Brief synopsis' of the most popular
classical music
compositions by
Achille-Claude Debussy...
French, St. Germain-en-Laye, 22 AUG 1862 ~ Paris, 25 MAR 1918
6 Ballets and Operas Many Choral, 9 Orchestral Works, Chamber
Works Songs and Choral Works
and Solo Piano Pieces
Debussy, Claude Arabesque Perhaps as
graceful as the ballet step this
light work has been described as 'delicate as a
spyder's web.' Debussy wrote piano music
as no-one before him. Sometimes the notes were bunched together other times at opposite ends of the
keyboard. The results were a new sound for his
generation. He was a brilliant music student
at the Paris Conservatory. A bit of a rebel playing
chords that broke the rules. He found his own style...
He found his own inspiration in nature.
Debussy, Claude Children's Corner Suite Then first piece is
"gradus ad Parnassum" means "a step to Parnassus". Mount Parnassus in Greece was sacred to Apollo and the Muses, and is particularly associated with poetry. A book of that name would be a textbook on writing Latin verse. "Dr Gradus ad Parnassum" is therefore a kind of nickname for a teacher who uses that book. I'm not sure what you mean by "what is the context of Debussy's composition?" It's the first of the six pieces that make up Debussy's "Children's Corner".
Debussy, Claude Clair de lune
A well known piano piece from the composers early days.
Debussy Danse,
Sarabande (Dawnhss sah rah BAHND')
Debussy En Bateau from the
"Petite Suite". Composed in the style of Faure it was written in 1889 for
two pianos. It was later arranged for orchestra by Henri Mounton.
Debussy Engulfed Cathedral
aka The Sunken Cathedral, inspired by an old Breton legend that on clear
mornings when the water is transparent, the accursed Cathedral of Ys, sunken
in the sea, slowly emerges, with the sounds of priests chanting and bells
chiming.
Debussy Estampes, "Prints" for piano composed around 1900.
Depicting
'Pagodas', 'Gardens' and 'La Soiree dans Grenade'. Similar to Ravel's
'Habanera' both composers drawing from the same material.
Debussy Iberia
(ee BAIR' ee ah) Work started on this piece in May of 1905. It was
finished in 1906 and
published in 1910. Later the work was included in his 'Images For
Orchestra' as the second suite. The young
Debussy was much in demand as a pianist and played in many fashionable social
circles of his day.
Debussy Images
(ee MAHzhh)
'Images for Orchestra' composed in 1912. No 1 (ZHE geh) written last in
this trio of orchestral pictures. No 2 (Eh BER ee ah) a three piece suite
of its own. 3 Rondes de Printemps, similar to his 'La Mer'.
Debussy Fantasy
for
piano and Orch
Debussy composed this work during the winter of 1889 and 1890. He didn't
like this early work and withdrew it during a rehearsal. Thus, the FP of
the work did not occur until 1918, a year after Debussy's death.
Debussy Jeux (Games) Commissioned by Diaghilev in 1912 for a
ballet based on a Nijinsky scenario.
, Poem Danse (jhuh, POH em dahn SAY)
Debussy La Boite Joujoux (1913) (Lah BWAT eh zhoo zhoo)
The Toy Box. Ballet based on children's stories, published for piano in 1913
and orchestrated by Andre Caplet in 1918.
Debussy La
Mer Three Symphonic
Sketches (Lah MAIR') composed in Paris. Inspired by a Japanese painting
titled 'The Wave' as well as his love for the
sea with its changing moods. He set his feelings to music with this
three movement score. It was finished in March of 1905 but he made some
finishing touches
to the work in August. The orchestration was completed just prior to the
FP, on October
15, 1905 in Paris.
Debussy Martyrdom of St Sebastian Symphonic fragments (Luh
mah teer duh sen say bahs tee yen)
Composed as incidental music for voices, chorus and orchestra for a
mystery play by D'Annunzio in 1911. The story of St. Sebastian joining a
cult of Adonnis with that of Christ. FP in Paris caused a scandal and the
French Archbishop forbade Catholics to attend performances. Because of its
large scope only orchestral extracts are commonly performed today. Debussy
called his work decorative music for a noble text.
Debussy Nocturnes
Interpretations of the Sea, the Sky and the Clouds. The Nocturnes were
composed off and on during the 1890's in various forms including violin
and orchestra. First section is 'Nuage' (new AHZH) "Clouds" drifting
by in the sky.
The second section is 'Fetes' (feht) depicting an atmospheric tremor with
brief
festive flashes of light in the sky as well as a celebration in a
provincial town. The final movement,
"Sirenes" (seh REHN) or sirens features wordless womens voices. Picture the
siren with long hair and seductive voice that leads mariners to their doom.
Traditionally a
nocturne
was a quiet piece for piano, and the mood is similar in this three
movement suite for orchestra.
DebussyPelleas et Melisande (pehl lay ahs eh meh lee
zahnd)
Debussy Petite Suite (peh teet Sweet)
Movements No 1. 'En Bateau' (ohn bah TOH) En bateau simply means "in boat".
Movement No 2. 'Cortege' (kawr tezh)
Debussy Plus Que Lent,'Valse' (lah PLOO kuh lohnt, Vahls)
Debussy
Prelude to
the Afternoon of a Faun (pray lood ah lah pray mee dah(n)
fohn)
Debussy Preludes, Deuxieme Livre (pray lood preh myay leev)
La fille aux cheveux de lin (No 8) (lah fee oh sheh veu duh lehn)
La Cathedrale engloutie (No 10) (lah kah tay drall on glooo tee)
Minstrels (No 12) (mehn strehl)
Debussy Printemps (Pran tahn)
Debussy Reverie
He said he wrote it in a hurry, purly for material consideration. It is a
work of no consequence. This was in 1890 and today listeners still find
its melodic innocence...a delight.
Debussy 'String Quartet in g, op 10'
FP December 29, 1893 by the Ysaye (ee SIGH' eh) Quartet at a concert of
the
Societe nationale.
Debussy Suite Bergamasque (sweet ber gah mask)
Clair de Lune, mmt No 3. (klare duh loon)
