Images The Piano Music of Claude Debussy

by Roberts, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781574670684
• ISBN10: 1574670689
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Amadeus

Summary

Paris at the turn of the 20th century was obsessed with the interrelations of the arts. It was a time when artists and writers spoke of poetry as music, sounds as colors, and paintings as symphonies. The music of Claude Debussy, with its unique textures and dazzling colors, was the perfect counterpart to the bold new styles of painting in France. Paul Roberts probes the sources of Debussy's artistic inspiration, relating the "impressionist" titles to the artistic and literary ferment of the time. He also draws on his own performing experience to touch on all the principal technical problems for a performer of Debussy's piano music. His many suggestions about interpreting the music will be particularly valuable to performers as well as listeners.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Wilfrid Mellers
Preface	xv
Debussy's Works for Piano	xviii
Introduction Les Images	1	(14)
PART I BACKGROUND
Impressionist or Symbolist?	15	(30)
``Reflets dans l'eau''
``La cathedrale engloutie''
Three Japanese Prints	45	(26)
Estampes
Correspondances: Debussy and Baudelaire	71	(16)
``Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir''
Watteau, Verlaine, and the Fete Galante	87	(26)
``Clair de lune''
``Masques''
``L'isle joyeuse''
Impressionism and Realism: Debussy's Realites	113	(12)
Music and Painting: Visual Stimulus in Fin-de-Siecle Paris	125	(28)
PART II FOREGROUND
The Origins of a Style: The Javanese Gamelan	153	(24)
``Pagodes''
``Canope''
``Cloches a travers les feuilles''
``Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut''
Debussy and the Virtuoso	177	(24)
``Feux d'artifice''
``Poissons d'or''
``Ce qu'a vu le Vent d'Ouest''
Humor and Childhood: The Interrupted Serenade	201	(38)
Children's Corner
``Minstrels''
``La serenade interrompue''
``General Lavine---excentric''
``Les Fees sont d'exquises danseuses''
``Ondine''
Preludes, Books I and II: The Case for a Complete Performance	239	(46)
Some Questions of Technique and the Etudes	285	(32)
``Pagodes''
``Cloches a travers les feuilles''
``Feux d'artifice''
``Movement''
``Hommage a Rameau''
Douze etudes
APPENDIX	317	(12)
The Origin of the Impressionist Label in Painting
Harmony and Synesthesia in ``Lesons et les parfums''
The Mouth Organ of J.-K. Huysmans
Debussy, Chopin, and Delacroix
Notes	329	(16)
Glossary of Terms in Debussy's Piano Music	345	(8)
Bibliography	353	(8)
Index	361