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Images, Set I, L 110 (1905) Debussy worked on the first book of Images during the summer of 1905, right after the la Mer. The scoring of Reflets dans l'eau has been more time-consuming than the others and he kept elaborating it even when the other pieces of the series were completed. When finally he sent the manuscript to his editor, Durand, he wrote: "without vanity, I can say that those three pieces are very strong and they will find their place in the entire piano literature, to the left of Schumann or the right of Chopin ... as you like it." The Hommage `a Rameau was premiered by Maurice Duhamel in 1905 but the complete premiere of the series was made by Ricardo Vines in 1906. The last number "Movement" was encore-d. Reflets dans l'eau is the first "image" is the evocation of water reflections with a unique poetic sensibility. Extensively elaborated with very intricate harmonizations, this piece is "a poem on the agony of light; light, dulled by the waves" (André Suarés). This "image" is said to be inspired by the sight of a lake with a pond, reflecting trees and vegetation around it. Its shimmer is void of human presence and silent. It is the genius of Debussy to have composed "on" silence. The music is the equivalence of an optical illusion. Alfred Cortot says "sleeping and floating light of inverted shapes". The Editions Durand did undertake the publication of Jean-Philippe Rameau's complete works, but this attempt, to which Debussy is intended to participate, was unfortunately not followed. Yet the concerts of the Schola Cantorum revived the works of the Baroque master after a century and half of oblivion. In one of those concerts, Debussy did listen to the Guirlandes and was deeply moved. Hommage à Rameau is a marble headstone to the great French composer. It is interesting to note that Debussy praised the memory of Rameau while Ravel extolled Couperin Mouvement is a "moto perpetuo" in C major reveals the same frenzy as within Masques or F^etes. Mostly a diatonic harmonization in the key of C major, otherwise rarely used by Debussy, is significant. Préludes, Book I, L 117 (1909–1910) Arranged in two books, the 24 Préludes is the highest achievement of the composer at the piano. They will be later equaled only with the series of Etudes. Those are the apex of the creative path which started with Estampes and was perfected by Images. Often placed side by side with the Preludes by Chopin, those are following a different path. Debussy's Préludes are composed to create an atmosphere, a state of receptivity which suggests to the listener a complete identification with the scenery, image, or character to which they refer. Those are the subject transported to the universe of sound. Unlike the poetic imagery of Images, here is a musical symbolism abstracted. This explains why Chopin's preludes do not have any title, while the ones by Debussy have their own yet, only at the end of the music, as they are originally published, the "title" is placed at the end of the music and preceded by "...". Not unlike the Prélude `a l'apr`es midi d'un faune, those are not descriptions but indeed preludes to what they refer to: an image, evocation, a person, or a "thing" ... Vladimir Jankélévitch admirably described the essence of Debussy's Préludes: "the statis, the avoidance of any discursive development are here in their true element. The Prélude is the foreword of something which will not happen." The first volume was written in a very short time, from December 1909 to February 1910, whereas the completion of the second book spans three years. Most of the pieces in the first book were achieved in only one day and were often composed in the order in which they were published. |
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