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. Preludes, book 1 6 epigraphes antiques en blanc et noir robert and gaby casadesus 1956 by 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. 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. Claude debussy had been toying with the idea of writing a book of preludes for some time, and once he began, the process was a speedy one with his first volume completed within two months. Two excerpts from the emperor concerto, showing beethovens use of uneven groups of notes. While the solo piano version of debussys preludes will always. These works are distinct from debussys images pour orchestre. It is not necessary to be a virtuoso in order to play the notes of many of the pieces, but formidable technique and vision are required to create the colours and capture the changing moods. 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. Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano paperback april 1, 1989 by claude debussy author 4. He was too good a composer to imitate debussy, although there are a few. Provided to youtube by universal music group debussy.
They require attention to myriad details, yet an air of often skittish improvisation. Aug 19, 2016 debussy did nothing less than liberate music from the domination by functional harmony which had prevailed for three centuries. 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. Unlike other collections of preludes by great composers, debussy s do not follow a strict pattern of key signature. The paperback of the complete preludes, books 1 and 2. Soyoung choe performs excerpts from debussys preludes, book 1. P ierrelaurent aimards muchpublicised recent claim in an interview with a german newspaper that debussy is a greater composer than wagner is by no. Claude debussy s preludes are two sets of pieces for solo piano, written in 191010 and 1912, and published as book i and ii respectively. Roy howats editions of debussy piano music for the. This significant compilation of 12 preludes represents debussys mature. The beams on even the 32nd notes are very easy to distinguish many printers do not get such a high resolution and the spaces between 2 or 3 beams are often poorly defined resulting in fat black patches instead of distinct lines. Debussy dover music for piano by debussy, claude isbn.
Debussys most dramatic contribution to music history was his disregard for traditional chord structures and tonality. I had not heard any of these pieces until i purchased this set, but all are wonderful. In a way, debussys choice of title for this work preludes marks a turning point. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude. Preludes book 1 claude debussy, ernstgunter heinemann on. Dovers book of debussy preludes is made of extremely high quality print on heavier paper than usual. These works are distinct from debussy s images pour orchestre. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy. Debussy preludes, bk 1 alfred masterwork edition claude debussy, maurice hinson on. Preludes, book 2 another collection of 12 pieces composed as tone poems. 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. The first book was composed between 1901 and 1905, and the second book was composed in 1907. This blog is dedicated to discussion of the performance of the piano pieces of claude debussy.
One of debussy s 24 preludes is from book 1, prelude 12, also known as minstrels. Images usually pronounced in french is a suite of six compositions for solo piano by claude debussy. 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. Also recorded here is the second book of preludes, in a poetic and evocative performance. Publication date 1910 topics preludes, for piano, scores featuring the piano, for 1 player collection. Like book 1, each piece was composed with the intention of being an individual piece, representing a visual. Piano preludes book 1 as part of debussys paris marking the 100th anniversary of the composers death this weekend, building a library is a live discussion between andrew and iain. Some pedaling marks at the bottom if these pages were cut off. 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.
Debussy preludes book 1 subscribe here claude debussys preludes are two sets of pieces for solo piano. Debussy preludes, book 1 by claude debussy 18621918. In these pages ill try to summarize what references i have on the performance of. 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. Im only an amateur pianist, but have been playing debussys piano works since the late 70s. Order of difficulty of debussy preludes is there a general guide to the difficulty of the debussy preludes.
This list is manually maintained, therefore some of the available pieces may not yet be linked from this page. One only prays and hopes that the rest of debussy s piano music is somewhere in the near future, probably along with at least the core ravel piano works if not all the ravel piano music. For an automatically generated alphabetical list of all available pieces, please see. Debussys preludes demand a great deal from pianists. Debussys piano pieces require deep thought and understanding. Each year, this festival features worldclass artists during one week in. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as chopins op. The pierpont morgan library music manuscript reprint series. This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon debussy and his compositions. He was one of the most important figures in music at the turn of the 20th century.
Claude debussy in 1908 this is a complete list of compositions by claude debussy initially categorized by genre, and sorted within each genre by cd citation needed number according to the 2001 revised catalogue by musicologist francois lesure, 1 which is generally in chronological order of composition date. Debussy preludes, bk 1 alfred masterwork edition paperback march 1, 1986. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical. Now, these happen to be among the requisites necessary to play debussys preludes in the right frame of mind lets not speak about that woolly notion called style. See all 9 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. See all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. Achilleclaude debussy 22nd august 1862 25th march 1918 was a french composer. Book i was written between december 1909 and february 1910, and book ii between the last months of 1912 and early april 19. Playing debussys piano works an amateurs thoughts about. The game was originally planned to not have any music in the game until the games composer, dan golding. Recorded live during the marion rubin berman 31 piano honors concert april 12, 2012 in necs jordan hall in boston. Debussys music virtually defines the transition from lateromantic music to twentieth century modernist music.
Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano. Topclassicalmusic music history channel 22,720,297 views. This album contains the preludes, books 1 and 2 by debussy, presented by piano classics, a label of brilliant classics. Debussys colouristic masterpiece, a bewitching compendium of scents, colours and sounds. Recordings 4 commercial 26 accompaniments 0 synthesizedmidi 0 10. As for his piano compositions, after he completed the second book of preludes the only. Im aiming to get through them over the next couple of years, but would like to start with the easiest few and work my way up, while also bubbling along with any that are crazy difficult so that i spend more time overall on them, and then. A list of works in the composer category that are not included here can be found on this page.
Preludes books 1 and 2 paperback april 1, 1999 by claude debussy composer 4. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. They were published in two booksseries, each consisting of three pieces. Maurizio pollinis main qualities as an artist are neither humor nor abundance of keyboard color. There are evocations of calm seascapes, delicate wind tracery, and snowcovered landscapes. These works have been central to stevens repertoire for many years and he brings them to the. That this was general we can to some extent see from the sales figures quoted by roy howat. Preludes, book 1 images, book 1, an album by claude debussy, yukie nagai on spotify we and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. His readings of the first book of preludes, and the first set of images is going to be much, much, much more than soothing pastel background music listening.