SKU: FA.MFCD017B

8.27 x 11.69 inches.

Contains Le Roi Lear: Prelude,Premiere Fanfare, and La Mort de Cordelia,Toomai des elephants, Rodrigue et Chimene: Prelude a l'acte 1p. Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien: La Passion , and No-ja-li ou Le Palais du Silence

From Robert Orledge's notes:

My interest in the wonderful music of Claude Debussy began in the 1980s when I researched and published a book with Cambridge University Press entitled Debussy and the Theatre. During the course of my studies in Paris, I was amazed to discover that Debussy planned over 50 theatrical works but only finished two of these entirely by himself (the opera Pelleas et Melisande in 1893-1902 and the ballet Jeux for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1912-13). Of the rest, many were never started musically (like Siddartha and Orphee-roi with the Oriental scholar Victor Segalen, 1907); some had a few tantalising sketches (like the Edgar Allan Poe opera Le Diable dans le beffroi, 1902-03); some were half-finished (like his other Poe opera La Chute de la Maison Usher, 1908-17); while others were musically complete but had their orchestrations completed by other composers (like Khamma, by Charles Koechlin, 1912-13; or Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien and La Boite a joujoux by his 'angel of corrections' ['l'ange des Corrections'] Andre Caplet in 1911 and 1919 respectively).

For it has to be admitted that what some scholars call Debussy's 'compulsive achievement' could equally well be viewed as laziness, especially as far as the minute detail required for calligraphing his orchestral scores was concerned. It was as if creating the music itself was of greater importance than controlling its final sound, even if Debussy was an imaginative orchestrator when he found the time and energy to do it. It also seems true that Debussy also preferred inventing ideas to turning them into complete pieces. However, despite the lack of detail in many of his sketches (missing clefs, key signatures, dynamics, phrasing, etc.) the notes themselves are surprisingly accurate, whether or not they can be compared with a later draft. Thus, a large number of sketches exist for his Chinese ballet No-ja-li ou Le Palais du Silence and it is not too difficult to see which parts of Georges de Feure's 1913 scenario (see below) inspired which ideas. But Debussy hardly made any attempt to join them together after the first few bars.

It was usually up to his publisher, Jacques Durand, to find solutions when Debussy risked a breach of contract. Debussy was supposed to supervise the orchestrations completed by others, but this supervision was usually very light and restricted to quiet, sensitive moments in which problems were easier to spot. Far from jealously guarding every one of his created notes, as Ravel did, Debussy once even went as far as to ask Koechlin to 'write a ballet for him that he would sign' on 26 March 1914 when he was hard-pressed to fulfil his lucrative contract for No-ja-li with Andre Charlot at the Alhambra Theatre in London. In the end, Debussy (through Durand) sent Charlot the symphonic suite Printemps instead, whose orchestration had been completed by Henri Busser in the Spring of 1912.

So, when I was offered early retirement as Professor of Music at Liverpool University in 2004, I seized the opportunity it would give me to spend time trying to reconstruct some of Debussy's lost potential masterpieces from his existing sketches and drafts--then orchestrating them in Debussy's style when this was appropriate. I had begun this mission in 2001 with the most promising project, the missing parts of Scene 2 of La Chute de la Maison Usher and the sheer joy it gave me at every stage persuaded me to tackle other projects, especially when Debussy experts were unable to identify exactly where I took over from Debussy (and vice versa) in Usher.

SKU: BT.HITPCDEBUS01

Dans la lignée de la collection «Les classiques au XXIe siècle», ce recueil propose une rencontre musicale et biographique avec celui qui fut l’un des plus grands compositeurs du XXe siècle et le plus représentatif de la musique française. Au fil de 13 pièces pour piano de niveaux variés ( partir de la troisième année), ce recueil détaillera les étapes de la vie de Claude Debussy et les voyages qui ont jalonné son existence.

SKU: HL.132412

UPC: 884088972462.

SKU: BR.OB-5399-19

ISBN 9790004338360. 10 x 12.5 inches.

The three symphonic sketches La Mer are, after Prelude a Lapresmidi dun faune, no doubt Debussys most frequently performed orchestral work. This success derives in part from its formal resemblance to a symphony, which had already been noted by the composers contemporaries, and in part from its sound, which was associated from the very start with the shimmer and iridescence of Impressionism.Peter Jost takes all major sources into consideration. Ultimately, the musical text of his Urtext edition is based on a copy of the second edition of the score, published in 1909, in which the composer incorporated his experiences as auditor and conductor into a last authorized version. After the cool reception given La Mer at its world premiere, Debussy revised the work and conducted the extraordinarily successful performances of it in early 1908 in Paris,London and Rome.

SKU: BU.EBR-A040

ISBN 9790560151113. 8.58 x 12.48 inches.

La collection ANACROUSE offre aux pianistes novices et confirmés un large choix d’œuvres classiques, allant de la Renaissance à l’époque moderne.

Proposer tout à la fois des « incontournables » du répertoire classique et des pièces de compositeurs parfois oubliés, toutes d’une valeur pédagogique indéniable, tels sont les objectifs que nous nous sommes fixés. Chaque pièce, vendue à l’unité, a fait l’objet d’un travail éditorial attentif, tant sur le plan de l’établissement du texte musical que de sa gravure, afin de garantir aux musiciens les conditions indispensables aux plaisirs tirés du commerce fréquent de ces œuvres.

Les partitions sont proposées sous la forme d’ouvrages traditionnels (feuillets papier), et disponibles également par téléchargement.



Golliwogg's Cake-Walk est la dernière et sixième pièce d'un recueil de suites pour piano intitulé Children's Corner (« le coin des enfants »). Debussy commence à composer en 1906 ce petit recueil plein de féérie, une dédicace à sa fille Claude-Emma, plus connue sous le surnom de Chouchou, en 1908. C'est cette même année que le recueil est publié chez les éditions Durand, avec une couverture originale et plaisante faite par le compositeur lui-même. La première écoute officielle est créée au Cercle Musical à Paris le 18 décembre 1908 par Harold Bauer. Quelques années plus tard, Children's Corner est retranscrit pour orchestre par le compositeur André Caplet. Son audition est conduite par Debussy lui-même le 25 mars 1911.
Bien que ces six petites suites soient dédicacées à sa fille avec les mots suivants : « A ma très chère petite Chouchou, avec les tendres excuses de son père pour ce qui va suivre », elles ne s'adressent pas à des mains d'enfants. Car elles possèdent, pour certaines, des difficulté techniques inaccessibles pour de très jeunes éxécutants.
Les six pièces ont toutes un titre anglais, peut être faut-il y voir une aimable moquerie à l'anglomanie dominante de cette époque :
1) Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum
2)Jimbo's Lullaby (Berceuse des éléphants)
3)Serenade for the doll (Sérénade à la poupée)
4)The snow is dancing (La neige danse)
5)The litthe shepherd (Le petit berger)
6)Golliwogg's cake-walk

Golliwogg's Cake-walk (allegro giusto, mi bémol à 2/4) est la pièce la plus célèbre du recueil, surnommée par le pianiste Alfred Cortot « Ataxique et dégingandée ». Elle représente l'apothéose finale de ce recueil. Il faut noter que le terme Cake-Wake correspond à une danse noire américaine et le mot Golliwogg représente une poupée de nègre en étoffe.
Debussy emprunte pour la première fois la musique jazz pour exprimer la danse des gestes articulés et saccadés de cette poupée nègre. Au milieu du Cake-Walk, il cite à demi-ironique les premières mesures de Tristan de Wagner en indiquant une annotation piquante : « avec une grande émotion »! puis reprend une deuxième citation dans l'accord final.
Gràce à cette pièce pleines d'effets musicaux et de contre temps rythmiques, le pianiste interprète développera un touché nuancé, de la sensibilité et de l'imagination dans l'éxécution pour faire vivre une oeuvre sautillante très originale.

SKU: AP.36-60710002

ISBN 9798888521823. UPC: 676737572853. English.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) composed Valse Romantique (F minor; CD 79/L.71) in 1890 for solo piano, during a period when he was short piano works in traditional genres, seeking his own style. Unlike the impressionism for which he later became known, this waltz is written in a late romantic style. Not particularly difficult, it is ideal for teaching or for a recital. This transcription for violin or flute and piano was created in 1924 by Alexandre Roelens. Reprint edition.

These products are currently being prepared by a new publisher. While many items are ready and will ship on time, some others may see delays of several months.

SKU: CA.926200

ISBN 9790007249243. Key: E major. Language: French. Text: Bourget, Paul.

Beau soir seems to have inspired musicians to make their own arrangements - for violin, cello, saxophone quartet, or even for five-part chamber choir and piano, as in this version by Denis Rouger. Unlike the instrumental versions, this one retains Paul Bourget's text: the poetic depiction of a sunset on a mild summer evening, on which light and shade merge into one another like the rhythm and harmony in Debussy's setting. It is not an unclouded depiction, but the recognition of our own finiteness. This art song was originally composed not for chamber choir, but for solo voice and piano. Denis Rouger has carefully adapted it to suit the requirements and expressive possibilities offered by a larger ensemble, without losing the any of the qualities of the original in the process. Each part in the choir has a melodic line drawn from the harmonic and rhythmic framework. In the process, the variety and refinement of the choral language combines with an enormous flexibility in form and expression, as French melodies or German art song demand from a soloist and pianist. The songs have been recorded by the figure humaine chamber choir on the CD Kennst du das Land ... (Carus 83.495).