. He planned to write two string quartets, only one of which materialized. Extension of christoffel duality to christoffel conjugates, and the characterization of the ionian mode via divider incidence and sturmian standardicity. This project aims to facilitate the learning process of the preludes for piano by. Despite the research i have done regarding the title, the results i have found are still only speculation. 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. As for his piano compositions, after he completed the second book of preludes the only. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical. Following a summary of stockhausens ideas, i analyze three late works.
Jan 22, 2009 after sonatas by beethoven and chopin, a disc of schumann and magisterial accounts of the two brahms piano concertos comes this recital of debussy centred on the first book of preludes. Theyre both still quite the challenge for advanced players only. Scotts analysis a similar study to my own regarding gestural analysis has been conducted by douglas scott on mozarts flute quartet in d, k285. As part of an ma dissertation scott presented his own logicodeductive form of analysis based on hattens theories of music and gesture. P ierrelaurent aimards muchpublicised recent claim in an interview with a german newspaper that debussy is a. The late mary antonietti, a pianist and cousin of gustav holst who met debussy when he came to london in 1909, remembered that book ii of the preludes was greeted in britain with slight disappointment.
In addition, perhaps because debussys style is so prone to mannerism, several of the preludes in book ii bear strong similarities to those from the earlier set. Agraph of the harmony of the prelude, simplified by enharmonic change. He was too good a composer to imitate debussy, although there are a few examples of direct influence it. Three years exist between the publication of the first and second book, with the former appearing in 1910. Preludes books 1 and 2 paperback april 1, 1999 by claude debussy composer 4. Request pdf harmonic qualities in debussys les sons et les parfums tournent dans lair du soir this analysis of the fourth piece from debussys preludes book i illustrates typical. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Dance of puck from claude debussys claude debussy plays his finest works for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Claude debussy completed his string quartet in g minor l. Ricardo vines played them in groups of three or four preludes, which remains a popular approach today. Claude debussys preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes. Claude debussys painterly preludes the subtle, elusive quality of debussys twentyfour preludes is captured perfectly by pianist paul jacobs, who plays them with a tolling, belllike sound. Debussys canope as narrative form college music symposium.
Dec 11, 2018 provided to youtube by universal music group debussy. Achilleclaude debussy 22nd august 1862 25th march 1918 was a french composer. The primary purpose of this study is to examine various ways in which analysis can provide solutions to problems that may arise in the performance of debussys preludes for piano. After sonatas by beethoven and chopin, a disc of schumann and magisterial accounts of the two brahms piano concertos comes this recital of debussy centred on the first book of preludes. My analysis of canope debussy preludes for piano, book. Some pedaling marks at the bottom if these pages were cut off. 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. We quantify harmonic qualities via the magnitudes and squaredmagnitudes of the coefficients of the discrete fourier transform dft of pitch class sets, following ian quinn. Claude debussys twentyfour preludes are among the composers last and. That this was general we can to some extent see from the sales figures quoted by roy howat. Bitonality using two different chords, or sounds from two different keys, at the same time like c major and f major chord in unison. In this piece, debussy creates an engaging sonic atmosphere with just the piano, one that, if you let it, will conjure up images and ideas. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy. A different approach to analysis of claude debussys music with examples from preludes, books 1 and 2.
I have one other schirmer debussy piano book and this compilation book was what led me to purchase this set of preludes. Nontraditional scales extended harmony traditional chords used in nontraditional context harmonic color tonal ambiguity. By the time he began writing the first book of preludes, claude debussy. One of the easiest pieces in this collection is the girl with the flaxen hair, around a. Claude debussys use of the tritone the book of threes. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy page. The first book of preludes is slightly easier than the second, since the second collection features debussys more mature writing style. An analysis of the harmonic unity of debussys prelude a l. Debussys most dramatic contribution to music history was his disregard for traditional chord structures and tonality. Several of them look ahead to debussys later style, in which the composers earlier impressionistic, almost romantic poetry was supplanted by a greater concentration upon technique and neoclassical objectivity. That year debussy had abandoned the opera rodrigue et chimene.