I have a long-time and great love of the works of Claude Debussy. This page will contain information on playing Debussy's piano works and his philosophy of music
Educational Resources - How to play Debussy from Debussy and his Students:
The 1932 tutorial How To Teach and Play Debussy by Maurice Dumesnil
Hear Debussy play his piano works
Other resources:
How I approach Debussy's piano works
A detailed Debussy bibliography
I'm going to establish pages on the interpretation of my repertoire, piece by piece. I'm hoping to create a general forum for discussion of the interpretation of each work. Please email me with your comments and interpretations, and I'll add them to the list. The works I intend (someday) to have commentary on:
Suite Bergamasque: Prelude, Menuet, Clair de Lune, Passepied
Pour le Piano: Prelude, Sarabande
Estampes: Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the Rain)
Images I: Reflets dans l'eau (Reflections in the Water), Hommage a Rameau, Mouvement (Movement)
Images II: Cloches a travers les feuilles (Bells through the Leaves), Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (And the Moon Descends on the Temple that Was)
Children's Corner: Golliwog's Cakewalk
Preludes I: (title translations from Paul
Jacobs' recording)
1) Danseuses de Delphes (Dancers of Delphi)
2) Voiles (Sails or Veils)
3) Le Vent dans la plaine (The Wind on the Plain)
4) "Les Sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du
soir" (Sounds and Perfumes Swirl in the Evening Air)
5) Les Collines d'Anacapri (The Hills of Anacapri)
6) Des pas sur la neige (Footprints in the Snow)
7) Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest (What the West Wind Saw)
8) La Fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)
9) La Serenade interrompue (The Interrupted Serenade)
10) La Cathedrale engloutie (The Engulfed Cathedral)
11) La Danse de Puck (Puck's Dance)
12) Minstrels (Minstrels)
Preludes II: (title translations from
Paul Jacobs' recording)
1) Brouillards (Fog)
2) Feuilles mortes (Autumn Leaves)
3) La Puerta del Vino
4) "Les fees sont d'exquises danseuses" (The Fairies
are Exquisite Dancers)
5) Bruyeres (Heather)
6) "General Lavine"-Eccentric
7) La Terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (The Balcony where
Moonlight Holds Court)
8) Ondine
9) Hommage a S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C.
10) Canope
11) Les Tierces alternees (Alternating Thirds)
12) Feux d'artifice (Fireworks) (I can't play this, too
hard, but it's here for completeness)
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune (Prelude on the Afternoon of a Faun)
If you have a particular interest in one of the above pieces, let me know and I'll do it more quickly.
Please note: This is not a complete works list, just a (rather optimistic) listing of my repertoire. Also, I've received many emails asking for recording recommendations. I can't give such recommendations because I can't afford to buy all available recordings so I can't say that one is better than another. Having said that, I find Paul Jacobs' recordings of the Preludes, Images, and Etudes (apparently out of print) to be better than any I've ever heard.
Finally, I am only an amateur musician who really loves Debussy and occasionally gets to play. I'm flattered to have been mistaken for a professional musician or a music teacher, but I cannot provide technical analysis of Debussy's music. Click on my home page below to see what I really do.
Claude Debussy - The Musical Impressions, a wonderful and full site
A smaller site but a nice complete works list
A lecture on La Damoiselle Elue, including a biography, work and style summary and a discussion of Pre-Raphaelism
thanks to WebCounter