Preludes (Debussy)

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Claude Debussy's Préludes are two sets of pieces for solo piano. They are divided into two separate livres, or books, of twelve preludes each. Unlike previous cycles of twenty-four preludes, like that of Chopin, Debussy's do not follow a set pattern of key signatures, but instead move arbitrarily through the possible keys, without even using five of them. The first book was written between December of 1909 and February of 1910, and the second between 1911 and April of 1913.

[edit] Premier Livre

  1. Danseuses de Delphes (Dancers of Delphi): Lent et grave
  2. Voiles (Veils or sails): Modéré
  3. Le vent dans la plaine (The Wind on the Plain): Animé
  4. «Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir» (The sounds and fragrances swirl through the evening air): Modéré
  5. Les collines d'Anacapri (The Hills of Anacapri): Très modéré
  6. Des pas sur la neige (Footsteps in the Snow): Triste et lent
  7. Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest (What the West Wind has seen): Animé et tumultueux
  8. La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair): Très calme et doucement expressif
  9. La sérénade interrompue (Interrupted Serenade): Modérément animé
  10. La cathédrale engloutie (The Submerged Cathedral): Profondément calme
  11. La danse de Puck (Puck's Dance): Capricieux et léger
  12. Minstrels: Modéré

[edit] Deuxième Livre

  1. Brouillards (Mists): Modéré
  2. Feuilles mortes (Dead Leaves): Lent et mélancolique
  3. La Puerta del Vino (The Wine Gate): Mouvement de Habanera
  4. «Les Fées sont d'exquises danseuses» ("Fairies are exquisite dancers"): Rapide et léger
  5. Bruyères (Heather): Calme
  6. General Lavine - eccentric: Dans le style et le mouvement d'un Cakewalk
  7. La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (The Terrace of Moonlit Audiences): Lent
  8. Ondine (Undine): Scherzando
  9. Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. (Homage to S. Pickwick): Grave
  10. Canope (Canopic jar): Très calme et doucement triste
  11. Les tierces alternées (Alternating Thirds): Modérément animé
  12. Feux d'artifice (Fireworks): Modérément animé

Debussy never intended the pieces to be performed in a series; he thought of them as individual works. The titles were given by the composer to create images or sensory associations for the listener. Several are poetically vague: for example, the meaning of Voiles, the title of the second prelude of the first book, is ambiguous, since the noun's gender is unknown (in French, voiles can mean either "veils" or "sails" depending on gender). The titles are written at the end of each movement, allowing the performer to discover impressions for himself, without being guided by Debussy's own thoughts. This works less well now, as the Preludes have grounded themselves in popular culture.

The most famous of the preludes are both from the first book: La fille aux cheveux de lin is a brief but harmonically complex Pre-Raphaelite expression of beauty. La cathédrale engloutie alludes to the legend of the sunken city of Ys in which the cathedral was allowed to rise once a day as a reminder of the glorious city that was lost, then become submerged again. Debussy's composition reflects this well: one can almost hear monks chanting, and the great bells tolling throughout the piece.

La sérénade interrompue is also a very interesting piece of music. Consistent with Debussy's impressionistic style, the prelude is an evocative psychological portrait of a Spanish lover's nocturnal serenade under the balcony of his beloved[citation needed]. Debussy's own indications of expression in the prelude suggest a stereotypical scene, with a twist (the interruption). Quasi guitarra (as a guitar) and (comme en préludant) (as a prelude) (bars 1-18) evoke the image of the guitarist who, in the night, starts plucking at his instrument piano, with sudden crescendos as if he's trying to catch the attention of his beloved behind the closed curtains of her bedroom. A Spanish theme then appears (a tempo, bars 19-24) and suddenly disappears again into a series of fifths in diminuendo as though the improvising player is seeking inspiration. Then (expressif et un peu suppliant: expressive and somewhat pleading, bars 25-39) the player begs his lover to show herself to him, though a hesitant melody first (bars 25-34), then again with the Spanish theme heard before (bars 35-39). The following Très vif (very lively, bars 40-43) seems to respond to a sign that the beloved is listening (perhaps a candle has been lit?), so that after a short introduction repeating the initial comme en préludant (bars 44-47), the serenade can finally begin. After the sensual melodies of bars 48-65, the main Spanish theme comes back (bars 66-68), only to dissolve into a free cadenza (librement: freely, bars 69-72) through which the player seems to come up to the beloved with even more intention. Suddenly, though, the tonality changes from B flat minor to the very remote D major, the rhythm switches from the ternary 3/8 to the binary 2/4, the style changes from the guitar-like writing into something different, rather vulgar. Lointain (far away, bars 73-77) someone else is playing, or singing, maybe drunk, possibly approaching. In forte and crescendo, the player reiterates a fragment of the Spanish theme, enraged (rageur, bars 78-79), but a fragment of the interrupting theme resonates again pianissimo (bars 80-82). More rage of the player (rageur, bars 83-86), until the Spanish theme dissolves into a suspended, meditative melody piano (bars 87-101). The beloved, perhaps scared by the interruption and worried for her honor, has withdrawn, the candle in her bedroom is extinguished. The ensuing Rubato (bars 102-113) returns to a variation of the sensual theme of bars 48-65, sounding even more passionate, as if he's trying to persuade her to go back to listening. Nothing happens. The player plays the Spanish theme for one last time (a tempo, bars 114-115), now in pianissimo, flat, with no accompanying harmony, hopeless, and finally (bars 116-120) en s'éloignant (going away) returns to the prelude-like opening. A sforzato chord sounds as though the player is cursing (bars 121-122). After a silent bar (123), the prelude comes abruptely to an end with a short descending sequence and an unexpected chord (bars 124-125), like a shrug of the shoulders.

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