This is not as it is written today. Sections of only a few bars here and there are left out. This brings to question what Debussy's true intent was. Was he a forgetful person and innocently left out a few places or was this ultimately how he wanted the piece to go? It's interesting to wonder. I'm a concert pianist but also a dingbat so I can see how it would be easy to forget little parts but I could also see why those little parts would be unnecessary ultimately for the over all piece.
Gives one the idea that the modern performance practice crowd are absolutely off their heads. Clearly Debussy had no intention that his music be played exactly as written. In fact I doubt that any composer ever expected that his music would be played exactly as written. They all expected it to be 'played' with.
He is playing something different to my score of this piece, he adds stuff and takes phrases away. I guess this is the privilege of composing something yourself, you don't have to do what you originally intended if you don't feel like it ;)
Always good to know how the actual composer intended this piece to be played, and I good interpretation it is :)
Somehow this is the version I like best among all the ones I have heard. Perhaps Thibaudet's recent recording excepted, for its technical qualities. Laugh, if you will, but this is not a self-evidence… I mean that a composer should be the best interpreters of their work.
@EmGem1986 I think you mean Impressionism? Even so, Debussy was more closely tied with the French Symbolist Poets than Impressionist painters, and he had no ties whatsoever to Expressionism, which is literally the opposite of Impressionism.
He really brings out the dry, acerbic wit of the piece, even at the risk of distorting rhythms. I suspect Debussy's style of playing by this time was heavily influenced by the pain of his cancer and the medication he was taking.
I don't want to sound foolish and tell people things they perhaps already know, but do people listening to this really understand what it is? My piano teacher was a protege of Pierre Montieux and Montieux actually KNEW Debussy. If anyone would like to know what this song is supposed to suggest to the listener, write me. I would love to pass it on. It is misunderstood by most people to be merely a waltz which it really isn't..
I don't want to sound foolish and tell people things they perhaps already know, but do people listening to this really understand what it is? My piano teacher was a protoge of Pierre Montieux and Montieux actually KNEW Debussy. If anyone would like to know what this song is supposed to suggest to the listener, write me. I would love to pass it on. It is misunderstood by most people to be merely a waltz which it really isn't..
can't help but have the image of someone idling around on an a misty but sunny afternoon. The sparkling beauty of this piece was so randomly dispersed, that it makes life in general sound beautiful if time is taken to savor it.
isn't this a bit too fast? anyway, this is a beautiful piece of music. i'm still practising playing it. it's difficult... but i will try my best to play the spirit of the music out.
!!! Perhaps the most beautiful music in World. I didn't even remember there was strings, sensations like that buried in the mind until this music reminded me of them! O.O I have WIDE eyes! This music touches me so deep that I am allmost afraid of listening to it again.. and again.. and again... O__O
I came looking for more Debussy after hearing Hollyridge Strings play 'In My Room' in his style. Added this to my Debussy playlist and the 1913 list.
My 400 playlists give you continuous play for any of over 250 artists or any of the past 120 years, so you hear the pop music of the day as if you were there!!!
Thanks to d60944 for all the great background on this ! ! !
why when i think i've heard every debussy peace i stumble across another one that is so beautiful...debussy was such an amazing composer..a lot of times i have emotions that I can't express, but when i listen to his music it captures who i feel in a way that nothing else can
I agree with you musiclover59. Debussy's pieces seem open to more varied interpretations. Like you, some I prefer over the composer. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting to hear the composer play his own work, however great interpretations that followed improved upon the piece, slowing it down and turning it into one of the most beautiful short piano compositions of all time.
He did actually press the keys, that's how the piano roll was recorded. So this is a true recording of Debussy playing his own composition. It's no less faithful than an electronic recording, except that the sound varies with the instrument, much as the speaker quality affects an electronic playback.
So it's like having Debussy's ghost play your own piano in your living room. A little spooky, but fascinating.
Rare treat. I had never heard piano rolls by Debussy. Seems like no one has ever heard him perform his own piece,, judging from most recordings I have ever heard of this piece which for the most sound overly introspective or glum..
If this is a "Red" Welte-Mignon roll, then the roll speed is fixed, and the tempo is ostensibly whatever the pianist who recorded the master roll picked. There is a little room for error. In this case the proper roll speed depends on how well the instrument is restored and regulated.
In almost all other makes and models of player and reproducing piano, the roll speed is variable and can be set within a fairly wide range, and roll tempo markings are more vague and less reliable.
This sounds silly but I almost feel like Debussy and other French "impressionists" had an influence on ragtime, dixieland, and early jazz. Their use of extended tertian harmony is phenomenal.
That's not silly at all. Bix Beiderbecke and Zez Confrey were just two out of many, many American popular musicians and composers in the 1920's who were profoundly influenced by the French Impressionists... not only did they personally acknowledge the influence, but their compositions and performances perfectly demonstrate the obvious influence.
In fact, the crash-collision of ragtime with virtuoso European late Romantic and Impressionist music is said to have created Novelty Piano.
Listen to Phil Ohman's rolls on QRS (the rolls he made of foxtrots, not waltzes, ballads, or hymns), especially those of around 1919-1920, and you will immediately hear the influence; Ohman adds advanced extended harmonies and virtuoso breaks in whole-tone scales to the pop songs that he arranged for these rolls.
MIDIs of some of them can be heard on Warren Trachtman's website, in the piano roll scans section.
This is exactly the kind of performance that sends the 'piano-experts'into a fit.Because they can't believe that Debussy would play in such a creative & intuitive manner of rhythmic timing,they decry the 'unreliabi-lity' of the piano roll.What they fail to notice is that A.Debussy had an extremely high opinion of this device...much higher than an acoustic Edison recording on a 78.
B.The style of timing fits right into the performance style of the majority of performers born in the 1860s.
Yes I mostly agree, but keep in mind that the acoustic recordings that he did with Mary Garden sound much more rhythmically exact than the piano roll ones.
Well yeah, but the Welte-Mignon had some of the most sensitive and musically respectful roll editors on their staff, plus they had a good ratio of quantization (in other words, they used a lot of steps on a given grid) resulting in truer rhythms and less jerkiness than many other contemporary (or even subsequent) hand-played piano roll companies.
Compare these true hand-played rolls: Welte-Mignon, Aeolian Uni-Record, QRS Autograph - and you will see what I mean!
a masterwork of a genius and played by a fantastic pianist, himself! how could you ask for more? to me, this recording is a treasure to be shared by all
So the worst version you've ever heard is the one performed by the man, one of the greatest composers ever, who wrote it? Quite a statement; a moronic statement.
@billystewart4 The best version I've heard of this was by a drunk Billy Crystal in a downtown bar in Brooklyn last week. Billy had a kazoo up his ass and he brought the entire fucking house down. Debussy doesn't need defending ;-)
I love this piece. Debussy had a great many wonderful, beautiful compositions for piano, but this has to be one of the most beautiful, most perfect. And to hear it as he played it, what a gift. Debussy was a genius.
Very cool indeed. The dynamics, nuances are all in tact. The roll has survied well. Its excellent to hear how the man played it him self reproduced on a decent recording.
the ending of this valse is so beautiful, dreamy and soft
BassicStorm 3 months ago
This is not as it is written today. Sections of only a few bars here and there are left out. This brings to question what Debussy's true intent was. Was he a forgetful person and innocently left out a few places or was this ultimately how he wanted the piece to go? It's interesting to wonder. I'm a concert pianist but also a dingbat so I can see how it would be easy to forget little parts but I could also see why those little parts would be unnecessary ultimately for the over all piece.
etherealnate 5 months ago
Gives one the idea that the modern performance practice crowd are absolutely off their heads. Clearly Debussy had no intention that his music be played exactly as written. In fact I doubt that any composer ever expected that his music would be played exactly as written. They all expected it to be 'played' with.
aardvaark069 7 months ago
He is playing something different to my score of this piece, he adds stuff and takes phrases away. I guess this is the privilege of composing something yourself, you don't have to do what you originally intended if you don't feel like it ;)
Always good to know how the actual composer intended this piece to be played, and I good interpretation it is :)
crooksterx 9 months ago
Somehow this is the version I like best among all the ones I have heard. Perhaps Thibaudet's recent recording excepted, for its technical qualities. Laugh, if you will, but this is not a self-evidence… I mean that a composer should be the best interpreters of their work.
TBoldi 9 months ago
@TheRosie96 that's why I looked up this video! Such a good episode :)
EmGem1986 1 year ago
@EmGem1986 same here :) love it :)
TheRosie96 11 months ago
@guitarmuse1 that's why it's called "expressionism" :)
EmGem1986 1 year ago
@EmGem1986 I think you mean Impressionism? Even so, Debussy was more closely tied with the French Symbolist Poets than Impressionist painters, and he had no ties whatsoever to Expressionism, which is literally the opposite of Impressionism.
MJTTOMB 8 months ago
@EmGem1986 Except that it is impressionism...
gottegrisen94 7 months ago
Skins : ) JJ : )
TheRosie96 1 year ago 5
@TheRosie96 omg are you a cassie? (sorry if you're not) i was surprised...imagine finding a fellow fan here :DD
reader960000 3 months ago
@reader960000 haha no im not xD but i'm liking the reference to her : ) i was just as surprised to hear his peices on there :D
TheRosie96 3 months ago
At museum Speelklok in the Netherlands they found a original copy for the Welte-Steinway and it sounds perfect!
HMGRosser 1 year ago
I ♥ the flute version of this song. :)
sleeniondaroof 1 year ago
AWFUL interpretation. makes me nervous. ervin, go and play beethoven for instance.
pichubcn 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@pichubcn this recording was made by debussy himself...
LetsEatBing 1 year ago
AWFUL interpretation. makes me nervous.
pichubcn 1 year ago
@pichubcn Good job. You just made Debussy turn over in his grave.
pianocookie11 7 months ago
He really brings out the dry, acerbic wit of the piece, even at the risk of distorting rhythms. I suspect Debussy's style of playing by this time was heavily influenced by the pain of his cancer and the medication he was taking.
paevo2010 1 year ago
"God ! How this man played well piano !" (Stravinsky about Debussy)
floorembden 1 year ago 2
I don't want to sound foolish and tell people things they perhaps already know, but do people listening to this really understand what it is? My piano teacher was a protege of Pierre Montieux and Montieux actually KNEW Debussy. If anyone would like to know what this song is supposed to suggest to the listener, write me. I would love to pass it on. It is misunderstood by most people to be merely a waltz which it really isn't..
kw94544 1 year ago 2
I don't want to sound foolish and tell people things they perhaps already know, but do people listening to this really understand what it is? My piano teacher was a protoge of Pierre Montieux and Montieux actually KNEW Debussy. If anyone would like to know what this song is supposed to suggest to the listener, write me. I would love to pass it on. It is misunderstood by most people to be merely a waltz which it really isn't..
kw94544 1 year ago
What a treasure mate. Thanks for this amazing post.
eaglesonofwill 1 year ago
Comment removed
houseman179 1 year ago
can't help but have the image of someone idling around on an a misty but sunny afternoon. The sparkling beauty of this piece was so randomly dispersed, that it makes life in general sound beautiful if time is taken to savor it.
52NANO 1 year ago
isn't this a bit too fast? anyway, this is a beautiful piece of music. i'm still practising playing it. it's difficult... but i will try my best to play the spirit of the music out.
sammihuii 1 year ago
@sammihuii It's not too fast, since this is Debussy, the composer himself playing it. The tempo really can't get too fast.
Naiis92 1 year ago
@Naiis92 I agree, it's not too fast for Debussy. But it's too fast for my taste, and I prefer slower, more expressive renditions.
SethsStudio 4 months ago
@sammihuii I meant *the tempo can't get more right than this.
Naiis92 1 year ago
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
Bazbazpop 1 year ago
beatiful music of Debussy
sa22g21g 1 year ago
very good video
sa22g21g 1 year ago
Wonderful! I love the section at 1.05 mins. It always makes me smile. : )
haidee122 1 year ago
I hope someday soon my hands will understand him and be able to play his works. I just love Debussy.
joaofredvo 1 year ago
!!! Perhaps the most beautiful music in World. I didn't even remember there was strings, sensations like that buried in the mind until this music reminded me of them! O.O I have WIDE eyes! This music touches me so deep that I am allmost afraid of listening to it again.. and again.. and again... O__O
takkutakiainen 1 year ago 2
he hated being called an impressionist
newsboychamp 1 year ago
the rhythm is kinda off....but good otherwise
HorsesRock25 2 years ago
this is verry good only a genious can write such a lovely peace
mynameisliamhahahaha 2 years ago
it's easy
takkutakiainen 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
the tempo is way to fast, contradicting the very title of the piece. the emotion is all skewed
spartan33x 2 years ago
@spartan33x Maybe you and Debussy do not understand the title in the same way? There is more to 'slowness' than tempo, it seems...
Haeronthegreat 2 years ago
una delle mie canzoni favorite.
monkeymanojo 2 years ago
Wonderful, thanks for the upload.
LloydCello 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I came looking for more Debussy after hearing Hollyridge Strings play 'In My Room' in his style. Added this to my Debussy playlist and the 1913 list.
My 400 playlists give you continuous play for any of over 250 artists or any of the past 120 years, so you hear the pop music of the day as if you were there!!!
Thanks to d60944 for all the great background on this ! ! !
chkjns 2 years ago
Great compilation of "Impressionistic Music". Congrats!
barrabasi 2 years ago
To me he will always be one of the best.....
mskrazye 2 years ago 5
Debussy really was one of the best composers. This piece is touching but strong in some parts. Nice!
TheChickeneck 2 years ago 10
Archival heaven!!! Thank you for this gem!
Kievest 2 years ago
why when i think i've heard every debussy peace i stumble across another one that is so beautiful...debussy was such an amazing composer..a lot of times i have emotions that I can't express, but when i listen to his music it captures who i feel in a way that nothing else can
GuitarMuse 2 years ago 60
so true!!!
mixmasterlees 2 years ago
I know is so peaceful and strong at the same time, but yet beautiful and amazing.
aledithcoulddy 2 years ago
@GuitarMuse you put peace instead of piece =P
LowKeyFloa 1 year ago
@GuitarMuse **piece
pieguyfry22 1 year ago
beauitful and very stylish
louisaretnam 2 years ago
So amazing.
Cactus78 2 years ago
I'm playing this piece for a competition on violin and when i heard it on skins it made me more than happy to know its gone to good use.
allster7 2 years ago
favoloso!!
vikingification 2 years ago
I agree with you musiclover59. Debussy's pieces seem open to more varied interpretations. Like you, some I prefer over the composer. Thanks for sharing.
pclrrr 2 years ago 4
Interesting to hear the composer play his own work, however great interpretations that followed improved upon the piece, slowing it down and turning it into one of the most beautiful short piano compositions of all time.
musiclover59 2 years ago
He's not actually pressing the keys. It's a piano roll.
NoGee06 2 years ago
He did actually press the keys, that's how the piano roll was recorded. So this is a true recording of Debussy playing his own composition. It's no less faithful than an electronic recording, except that the sound varies with the instrument, much as the speaker quality affects an electronic playback.
So it's like having Debussy's ghost play your own piano in your living room. A little spooky, but fascinating.
GuinnevereB 2 years ago 4
If he's not pressing the keys there won't be any sound.
TheChickeneck 2 years ago
What a treat from a another time ...another world to hear the master play his own creation.
johnnynoirman 2 years ago 4
I'm beggining to like debussy. especially reverie.
snow809 3 years ago 2
the world of Debussy is so sensual and beautiful. keep digging!
bergeronf 2 years ago 3
This non-metronomic playing is really very instructive. All pianists interested in performance practice of this age should listen and learn.
aardvaark069 3 years ago 5
Musica meravigliosa....quanti bei ricordi !
mareazzurro1964 3 years ago
Rare treat. I had never heard piano rolls by Debussy. Seems like no one has ever heard him perform his own piece,, judging from most recordings I have ever heard of this piece which for the most sound overly introspective or glum..
stlivermore 3 years ago
If this is a "Red" Welte-Mignon roll, then the roll speed is fixed, and the tempo is ostensibly whatever the pianist who recorded the master roll picked. There is a little room for error. In this case the proper roll speed depends on how well the instrument is restored and regulated.
In almost all other makes and models of player and reproducing piano, the roll speed is variable and can be set within a fairly wide range, and roll tempo markings are more vague and less reliable.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago 4
The seal of quality is in the Brandname here. I trust it sounds like Debussy's original performance. Thanx.
stlivermore 2 years ago
This sounds silly but I almost feel like Debussy and other French "impressionists" had an influence on ragtime, dixieland, and early jazz. Their use of extended tertian harmony is phenomenal.
steuieee 3 years ago 2
or the jazz influenced them... ravel was surly inspired by gershwin's compositions and it is very visible in his piano concerto in G
MichaelSel 3 years ago
That's not silly at all. Bix Beiderbecke and Zez Confrey were just two out of many, many American popular musicians and composers in the 1920's who were profoundly influenced by the French Impressionists... not only did they personally acknowledge the influence, but their compositions and performances perfectly demonstrate the obvious influence.
In fact, the crash-collision of ragtime with virtuoso European late Romantic and Impressionist music is said to have created Novelty Piano.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
Listen to Phil Ohman's rolls on QRS (the rolls he made of foxtrots, not waltzes, ballads, or hymns), especially those of around 1919-1920, and you will immediately hear the influence; Ohman adds advanced extended harmonies and virtuoso breaks in whole-tone scales to the pop songs that he arranged for these rolls.
MIDIs of some of them can be heard on Warren Trachtman's website, in the piano roll scans section.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago 2
Just so moving and insightful. Boy-- you think they could at least have tuned the piano for him though--Jeesh!
ipmoic 3 years ago
Wow, It's amazing to hear Debussy play his own music! It's simply amazing!
superclarenceboi 3 years ago
wow his works are always so dreamy
THeEraSerr 3 years ago
Now we ALL KNOW HOW IT GOES AND THER CAN BE NO ARGUMENT!!!!!!!!!!!
REALLY MARVELOUS!
cynic150 3 years ago
This is exactly the kind of performance that sends the 'piano-experts'into a fit.Because they can't believe that Debussy would play in such a creative & intuitive manner of rhythmic timing,they decry the 'unreliabi-lity' of the piano roll.What they fail to notice is that A.Debussy had an extremely high opinion of this device...much higher than an acoustic Edison recording on a 78.
B.The style of timing fits right into the performance style of the majority of performers born in the 1860s.
ClassicalMusicReview 3 years ago 5
I agree ;)
GetMeThere1 3 years ago
Yes I mostly agree, but keep in mind that the acoustic recordings that he did with Mary Garden sound much more rhythmically exact than the piano roll ones.
helloimapianist 3 years ago
Well yeah, but the Welte-Mignon had some of the most sensitive and musically respectful roll editors on their staff, plus they had a good ratio of quantization (in other words, they used a lot of steps on a given grid) resulting in truer rhythms and less jerkiness than many other contemporary (or even subsequent) hand-played piano roll companies.
Compare these true hand-played rolls: Welte-Mignon, Aeolian Uni-Record, QRS Autograph - and you will see what I mean!
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
absolutely fantastic performance of a heart-rendering work......it almost makes me cry...
thx
ragtimemarkbirnbaum 3 years ago 3
a masterwork of a genius and played by a fantastic pianist, himself! how could you ask for more? to me, this recording is a treasure to be shared by all
minetto2 3 years ago 2
d60944, Where did this recording come from?
I have reproduction of the same roll on a Welte piano if anybody is interested... I can upload. I'm not sure if its the same here, I need to check
stienwayz 3 years ago
GREAT! Thanks so much for this !
eurodealing 3 years ago 4
This always makes me cry. It's such a great piece. I always have this image of some lonely wanderer walking the streets of Paris....
Oreganoseasoner 3 years ago 4
This comment has received too many negative votes show
The WORST version ive heard ......... too STIFF --- Rushed --- I didnt liked it at all
astramistil1 3 years ago
????????????????????????????
Ankhsnammon
Ankhsnammon 3 years ago
Look hus playing it mate.
cgd147 3 years ago 2
So the worst version you've ever heard is the one performed by the man, one of the greatest composers ever, who wrote it? Quite a statement; a moronic statement.
billystewart4 3 years ago 31
@billystewart4 no... it's a taste statement. You can't judge tastes, can you ?
Beaudereck 1 year ago
@Beaudereck No definitely moronic.
lmslms7 1 year ago
@billystewart4 The best version I've heard of this was by a drunk Billy Crystal in a downtown bar in Brooklyn last week. Billy had a kazoo up his ass and he brought the entire fucking house down. Debussy doesn't need defending ;-)
HenrySwanson420 1 year ago
@billystewart4
lool
thegreatestbak3 1 year ago
Do you know anything about music at all?
superbemaison 3 years ago
lol
cannedkitty 3 years ago
I love this piece. Debussy had a great many wonderful, beautiful compositions for piano, but this has to be one of the most beautiful, most perfect. And to hear it as he played it, what a gift. Debussy was a genius.
Thank you d60944. This is a delight.
billystewart4 3 years ago
Very cool indeed. The dynamics, nuances are all in tact. The roll has survied well. Its excellent to hear how the man played it him self reproduced on a decent recording.
VVendettaz 3 years ago
à 1'47 une ouverture étrange... Du meilleur Debussy
floorembden 3 years ago
How fascinating it is to hear the composer play his piece. Wonderful. Thanks.
stephenTGV 3 years ago 3