Preludes book 2 principal composer debussy, claude sheet music. These works have been central to stevens repertoire for many years and he brings them to the studio after. The structural outline underlies the score and important motivic, thematic, and harmonic information appears at the time it. Canope, the tenth prelude in book 2, though lightly regarded by. You might first think the speaker is addressing only the implied audience the person who is reading the poem however, in preludes you will find that the speaker is also addressing a particular person in the poem who is sitting along the beds edge and playing with the papers she is. The music expresses a vast repertoire of emotions, colors and moods. The four preludes are written in free verse that goes in and out of organized meter and rhyme. Although the composer did not think the preludes should be performed as a cycle, book two is perfectly symmetrical with two showpieces at the start and end on the twelve pieces. They were published in two booksseries, each consisting of three pieces. The musical language of bach in the welltempered clavier volume 2. Debussy s book of preludes are some of his most wellknown and last works for solo piano. Well let you know when eliot is using a word or image that hell later rely on in some of his more famous poems. The title of the poem holds a special position in terms of analysis.
Debussys piano pieces require deep thought and understanding. Schooltime continued by william wordsworth about this poet william wordsworth was one of the founders of english romanticism and one its most central figures and important intellects. The first book was composed between 1901 and 1905, and the second book was composed in 1907. Adopting the major piano works including the preludes, bartok absorbed the liberated message as deeply as he absorbed the idiom of the hungarian peasant. He was too good a composer to imitate debussy, although there are a few examples of direct influence it. Completed in january 1910, it was published three months later and premiered in june of that same year. Debussy s book of preludes is some of his most wellknown and last works for solo piano. The title of the piece may be translated to english as either veils or sails.
Preludes is one of the prominent work of eliot written in 1910 and 1911. Like mallarmes poem, debussys prelude is fluid and mysterious. The 100th anniversary of debussys death was this past march 25th. Except for some mild, localized chromaticism and a short pentatonic passage, the entire piece uses the whole. Voiles is a composition by claude debussy for solo piano from 1909.
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 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. Aug 16, 20 i played canopus from preludes book 2 composed by c. Preludes book ii after a twoyear break, debussy continued his work on the preludes. Compositions of debussy, the number of measures marked piano, and the number of measures marked forte. Music and poetry in mallarme and debussy ubc library open. Pianist and musical writer paul roberts asserts that this prelude, along with the two that immediately precede it, forms the central arch 2 of book is structure, since the three pieces provide the most dramatic contrast 2 out of all the preludes in the first book. Prelude means an introduction to something, to be specific, in a musical sense, it is a small composition that is. The twentyfour preludes of debussy are published in two books of twelve preludes each.
Jul 05, 2011 pianist imogen c ooper painted evocative sound pictures in a bbc radio 3 lunchtime recital featuring music by debussy, beethoven and chopin. The winter evening settles down with smell of steaks in passageways. With this recording pollini is closing the circle of debussy preludes with the long anticipated recording of the 2nd book 18 years after he recorded book 1, which is an evergreen in his discography. Claude debussys preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes. Debussy wrote two books of preludes published in 1910 and 19 respectively. From book 1 of william wordsworths the prelude william wordsworths great long autobiographical poem in blank verse, the prelude, has many great passages, and this is one of the best, from the first book of the poem, describing the poets schooldays and his time among nature. This significant compilation of 12 preludes represents debussys mature writing style and is filled with a great diversity of compositional styles. These works are distinct from debussy s images pour orchestre. To determine a poems tone, you must identify how the speaker perceives his audience. Mists fleeting shadows in the rh over a mystic, stunned chorale in the lh. 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. Debussys canope as narrative form college music symposium.
Types of triplets found in piano compositions of debussy and places where they are found. Theyre both still quite the challenge for advanced players only. Dg is proud to announce the new album of icon maestro pollini, coinciding with the debussy year 2018. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical history and, like the preludes. The then society of eliot is presented as a waste land where corruption and desolation are dominant in the cycle of meaningless life. These beautiful french works are a must for all pianists. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude. Playing debussys piano works an amateurs thoughts about. And now a gusty shower wraps the grimy scraps of withered leaves about your feet and newspapers from vacant lots. Images usually pronounced in french is a suite of six compositions for solo piano by claude debussy. The paperback of the complete preludes, books 1 and 2. This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon debussy and his compositions. They are markedly different from debussys final work, the etudes of 1915, where technique is as important as poetry. From book 1 of william wordsworths the prelude interesting.
Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano. Musical analysis as a technique for performance decisions in. The second theme is played in octaves separated by a desolate gulf in the middle of the keyboard. 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. Achilleclaude debussy august 22, 1862 march 25, 1918 was a french composer. They were composed and published in two books of twelve. 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. Analysis debussy voiles claude debussy elements of music. The first two lines are written in iambic tetrameter, with four emphasized syllables. Its followed by another sad prelude, feuilles mortes dead leaves.
The showers beat on broken blinds and chimneypots, and at the corner of the street. Aug 19, 2016 the composer who benefited most from this liberation was bartok, who was introduced to debussys music by kodaly in 1907. Debussy and the poetic image all classical portland. Nontraditional scales extended harmony traditional chords used in nontraditional context harmonic color tonal ambiguity. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy. This study, through thorough analysis, provides pianists with insights into analyticallybased problemsolving techniques by examining passages in which analysis can provide assistance in solving specific performance problems. Osteen, william timothy, analysis and interpretation. I provide the original scanned version and the filtered, because the filter does some changes smoothening, sharpening borders and some portions of the scan get lost sometimes when they are too small e. Preludes can be read as four separate poems and or one poem of 54 lines.
Dovers book of debussy preludes is made of extremely high quality print on heavier paper than usual. The works in debussys second book of preludes are similar in intent to those of book i 1907 1910. Both of these preludes seem to recall the beginning of book 1 in their. They have a natural sequence of more abstraction and somehow, difficulty, from the first to the second. Claude debussys twentyfour preludes are among the composers. Complete your debussy, walter gieseking collection. Youtube, youtube channel, video marketing, youtuber, igtv, erika vieira, video, instagram overeaters anonymous electratone guitar effects. Debussy preludes book 2 free downloadable sheet music.
Debussy preludes, book 1 by claude debussy 18621918. Preludes books 1 and 2 paperback april 1, 1999 by claude debussy composer 4. Claude debussy composed the second book of preludes during 1910 12. That this was general we can to some extent see from the sales figures quoted by roy howat.
The influence of the symbolists and the impresssionists on claude. Under the pianistic viewpoint, one can say that the etudes are the logical technical continuation of the preludes. Im only an amateur pianist, but have been playing debussys piano works since the late 70s. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and give a descriptive analysis of twelve of the twentyfour preludes written by claude debussy. While the solo piano version of debussy s preludes will always remain fundamental to. Debussy s twentyfour preludes are among the composers last and bestknown works for piano. 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 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.
Both books 1 and 2 of debussy s popular piano preludes are contained in this one sturdy volume. Analysis debussy voiles claude debussy elements of. The title of the volume in which debussy published some of the critical. Apr 12, 2012 this paper considers two debussy piano pieces, les sons et les parfums tournent dans lair du soir from the first book of preludes of 1910 and les soirs illumines par lardeur du charbon of 1917, in relation to the two baudelaire poems where these titles figure as lines, harmonie du soir and le balcon. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical. Debussy was known for his meticulousness in the arrangement of his preludes. The first book of preludes is slightly easier than the second, since the second collection features debussy s more mature writing style. One of the easiest pieces in this collection is the girl with the flaxen hair, around a. The short third line interrupts the rhythm with three syllables. Ilya itin, piano this video was recorded at the golandsky institute international piano festival at princeton university. The music becomes more dramatic toward the end of the set. Debussy, walter gieseking preludes book ii discogs.
Some pedaling marks at the bottom if these pages were cut off. Interspersed between the two images are several contrasting episodes, including a chordal idea in the strings and a. These preludes are well known for the unique way in which they are titled. William wordsworth was one of the founders of english romanticism and one its most central figures and important intellects. Claude debussys preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. Debussys scansion of the text in placet futile 230 figure 4. It is meant to depict an ancient egyptian city and egyptian burial urns. Claude debussy h 18621918 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.
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. Several of them look ahead to debussy s later style, in which the composers earlier impressionistic, almost romantic poetry was supplanted by a greater concentration upon technique and neoclassical objectivity. He is remembered as a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation, a poet concerned with the human. Along with maurice ravel, he is considered one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions. It is too dark, too subtle and eludes all efforts at analysis. The prelude is one of debussys most recorded pieces. In this prelude we find examples of harmonic procedures commonly used in claude debussy s music like. Debussy with english translation poem by federico garcia lorca. He is remembered as a poet of spiritual and epistemological speculation, a poet concerned with the human relationship to nature and a fierce advocate of using. Claude debussy was a leading composer of the early 20th century known for his impressionistic style and use of nontraditional scales and tonalities as well as chromaticism.
As for his piano compositions, after he completed the second book of preludes the only. Preludes i following the model of bach and his 24 preludes and fugues from 1722, debussy also wrote his own set of preludes. Prelude 10, titled canope in his book of preludes no. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as chopins op. World wide shipping follow this free score follow debussy, claude composer report problem sheet music sales from usa. Three years exist between the publication of the first and second book, with the former appearing in 1910. This blog is dedicated to discussion of the performance of the piano pieces of claude debussy. Debussy with english translation poem by federico garcia. We just bet that this wont be the only parallel to eliots later work. Both books 1 and 2 of debussys popular piano preludes are contained in this one sturdy volume. Lets read on to see if eliot continues this trend throughout the poem and then you should check out form and meter for the full breakdown.