Claude Debussy: Nocturnes - Clouds

[fadedflage]

Fruity, yet tannic

[Dally3232]

Such warmth, yet so distant...

[248miguelangel]

Música de otro mundo; sensaciones puras, el arte por el arte.

[gamershrader]

T.T i cant sit through this without getting tired

[cliffworks4321]

@gamershrader try notating it, or even reading the score, i promise you won't get tired!

[LivingWallflower]

@marla

[marla4634]

what key is this??

[JonathanMartinovici]

@marla4634 It sounds like it starts in B minor. But it changes rather freely. Debussy's music can be taken as being, in that sense, atonal (without a tonal centre, or key).

[cliffworks4321]

@JonathanMartinovici what's cool about Debussy is from a theoretical perspective it's all logical, he was a harmonic master, nothing is done at random, how the hell did he hear that stuff? how / what did he practice? where did he get inspiration? it's not like he could listen to recordings, watch you tube, imagine sitting at his side while he played. ditto for all the masters, e.g what kind of dude was Chopin?

[Nermalton77]

Wow i feel like i am in a grey world made of shadows.. like memories..

[PUTRIDFECALPUS]

Musica que no se escucha sino que se siente, si los momentos de oscura reflexion e inspiracion tuvieran musica, esta obra sin duda haria parte de la banda sonora de la vida.

[florchiponchi]

@PUTRIDFECALPUS la verdad es increíble su música

[PUTRIDFECALPUS]

muy buena musica great music

[AlC92575]

His music isnt the least bit threatening. Almost organic.

[metafrost]

Thank you. One of my favorite composers. I was in a symphony when I was younger. We played La Mer and we even played it like it should sound! Worked hard but it was worth it, his stuff is just gorgeous.

[GaaliDurne]

Am I the only one who hears this as if it were out of Shadows of the Colossus?

[JACK8L8D]

2:03 - 2:23 vapourised me.

[Priscila5906]

THIS is MUSIC!

[uneedtherapy42]

wow I am in good company here... you folks are just as obsessed with Debussy as I am...

[katarzynasielczak]

To jest genialnee . Uwielbiam go . !

[dandaily4]

For me, the beginning sounded like Tatooine from Star Wars.

[cuparinos]

@dandaily4 Listen to the opening of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (The second part).

[dandaily4]

@cuparinos Wow, you're right!

[aikidoka00]

@dandaily4 Right on dandaily, def get a KOTOR vibe, this music was so ahead of its time.

[LittlewingKD]

I know I love his works too , I compare him to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, just simply exquisite, I can almost see Jesus walking on the Water, it takes me to where angels dance and sing. I often wonder what sort of music Michael Angelo would have created if he had been a musician instead of an artist. God's performers.......

[kvnlmn]

damn im trying to listen to this masterpiece and my sister is playing the piano so loud, cnt hear sht!

[bersa888]

If you fell asleep while listening to it, then you weren't listening ;-)

[SuperMmendoza]

If You watched "Edward Scissorhands" you can notice the similarities between Danny Elfman'soundtracks and Debussy

[salutemyshortsnow]

@SuperMmendoza Yes! I've thought this for so many years!

[elainebmack]

The similarities to Beauty and the Beast, Sweeney Todd, and other more modern popular movies and shows is due to the fact that modern composers were inspired by great composers of the past, like Claude Debussy.

[elainebmack]

The English horn play the same theme over and over., but it's the music around that theme that changes. Wonderful writing. So much beauty done with so little effort.

[MatthewLedZepfan]

The motive is amazingly affective

[MatthewLedZepfan]

This is haunting yet comforting, and scary yet beautiful...

[uneedtherapy42]

@MatthewLedZepfan great comment Matthew... could not have said it better! 

[MatthewLedZepfan]

@uneedtherapy42 thanks!

[MatthewLedZepfan]

Its a shame that piece isn't the first thing to pop up in search

[Thedrewsiff]

Brilliant. Beautiful symphonic poetry.

[skellez83]

beauty and the beast...

[RoyalBlue43]

@skellez83 yea i noticed that too, sounds much like beauty and teh beast..

[freddieedwards100]

THATS WICKIDDY WICKIDDY WACK

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane Don't mind me anyway I haven't bothered to sit through the entire rite of spring. your probably right (no pun intended)

[elainebmack]

I am enjoying the comments on this page. So many people think they don't know or like classical music, but here it is, and it touches the soul and stirs the imagination of all who hear it, especially this piece. It sounds familiar because composers for film grew up hearing classical music, and it inspired them to write fine music that sounds like this. I am happy that so many listeners of all ages are enjoying this.

[misscutesy69]

so relaxing

gotta listen to this for my 20th century music class x0

[spartin2508]

@misscutesy69 haha yeah me too

[Astrobeat17]

The piece kind of reminds me of Sinfonia Antarctica by Vaughn Williams.

[whack47]

"Howdy, my name is Debussy and my head is shaped funny" That's what he says.

[Kurtlane]

I hear Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in this. Am I crazy?

[ShemTheSham]

@Kurtlane - no, dude...I agree...it's probably because both Debussy and Stravinsky were warping tonality so much...squeezing it for it's last drops.

[nonconformist12]

@ShemTheSham Especially when the strings come in at first, I totally agree. Could be right out of the Rite. And I feel like Stravinsky must have stolen some of these colors, lol.

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane yes you are. But not because of this. these notes seem random because there is almost no tention, it doesn't lead the ear. in the rite of spring, there is so much tention and no resolve, so it does not lead the ear. they both have the same effect, but go about it in opposite ways.

[Kurtlane]

@19ZeldaLover95, there are certain passages in Right of Spring that seem to me very similar. Particularly in the very beginning, but also some other places where there is little or no rhythm.

It's not just randomness, lots of music of that time and later has random passages, and yet sounds different.

I guess it is the sqeezing of tonality: the same sort of squeezing.

(cont.)

[Kurtlane]

There are rhythmic similarities too. Of course, this is very relaxed, and the Rite is very intense, but if you isolate its relaxed bits (there are many) or play it at quarter speed, you will hear similarities. Little dropped-off rhythms. Debussy just lets them drop off, Stravinsky also does sometimes, but more often constructs complex super-rhythms from them.

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane super-rhythms?

[Kurtlane]

@19ZeldaLover95, whatever they are called. Sorry, I'm not a musicologist.

You are fine :-)

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane neither am i, Im a fifteen year old kid.

[Kurtlane]

@19ZeldaLover95, Wow! Fifteen year old. You are smart. And interested in good things.

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane thanx! how old r u?

[Kurtlane]

@19ZeldaLover95, I am 50.

[RogueRotting360]

@Kurtlane Listen to 'Mystic Circles of the Maidens' from Le Sacre, if you want to hear a clear Debussy influence on early Stravinsky.

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane not implying that they were random, but they are structured in a different way than is normal to what one hears every day.

[Kurtlane]

@19ZeldaLover95,

Here, for example:

watch?v=vb8njeKBfqw

At 7:40 - 8:40

Sounds very much like "Clouds." Doesn't it?

[19ZeldaLover95]

@Kurtlane  wow your rite! they do sound alot the same!

[lemurianchick]

Isn't this from La Mer? Sheesh...

[mrcdaniels]

oh man when the piece hits 1:04 my heart melts..

[lemurianchick]

@mrcdaniels : Huh? Why? No big whoop at that point...

[LoUdBuNnYs4EvEr]

i can barely hear this.....................

[billyguns2]

The tempo is rather fast here; who is the conductor?

[chejacko]

i love debussy. claire de lune breaks my heart. virtuoso pianist with a quite tragic life. he was a naughty frenchman with women. one of his wives shot herself in the chest and survived in the place de la concorde.

[anabellajinglebells]

This song is the whole reason that a world I created for a fantasy novel is so messed up and creepy. I love it to bits!

[dorkydork98]

Does this remind anyone of the music in Carmen Sandiego? As in the computer game for kids? (HAHA) It kinda gives me the same feeling.

[MatheusRLS]

4:40 - 5:23 is really beautyful

[maliboucoco]

lol was also thinking of Beauty and the Beast! funny...but more seriously, that music takes me into another world each time I listen to it! that's beyond words, so I don't even try to explain :) but just because I'm a dancer and not a musician, have a look to this video, sure you'll enjoy it: Nuages (Claro de Luna): Dorothee Gilbert-Manuel Legris

[Euphanda]

xoxoRiverTamxoxo:

I heard this in my music analysis class and was like...hmmm, this sounds familiar, and I thought OMG BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! Thank you for confirming that I'm not the only one who thought of that. :)

[saxybeast08]

If you listen to Camille Saint-Saens' Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals it also sounds exactly like Beauty and the Beast.

[avroma2]

Try to listen to the song while you watch the sky. (:

[africkle1]

at night.... in france

[yourforte]

Beautiful.

[adstahr]

1 of my new favorite pieces,,,RIP Debussy

[GabizzaVonDizz]

so relaxing and in a strange way it makes me cry...

[malondo7]

This music is skeeery =:oo..don't listen to it in the dark!...lol..Seriously.I love Debussy..so many of his compositions are eerily beautiful...many simply beautiful!..Music that haunts the imagination

[nickoicool]

@malondo7 Very good way to put it. It totally haunts the imagination!

[jacoclaypool666]

does anyone else notice the similarities between those first few chords and the ballad of sweeney todd? the swing your razor part anyway?

[xoxoRiverTamxoxo]

Yeah! And also the beginning of Beauty & the beast. Strange ^_^

Beautiful song :)

[ssukys09]

@jacoclaypool666

I actually wrote a paper on the similarities haha

[danzdaman128]

@jacoclaypool666 it's from a gregorian chant "dires ire" (day of wrath). it symbolizes death in a variety of musical pieces.

[mstrmilhanos]

@jacoclaypool666 this music was used in many soundtracks! For example Bambi! Interview with an vampire!

[ThisIsntOverBaby]

@jacoclaypool666 <3

[budderbuddie]

@jacoclaypool666 i hear beauty and the beast!! in the very beginning before the narrator tells the story.

[MrKain1000]

@jacoclaypool666 I thought the EXACT SAME thing when I had to listen to this for class. Nice spotting!

[salutemyshortsnow]

@jacoclaypool666 Yes. In fact, much of Debussy's work reminds me of Danny Elfman's work.

[amazingwave]

@jacoclaypool666 yes

[Jenken12]

@jacoclaypool666 Yes! I was thinking the very same thing.

[drumlife1]

@jacoclaypool666 yes. i bet they developed it from this!

[Hektor88]

@jacoclaypool666 A late response, but as for Sweeney Todd, I think Elfman borrowed from the "Dies Irae," an old Gregorian chant used as part of the requiem mass (funerals), which had apocalyptic lyrics. The melody was often borrowed by composers, so Elfman was paying homage to the old masters with that. It is also possible Debussy was knowingly borrowing from the same chant at the beginning of this piece.

[MuseDuCafe]

@Hektor88 Yes, Except Sweeney Todd is by Stephan Sondheim, not Mr. Elfman....

[Hektor88]

@MuseDuCafe You're right. Woops!

[FuntimeVideoChannel]

@Hektor88........elfman is a hack....homage? don't make me laugh.

[JURGMANDR]

@jacoclaypool666 actually  yeah, I do.

[asserahs]

gives me shivers

awesome

[crinkles777]

f*ck, i love claude debussy XD

[way2muchNFO]

@crinkles777 so do i

so do 

[billyguns2]

Would you please tell us the name of the conductor and orchestra so that they might be given their due respect, and also so that we might be able to purchase this lovely performance?

[mickeyandminniemouse]

There are some pieces of the soundtrack for the SNES game Act Raiser that may take some influences off of this work. This piece is one of my favorite orchestral works ever.

[shiggityshake]

Yuzo Koshiro's Actraiser score always reminds me of Debussy as well. Especially the Orchestral Suite versions. That game still has one of the best soundtracks in a game ever, even considering the limitations of the SNES in 1991.

[davasseconasse]

Debussy is my favorite above all the others, simply genius.

[mattg098]

oh cool, this is in the movie Count of Monte Cristo alot

[xoxoRiverTamxoxo]

Just so dreamlike, it is glorious. It sounds like something that would be at the beggining of one of the older Disney movies? Beautiful. Thank you for uploading! :)

[parsley2012]

any way we can get the mp3?

[austin85cw]

I just record Youtube audio with Goldwave. Play and record, like recording the radio onto a cassette.

[lorenzarthur91]

a better way: download the DVD VideoSoft Free Studio, and install all features. Than use " Free Youtube to MP3 converter".

[solitariocamel]

SKINS MAN !

[MarchaON]

Thanks for this.. Relaxing...

[clowicous]

It really is a beautiful piece. I swear I have heard this on a movie or at least something similar to it ... anyone know? Thanks for this.

[Clittl15]

This beginning sounds similar to Sweeney Todd's theme which is awkward, lol, but other than that I have no clue....

[melissa8951]

Sounds like the beginning of Beauty and the Beast.. Except that it is highly ornamented in the Disney Movie.... Let me know what you think :)

[sairinkatatsubasa]

@Clittl15 and melissa8951:

I agree no less than that, because that was exactly what I thought of when I first heard it.

And I would like to add the PS2 game, Shadow of the Colossus, to the sounds of familiarity of this lovely piece by Debussy. =]

[rihnem]

I thought the intro to Beauty and the Beast was from The Aquarium in Carnival of the Animals.

[JustJudy29]

swing your razor high, sweeney...

some copywork by mr sondheim

[Clittl15]

I'm glad someone else thought of that!

[azintp]

this is beautiful.

[HubertBlack]

its really gooood song.