Claude Debussy
 

It seems Claude Debussy doesn't have a thread yet. I'll let Wikipedia do the basic introductions :

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy

As is generally the case with classical composers, for fans it becomes a matter of finding the best interpretations and recordings of his work (and in the case of Debussy, there are actually recordings of Debussy himself playing).

Anyways, what are your favorite Debussy compositions? Do you have any favorite recordings?


I was searching for good recordings of Arabesque No. 1 and Claire De Lune and was very pleased when I found a Toronto based pianist who play both wonderfully (imo). Check out Mr. Ricker Choi :)


Clair De Lune




Arabesque No. 1

Yes, Mr. Ricker Choi plays those Debussy pieces with great delicacy and warmth! I especially like his Clair de Lune.

I feel the Berlin Philharmonic's performance of Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun is terrific, but you can only hear the first 2 minutes for free. The first 2 minutes sound great, though!

Love, love, love Debussy (although I love Ravel even more, but that's another discussion). Clair de Lune is my favourite, and in fact I've been working on it for a few days now.

Ahh wonderful, Erica :D

I was able to find a recording by Berlin Philharmonic on Google Play Music and it sounds wonderful. Such a great piece of music!

Pet Sounds, sounds very ambitious :) Do you have a piano lying around?

Yes. In fact, I have three. I've been playing for over ten years, but it's still a very challenging piece.

Ah yes, one of the fathers of Modern music. Love love love the impressionist stuff, La Cathedrale Engloutie, Reflets dans l'eau. Fascinating musician

I aboslutely love Debussy's music. His style overall is just so pleasant and enjoyable for me to listen to. I can currently play Clair de lune and Arabesque No. 1. They each took me about a month to learn :) Both fantastic pieces!

Clair De Lune Is just amazing! One of my favorite pieces of all time!

May I suggest trying out Debussy's solo piano work - it's PFG (Pretty Freakin' Good). I'd link in some examples, but I'm not at the 15 post minimum yet. Though if you look up Noriko Ogawa Debussy in youtube, you should come up with some hits, including Claire de Lune. I love the way she plays Debussy, as she seems to have the "hammerless" technique he wanted down pat. There's also a cheap mp3 version of most of Ogawa's intepretations of Debussy's music on amazon.

He's definitely a second-tier composer IMO but that's not such a terrible thing.

Second tier?

Yep

I love Debussy. Such a refreshing contrast coming after Wagner who attempted to describe the whole human psych with huge epics, Debussy painted beautiful imaginary worlds, escapism at its best. My favourite of his is L'isle Joyeuse:

Why 2nd tier?

Because I think less of him than the top-tier composers but I prefer him to third-tier composers. It's not complicated.

Sorry, I thought the shingle outside said Music Banter. Never mind.

I love his Afternoon of a Faune, but do notice there is point, near the climax, where I feel it's too bad he was still under the sway of the "tyranny of the barline"...unchanging meter. (Had to wait for Stravinsky for a remedy for that.) But Yeah...Debussed is a great composer. I love his stuff.

Debussy is my favourite classical composer bar none.

When I was taking piano lessons in my early teens, I had got accustomed to the idea that pieces that sounded fantastic on the piano must of necessity require a lot of practice and technical skill in order to play them. When my piano teacher introduced me to Debussy via Claire de Lune, I was astonished to discover that music did not have to be difficult to be beautiful. I'm not saying I could play it right through on first or second attempt, but actually getting the notes right was a much easier proposition than, say, Mozart or Chopin.

I think my favourite pieces were La Cathedrale Engloutie, Ballade, Reflets dans l'Eau, and Hommage a Rameau - but C de L is right up there too.

For orchestral works, I particularly love Iberia, with its evocation of the atmosphere of old Spain.

It's worth seeking out his piano preludes, of which there are two books, and two corresponding CD releases.

usually going to sleep with this playing tbh

"Syrinx" for solo flute another beautiful piece written by Debussy.

I love Debussy and Chopin they are absolutely my favourite Composers !
"La beauté insaisissable" ,“La bellezza inafferrabile”, "The elusive beauty"
Their sensitive, subtle piano music touches audiences in a profound way.




“I love great music – it has no color, it has no boundaries.” M.J

I still consider Debussy superior but I’ve learned a lot about Chopin this past year and my respect has skyrocketed.

Fryderyk Chopin was one of the great masters of Romantic music, sometimes called "the poet of the piano" whose poetic genius is based on a professional technique that is unmatched in his generation.

De gustibus non est disputandum.., "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes"..:love:
In his writing for the piano Debussy proved himself a successor to Chopin, who had died in Paris thirteen years before Debussy's birth. His own debt to Chopin was overtly expressed in his two books of Etudes (Studies), completed in 1915.

Poet and Painter: Connections Between Chopin and Debussy

“Many of the musical textures that Debussy explores develop out of Chopin’s compositional style,” .
“Chopin was a master of piano composition and helped to develop the full range of its expressive possibilities, something that Debussy continues to explore in his preludes for piano...”

https://middleburycampus.com/43180/a...n-and-debussy/

Both of these guys are highly influential to a lot of today's contemporary musicians.

Debussy to NIN.
Chopin to Jay.