A new album from marcandre hamelin is always cause for celebration. Three years exist between the publication of the first and second book, with the former appearing in 1910. The preludes were composed in two books of twelve, the first in 190910 and the second in. Czerny is inspired by the fivefinger exercises of carl czerny. Debussy preludes, bk 1 alfred masterwork edition paperback march 1, 1986 by claude debussy composer, maurice hinson composer. That said, when one compares timings on the new recordings it is striking to note that. Debussy preludes 112 book 1 complete paul barton, feurich hp piano duration. Achilleclaude debussy august 22, 1862 march 25, 1918 was a french composer. Also recorded here is the second book of preludes, in a poetic and evocative performance. P ierrelaurent aimards muchpublicised recent claim in an interview with a german newspaper that debussy is a greater composer than wagner is by no.
Michelangelis lofty, commanding way with debussy s book i preludes is familiar from his 1978 dg studio recording. Welcome to hyperion records, an independent british classical label devoted to presenting highquality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods. Claude debussy s preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. The other great thing, of course, is what monsieur roge does with that piano. Tonality in the first book of debussys preludes jennifier carol stern durban 1978 submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of music performance, in the department of music, university of natal. There is a time signature transition in it that is tricky to deal with.
These works have been central to stevens repertoire for many years and he brings them to the. Bach and chopin, debussy s do not follow a strict pattern of key signatures. Preludes book 2 by arturo benedetti michelangeli, claude. Hes recorded the first set of debussy preludes, but not the second, so this is his first go at both. Adopting the major piano works including the preludes, bartok absorbed the liberated message as deeply as he absorbed the idiom of the hungarian peasant. The only thing in this world as good as this recording of michelangelis debussy would be michelangelis other recording of debussy with a sublime childrens corner and a transcendent preludes, book 2.
I wont say that if you must own only one set, it should be this one, however. Here in his first debussy recording for hyperion he presents the two books of images. They have a natural sequence of more abstraction and somehow, difficulty, from the first to the second. But i much prefer this live 1982 royal festival hall taping. Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano debussy, claude. This is almost a miniature tonepoem, which changes direction every few bars. Unlike some notable collections of preludes from prior times, such as chopins op. Debussy preludes, book 1 by claude debussy 18621918. Debussy preludes, book 1 download free sheet music. May 18, 2020 claude debussy, french composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. He played a bunch of, at that time, famous pianists, and then a scratchy old thing, and as naive as we were, we all recognized the last lofi performance as the best one and the only one that dealt with the transition correctly. Each book contains twelve preludes for the piano, many of them known to todays musical audiences because of their great popularity with pianists worldwide.
He was too good a composer to imitate debussy, although there are a few examples of direct influence it was. The purpose of this thesis is to discuss and give a descriptive analysis of twelve of the twentyfour preludes written by claude debussy. Here he reaches between those two to tackle one of the pinnacles of the piano repertoiredebussys two books of preludes. Here, in one volume, are two bodies of work that, perhaps more than any others, reveal the essence of claude debussys extraordinary expressiveness and his innovative gifts for musical imagery. 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 pantomimes the pedantic style of czernys exercises by placing typical figurations and passages in grotesque juxtaposition and introducing bizarre modulations. I did not originally plan to orchestrate all of debussys preludes. These compositions, while endearing themselves to both pianist and listener, also occupy an important place in musical.
Pour les cinq doigtsdapres monsieur czerny for five fingersafter mr. From book 1 of william wordsworths the prelude interesting. Claude debussy, in full achilleclaude debussy, born august 22, 1862, saintgermainenlaye, francedied march 25, 1918, paris, french composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. Preludes, book 1 claude debussys preludesare two sets of pieces for solopiano, written in 191010 and 1912, and published asbook iandiirespectively. 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. Both books 1 and 2 of debussys popular piano preludes are contained in this one sturdy volume. The print is somewhat larger than normal which is very good. His subtle rubato helps make clear the despair debussy wished to portray. Two impressions of debussy who hated that word classical. Some pedaling marks at the bottom if these pages were cut off. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude debussy showing 14 of 68 pages in this thesis.
This paper also includes a brief history of preludes as well as possible influences upon debussy and his compositions. Complete preludes, books 1 and 2 dover music for piano. 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. Good thing about debussy is you can play it slow with halting rhythms and it still. Dovers book of debussy preludes is made of extremely high quality print on heavier paper than usual. 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. Sep 05, 2012 claudeachille debussy 1862 1918 preludes, livre 2 1. For one, the gorgeous engineering fully captures how the pianists ravishing, multilayered sound world projected in a hall. Ilya itin, piano this video was recorded at the golandsky institute international piano festival at princeton university. Preludes book 1 and preludes book 2 subtly evocative.
Aug 19, 2016 the composer who benefited most from this liberation was bartok, who was introduced to debussys music by kodaly in 1907. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Claude debussys preludes are 24 pieces for solo piano, divided into two books of 12 preludes each. A descriptive analysis of the preludes book 1 of claude. Daniel barenboim and maurizio pollini between them cover the whole set of preludes in a highly contrasted pair of discs. Debussy wrote two books of preludes published in 1910 and 19 respectively. V introduction j chapter i tonalit 2 y a a broad definition of tonality 2 b melodic tonality 2 c harmonic. The twentyfour preludes of debussy are published in two books of twelve preludes each. 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. Aug 01, 2018 as i have already noted, debussy was adamant about tempo markings. Buy debussy preludes by claude debussy, pascal roge from amazons classical music store.
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. Begin this episode with reflections on debussys personality and artistic influences, including that of french symbolist poetry, as they influenced his musical creations. He is no longer a young man, and has had many years to consider these preludes since he discovered them at the age of 8. Under the pianistic viewpoint, one can say that the etudes are the logical technical continuation of the preludes. 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. An interesting thing that debussy did with this book of preludes is put the title at the end of the piece, so as to not force an idea on the listenerperformer. Societe musicale independante, claude debussy piano 19110503 in paris, salle pleyel complete jane mortier piano first pub lication. Preludes books 1 and 2 paperback april 1, 1999 by claude debussy composer 4. Each book was written in a matter of months, at an. But michelangeli was unapologetic about such things, as if they mattered nohting to. He is sometimes seen as the first impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. The only thing im picky about is orginally the titles are supposed to be and the.