thanks, just like todays teenagers think anyone over thirty is a dinosour, even thou they invented most everything, i didn't know rolls had so much dynamics,
@ugli1 Hahaha so funny...Debussy is dead in 1918, 30 years before John Carpenter XD And you say that he stole his music? You better go read before posting such thing haha
"Debussy makes important changes to the music here, doubling the tempo when bars are notated in 3/2 (the prevailing tempo being 6/4)." Where are the bars where he changes the tempo to 3/2.... like at m. 7? it's def not written in here specifically... (Alfred,Henle, Durand/Dover? Editions)
@tinkleneko It is just where the notation implies it. If you looks, some bars are written in a clear 6-crotchets-to-the-bar (eg. the opening). Whereas other bars are written as 3-minims-to-the-bar. Debussy performs these bars using the same underlying pulse here. So the duration of a crotchet in bar 1 becomes a minim in another bar.
Anyone else bothered by the fact that almost every classical music video page is littered by twilight because a classical piece was played in the movie for all of 15 seconds????
@borgzooka Actually I know Debussy because of Twilight and I'm thankful. If not for Twilight all I would have heard in terms of classical music would be the usual, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart. I like Twilight alot, one might even say I love it. I don't comment about it every Debussy video.
Debussy tended to play too quickly to cover up his technical deficiencies. For the definitive interpretation listen to Cortot or Michelangeli. For my money Michelangeli is the best - he was the one I modelled myself upon whlist studying. There is, however, no right or wrong.
I've played a piece where we played it at the marked tempo, and the composer himself said that we were playing it too slow, and said that he liked it better at a faster tempo. It's all open to interpretation. Someone saying that it's 'being played too fast' is just a critique and it should be open for them to say so even if it is the composer playing it.
Perfectly played. Not surprising, since it's Debussy himself. I don't normally hear it played much slower than this though. This is around the tempo I usually play it
Class on Youtube is refreshing but somewhat uncofortable for me. I'm a rocker but was brought up to worship Beethoven! How so wrong! (For me) Debussy, I find myself obsessed with.
I love this so much. Thinking of the cathedral rising majestically above the water, it makes me think of the hope for all mankind that its fortunes will be revived in this new age, that all the sorrows will disappear once and for all, forever.
It's always nice to hear the work as the composer intended, so thank you for posting this. I've heard several renditions now, but this is the only one that takes parts at a fast tempo, which really adds to the sense of wonder and excitement one would feel at seeing the cathedral rising.
@AdobeGillis He might have been one. I remember Wassily Kandinsky (artist, painter of this time) was and many of the abstractionists were but I honestly dunno if Debussy was a theosophist.
es cierto que no es quizá la versión a la que estamos acostumbrados, la versión: es genial-ES DEL COMPOSITOR (quienes son ustedes para hacer esas críticas?)
@MrChonirta I'd say that is a little introduction to him. There was three sentences written about Debussy himself, not four paragraphs. Why do I bother? Trolls will troll.
I used to be somewhat mystified about Impressionistic music in general, so I avoided it, but then my Theory teacher played this on the piano for us. I'm pretty much in love with this piece now. I especially love the parts representing the underwater features of the church, like the organ and bells.
The only way to make the bells sound like bells, or the fast tide to sound like rushing water, is to be at this speed. Even so, I like slower versions too; my criteria as a listener is, does the musician care about the music? My father used to play impressionist music just a little slower, but close to this; he also didn't rush pieces just to show off. Music is between the notes. I have always loved this piece. Thank you.
@d60944 Any kind! I suppose structural/formal is what interests me most. The harmony is interesting too, but it's nothing out of the ordinary for debussy...
Hello, I'm looking for an structural, harmonic and shenkerian analysis of this piece for my - analysis class, can you tell me where can I find one! please!
@MERTx123 It's said that you can only analyse Debussi by breaking his compositions into several parts. It's impossible to analyse the whole thing as one single piece. Debussy's mark is made of his constant change of tune and nuances.
I actually prefer this piece at this faster tempo, while slower versions are more airy and atmospheric, at this tempo the piece still has that dreamlike quality while it actually feels like it's goings somewhere, as opposed to slowed down when it just doesn't feel anywhere near cohesive enough to hold together. Plus, this is Debussy's own piano roll, and as a composer myself I can tell you he would have tried the piece at at numerous speeds to find out what worked best.
Honestly, there are always certain qualities to a piece of music that satisfy us. Maybe the composer won't hit on those, but when someone does, it opens up a whole new interpretation. The player won't be doing exactly what the composer wrote, but it's the piece in the end.
Rubato and Ad Libitum is to the player's discretion. I love it, you may not, beauty is to the eye of the beholder, music is to the ear of the listener
I have a recording of Debussy's piano roll, everything is exactly the same - tone, dynamics, and articulation. Except this is sped up for some reason. It's about a minute shorter!
It's funny how this "experts" try to correct the interpretation of the COMPOSER HIMSELF. I don't now if they are being arrogant or just ignorant, probably both.
Where did you get this recording? I'd really like to find a better-quality recording of the Debussy piano roll playing his own compositions... Probably not on iTunes, huh?
This is so great -- from the master himself. I, too, and so tired of the slow turgid versions out there. I'm playing this myself now, and it's so liberating to hear this and reinforces what I really would like to do. Hooray!
@MrPintGlass pling, plong plong pling....it's all a bit too over expressed and a bit under constructed, the holes and simplicity are lethargic and shmaltzy and too arty farty. All in all over'rated pish.
The scores were annotated by the composer on the way to play each piece of music, in this case in French, "Profondément calme", which means something like "Deeply quiet". And I think precisely this interpretation is not enough quiet, not a problem of rhythm, but of intensity. (it's just my opinion)
I read in a music book about the Welte Mignon rolls and immediately Googled. I've got the idea that Debussy's pieces are often played (much) too fast, either by show-boating players, or just because our times are hasty. And that's bad, because Debussy's music has a great harmonic touch of magic, which must be allowed to "hang" in the air. Your upload proves me I was right :-)
@888167 A lot of people who play piano pieces today do so very slowly and spoil it. I suppose they think it makes it sound "better" and get way too over-emotional.
@acortot This piano being used to play the roll back is a restored 1923 Welte one (designed to go with the rolls). Not quite contmporary with Debussy, but most definitely not a modern one - it will be quite close to the original.
The reference to 19thC is about the piano playing (the style, technique, etc. was part of the 19th C schools, formed and immersed in that - and is not a "20th C" style of playing), not the date of the composition.
Debussy did indeed compose more in the 19th century, but his preludes date from 1910 onwards, and so are classified as 20th century pieces. He was a 'cusp of the century' composer, one could say... and he was certainly revolutionary enough in his use of chords etc that one may discuss his music under the "1900-1945" label if one wanted to.
This piece is my favorite piece by Debussy. Debussy is my favorite composer. Im reading through his preludes again, and they are all amazing but playing this one makes you feel like your going through a religious experience. I love it
This is my b.f.'s Tom's favourite composition by Achille Claude Debussy. Here you will here it played by the composer himself and the quality of the sound has been adequately restored. I am trying to learn it, but somehow I find Debussy difficult to play. Nevertheless, I shall keep trying until I master 'La Cathedrale engloutie', if only to please Tom...Marcel Dupratil (French teenager, Marseille, France)
On this piece Debussy shows his high genius as a composer and as a pianist. No other pianist captures the magic of this piece..I am surprised its on youtube.
You should hear it on my tube system wiith Thor Seas speakers/tube CD player
MASTER!
also ck out Virol here on youtube playing Debussy's Arabesque1,,she is 10 yrs old!! Pure poetic grace.
the finest, to my critical ears of that piece.
WOW here Debussy captures old world charm, where time has no clock, opposed to modern time.
i'm also surprised it's on youtube, and glad of it :)
i used to play this piece years ago when i was taking piano lessons. i miss playing it alot, i think i'm going to start playing again just so i can play this piece... and many others hehe
ok I will bow to your greater knowledge d60944. I've listened to a lot of piano rolls and because of it, I know that tempo is not always right.
acoustic records are easier to verify because of a singer's formant at about 3,000 hz, resonances of the piano that don't depend on tuning (like the 62 and 90 hz soundboard resonances).
i'm not knocking you, I'm just knocking people that say "It's a piano roll of course it's the right tempo!"
dear bonerici, please enlighten me as to how to hear these 62 and 90 hz soundboard resonances, and what the hell they are... since I've been transcribing old piano recordings for years and I would LOVE to be able to easily determine what key they are ACTUALLY playing in! Please send me a PM.
right d60944 I agree it's a welte, but you know it is a piano roll and they are supposed to run at 70 feet per minute, but there is ZERO way to tell for sure it was recorded at 70fpm, it might have been 60 fpm and on playback it would sound fast. It's a limitation of all the piano rolls, they don't record tempo, the tempo is written BY HAND on the roll and it could be wrong.
The early Welte system used (red), was generally reliable for getting the speed right - they took great pains over it. Other rolls makers do indeed have a greater latitude, and I do know of Welte rolls that seem to be at compeltely the wrong speed... that said, these Debussy rolls seem consistent. One can usually hear a wrong speed by the way in which rhythms get "jerky" (when too slow), or the pedalling stops making sense (when too fast or too slow). What makes you suspect the tempo here?
Incidentally, given that A=440 was not firmly established in the period, and that "78 rpm" records and cylinders had various playback speeds until into at least the 1920s...... what do you make of the reliability of even acoustic records? ;-)
Er - I think you mean 7 feet per minute = Tempo 70. But Welte may have had their own tempo standard based on some German measure rather than Imperial. In any event, with most rolls it's easy to deduce the correct tempo just by listening to it several times at different speeds.
guys! This is a PIANO ROLL. Which means there is a motor (well in the old days it was spun by hand) but anyway there's a crank. on the recording piano it was probably done at 70fpm but who knows how fast the tempo knob was at? I'm saying DONT trust the tempo on player pianos u just dont know.
This is not a player piano roll. It is a Welte reproducing piano roll. The technology (apart from both using paper rolls) is a world apart. Welte rolls were recorded using an electric motor to turn the roll and using electrical currents to detect how the keys were pressed down, and how the pedalling was done, etc., etc. This electronic information was then converted into analogue perforations on a paper roll. Playback at a piano revereses the process.
It is very accurate, if the roll and piano are in good condition. The thing missing is proper conveying of nuances of inner chordal voicings and subtle elements of piano tone.
That's true. Of course the piano tone depends upon which piano the roll is played on, and it may have a very different tone than the piano upon which Debussy played to make the original roll.
Certainly, the Welte system of recording note lengths and dynamics for each individual note was electric, very clever, and very novel (see the article in the most recent AMICA bulletin). HOWEVER, contrary the incorrect liner notes to some of the earlier (1950's and 60s) recordings of Welte rolls, The Welte playback instruments (vorsetzers, inner-players, and cabinet pianos) ALL use a regular (though finely-made) pneumatic system and hole-punched rolls.
The reason that "Red Welte" rolls sound so good is that they had a fine "granularity" or number of hole punches possible per foot of paper, and always played at a constant speed which, unlike practically every other player and "reproducing" piano, was fixed and not easily adjustable. The Welte rolls were all meant to play at this constant factory speed. Finally, the editors who converted the 88 dynamic tracks recorded into the two tracks (bass and treble) of the finished roll, were the best.
Other reproducing piano companies such as Ampico and Duo-Art very often used a simple marking piano to take down the pianist's notes sans dynamics, with a person hidden behind a curtain writing down the dynamics as the person played! Many pop rolls of these companies were originally 88-note rolls with expression added later by an unrelated musician!
I'm playing this right now and there is a marking in the piece about the half note section beginning with the E. I personally play it a tad slower, but I think the way he played it was better than I'll ever play it.
Just as a side note, although some may think Debussy took liberties to his own pieces, I am sure he still wanted everyone to have their own interpretation of it. If you didn't know he wrote the title of his pieces at the end so that way the performer wouldn't be in the mind set of "This is supposed to sound like this..." He wanted the performer to play it the way they think it should be played.
I'm a bit confused as with what to do with the doubling tempo thing. I'm aware that it has a lot to do with interpretation, but what do you think if i doubled only the part around 0:45 as he has done, and then for the 1:40 part play it at the slower tempo...so a mixture of the two? Let me know please :)
thanks, just like todays teenagers think anyone over thirty is a dinosour, even thou they invented most everything, i didn't know rolls had so much dynamics,
JazzKeyboardist1 1 day ago
Where did you find this recording? Is it part of a set?
zzBillyz 1 day ago in playlist Favorite videos
Listening to this piece makes me wish an Engulfed Cathedral actually existed. I would love to see the imagery set to this piece.
Balmung115 1 week ago
anyone know what the title translates into? I don't know french.
ezt123dp 3 weeks ago
@ezt123dp the sunken cathedral :)
monamia19 3 weeks ago
Clearly this guy stole the music from John Carpenter. Clearly.
ugli1 4 weeks ago
@ugli1 Hahaha so funny...Debussy is dead in 1918, 30 years before John Carpenter XD And you say that he stole his music? You better go read before posting such thing haha
drummerbobbob 2 weeks ago
"Debussy makes important changes to the music here, doubling the tempo when bars are notated in 3/2 (the prevailing tempo being 6/4)." Where are the bars where he changes the tempo to 3/2.... like at m. 7? it's def not written in here specifically... (Alfred,Henle, Durand/Dover? Editions)
tinkleneko 1 month ago
@tinkleneko It is just where the notation implies it. If you looks, some bars are written in a clear 6-crotchets-to-the-bar (eg. the opening). Whereas other bars are written as 3-minims-to-the-bar. Debussy performs these bars using the same underlying pulse here. So the duration of a crotchet in bar 1 becomes a minim in another bar.
d60944 1 month ago
debussy kinda looks like ricky gervais
gleetooth 1 month ago
wow a miracle has happened! youtube isnt recomending me any video on the side! thanks god! thanks now im freeeeeeeee
fachawassi 2 months ago
Anyone else bothered by the fact that almost every classical music video page is littered by twilight because a classical piece was played in the movie for all of 15 seconds????
borgzooka 2 months ago
@borgzooka Actually I know Debussy because of Twilight and I'm thankful. If not for Twilight all I would have heard in terms of classical music would be the usual, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart. I like Twilight alot, one might even say I love it. I don't comment about it every Debussy video.
blingblingshineshine 2 weeks ago
Perfect! Love listening to this on a winter's blue gloaming while drinking hot tea.
mconeillster 2 months ago
the people who disliked this must only listen to bad dubstep.
hellsdivine 3 months ago 2
Ricky Gervais
popomczowzow 3 months ago
WTF is this great Minecraft music!
xDirection01 4 months ago
one of the most spine-tingling moments in my life at 1:55
pop9900 4 months ago
Debussy tended to play too quickly to cover up his technical deficiencies. For the definitive interpretation listen to Cortot or Michelangeli. For my money Michelangeli is the best - he was the one I modelled myself upon whlist studying. There is, however, no right or wrong.
huddsskin 4 months ago
I've played a piece where we played it at the marked tempo, and the composer himself said that we were playing it too slow, and said that he liked it better at a faster tempo. It's all open to interpretation. Someone saying that it's 'being played too fast' is just a critique and it should be open for them to say so even if it is the composer playing it.
Schwanheld 5 months ago
Perfectly played. Not surprising, since it's Debussy himself. I don't normally hear it played much slower than this though. This is around the tempo I usually play it
zzyzybynsky 5 months ago
Class on Youtube is refreshing but somewhat uncofortable for me. I'm a rocker but was brought up to worship Beethoven! How so wrong! (For me) Debussy, I find myself obsessed with.
floydzepdeep 5 months ago
@floydzepdeep yeah. B sucks. You should explore Scriabin and for now you should Listen to Ravel Ondine. It's piano too.
aardvaark069 5 months ago
Class on Youtube is refreshing but somewhat uncofortable
floydzepdeep 5 months ago
Debussy phrases this piece so beautifully. I prefer slower interpretations, but the latter half is probably my favorite version of the piece.
KapustaCuber 6 months ago
I love this so much. Thinking of the cathedral rising majestically above the water, it makes me think of the hope for all mankind that its fortunes will be revived in this new age, that all the sorrows will disappear once and for all, forever.
iansdigby 7 months ago
Comment removed
Preator 7 months ago
very flowing piece... :)
charlesbai123 7 months ago
I hear the Alkan trickling through, very clearly, actually.
hellomate639 7 months ago
Thanks so much, we love great calming music like this....
dansing124 7 months ago
Never a bad moment with Debussy.
EddieLandreth 8 months ago
I love the rhythm and the combination of the tones! 2 thumbs up for claude debussy !!
15maLLowgIrl15 8 months ago 7
10 deaf peaople disliked the video
adv20 8 months ago 3
This reminds me of my grandmother.(:
@Nellirubina I second that.
NowhereGirl96 8 months ago
It's always nice to hear the work as the composer intended, so thank you for posting this. I've heard several renditions now, but this is the only one that takes parts at a fast tempo, which really adds to the sense of wonder and excitement one would feel at seeing the cathedral rising.
Again, thank you for posting!
DarkPhantomJedi 9 months ago 2
Was he a theosophist?
AdobeGillis 9 months ago
@AdobeGillis He might have been one. I remember Wassily Kandinsky (artist, painter of this time) was and many of the abstractionists were but I honestly dunno if Debussy was a theosophist.
beaboop7 9 months ago
@beaboop7 Thanks.
AdobeGillis 9 months ago
es cierto que no es quizá la versión a la que estamos acostumbrados, la versión: es genial-ES DEL COMPOSITOR (quienes son ustedes para hacer esas críticas?)
iagofranqueira 10 months ago
We just analyzed this in my theory class today and aaahhhh, so beautiful.
walikeheke 10 months ago
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MrChonirta 1 year ago
Comment removed
MrChonirta 1 year ago
@MrChonirta I'd say that is a little introduction to him. There was three sentences written about Debussy himself, not four paragraphs. Why do I bother? Trolls will troll.
Kenjamin86 1 year ago
1:44 - 1:48
soytuono 1 year ago 2
@soytuono my thoughts exactly!
1977Animals1 11 months ago
@1977Animals1 its a very beautiful moment :)
soytuono 11 months ago
@1977Animals1 glad im not the only one^^
soytuono 2 months ago
I used to be somewhat mystified about Impressionistic music in general, so I avoided it, but then my Theory teacher played this on the piano for us. I'm pretty much in love with this piece now. I especially love the parts representing the underwater features of the church, like the organ and bells.
eringobragh91 1 year ago
The only way to make the bells sound like bells, or the fast tide to sound like rushing water, is to be at this speed. Even so, I like slower versions too; my criteria as a listener is, does the musician care about the music? My father used to play impressionist music just a little slower, but close to this; he also didn't rush pieces just to show off. Music is between the notes. I have always loved this piece. Thank you.
bigposercroise 1 year ago
Where could I find a detailed analysis of this piece? I'm very interested in it and I'd like to compare my analysis to that of others
MERTx123 1 year ago
@MERTx123 What *kind* of analysis do you want? Structural? Harmonic? Pseudo-Schenkerian? Thematic? etc.?
d60944 1 year ago
@d60944 Any kind! I suppose structural/formal is what interests me most. The harmony is interesting too, but it's nothing out of the ordinary for debussy...
MERTx123 1 year ago
Comment removed
armiga 1 year ago
@d60944
I'm looking for an structural, harmonic, schenkerian analysis of this piece for my - analysis class! do you know where can I find one?
armiga 1 year ago
armiga
Hello, I'm looking for an structural, harmonic and shenkerian analysis of this piece for my - analysis class, can you tell me where can I find one! please!
armiga 1 year ago
@d60944 SHMRG!!!!
toolateforcofee 4 months ago
@MERTx123 Coincidentally, I'm also doing an analysis on this piece for a class I'm in.
xHerufaia 11 months ago
@MERTx123 There's a brilliant analysis in Benward & Saker 'Music In Theory & Practice' Vol 2 7th ed. p242 Hope this helps!
featherglider 6 months ago
@MERTx123
I literally just did a structural and harmonic analysis of this for a class...it wasn't too hard to do
janitor0protege 5 months ago
@MERTx123 wikipedia actually has a decent analysis of this song, believe it or not.
letebaguere 5 months ago
@MERTx123 It's said that you can only analyse Debussi by breaking his compositions into several parts. It's impossible to analyse the whole thing as one single piece. Debussy's mark is made of his constant change of tune and nuances.
borgesbacobass 3 days ago
I actually prefer this piece at this faster tempo, while slower versions are more airy and atmospheric, at this tempo the piece still has that dreamlike quality while it actually feels like it's goings somewhere, as opposed to slowed down when it just doesn't feel anywhere near cohesive enough to hold together. Plus, this is Debussy's own piano roll, and as a composer myself I can tell you he would have tried the piece at at numerous speeds to find out what worked best.
REDDAP 1 year ago 2
Honestly, there are always certain qualities to a piece of music that satisfy us. Maybe the composer won't hit on those, but when someone does, it opens up a whole new interpretation. The player won't be doing exactly what the composer wrote, but it's the piece in the end.
F1R1NMAHLAZAH 1 year ago
This is superb .... Debussy was a very talented pianist .... in addition of all his other talents. Thanks for posting this.
Baruchyoseph8 1 year ago
the following piano piece is very close to la cathedrale or inspired by it:
watch?v=BDR_SHf6GsA
gallowman20 1 year ago
I love this piece, the version for band is great too!
xKELBIx 1 year ago
Rubato and Ad Libitum is to the player's discretion. I love it, you may not, beauty is to the eye of the beholder, music is to the ear of the listener
ninijo1234 1 year ago
I found an interesting orchestral suite of this piano piece created by New Age artist Isao Tomita. Please check it out!
vdwest4592 1 year ago
I have a recording of Debussy's piano roll, everything is exactly the same - tone, dynamics, and articulation. Except this is sped up for some reason. It's about a minute shorter!
ADugas661 1 year ago
It's funny how this "experts" try to correct the interpretation of the COMPOSER HIMSELF. I don't now if they are being arrogant or just ignorant, probably both.
DMHR100 1 year ago
@DMHR100 Probably they're absent minded too...
iacomastro 1 year ago
hey hey hey! our marching show has this song in it!
redbrickwall95 1 year ago
It's so harmonic. <3 We listened to this in music class, and I had to look it up here =) Now it's on my ipod <3
AnImEheArTzZx3 1 year ago
Where did you get this recording? I'd really like to find a better-quality recording of the Debussy piano roll playing his own compositions... Probably not on iTunes, huh?
poojaloobaCow 1 year ago
Debussy needs little introduction. Just a 3 paragraph introduction.
lnicoll100 1 year ago
this is Debussy playing???
mikejr41387 1 year ago
This is so great -- from the master himself. I, too, and so tired of the slow turgid versions out there. I'm playing this myself now, and it's so liberating to hear this and reinforces what I really would like to do. Hooray!
globalmuse 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Bloody Pompous Crap
007bondspy 1 year ago
@007bondspy if you can't appreciate this, don't listen to it :P
MrPintGlass 1 year ago
@MrPintGlass a man of your intellegence defending this crap...tut tut...
007bondspy 1 year ago
@007bondspy mind expanding your point about how this is crap?
MrPintGlass 1 year ago
@MrPintGlass pling, plong plong pling....it's all a bit too over expressed and a bit under constructed, the holes and simplicity are lethargic and shmaltzy and too arty farty. All in all over'rated pish.
007bondspy 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@007bondspy You miss the point entirely.
stephencraigen 1 year ago
The scores were annotated by the composer on the way to play each piece of music, in this case in French, "Profondément calme", which means something like "Deeply quiet". And I think precisely this interpretation is not enough quiet, not a problem of rhythm, but of intensity. (it's just my opinion)
Meladriana 1 year ago
@Meladriana well since this is debussy playing hes own composition...
Destroyeric 1 year ago
La cathédrale engloutie - по-русски "Затонувший собор", слышу отголоски Мусоргского - "Картинки с выставки", тема прогулки
LevKonov 1 year ago
Deep emotion wells up from the chords. A genius of beauty and feeling. Debussy!
SCOTCHSOLACE 1 year ago
I read in a music book about the Welte Mignon rolls and immediately Googled. I've got the idea that Debussy's pieces are often played (much) too fast, either by show-boating players, or just because our times are hasty. And that's bad, because Debussy's music has a great harmonic touch of magic, which must be allowed to "hang" in the air. Your upload proves me I was right :-)
I read nothing here about a CD, is there...? Thx
Salebtuber 1 year ago 2
Is this the actual recording of Debussy?
hardiebm1 1 year ago
yes I love this piece too ! It really makes me think i'm in an other world !!
misspineapplegirl 1 year ago
I want to take a bath in this piece.
Nellirubina 1 year ago 51
I feel as if I'm lost in another space and time as if this was a merging of Ancient worlds filled with mythical magic.
EasternMerchant 1 year ago 2
@EasternMerchant
...no you don't.
gathyman 1 year ago
Didn't John Carpenter have a version of this for the main Theme for Escape from New York? I do like Dubussy and I just thought I would ask.
TheSodiumhaze 1 year ago
@TheSodiumhaze Yes. It plays when Snake pilots the glider into New York. It's also posted here on YT (search "debussy engulfed escape").
FrictionControl 1 year ago
this is beautiful.
vapid1000 2 years ago
Please excuse a stupid question, but does the French word 'engloutie' mean 'engulfed'?
steverlfs 2 years ago
@steverlfs
Engulfed, submerged, sunken etc. in this context, yes.
TheWanderingNight 2 years ago
Yes but I find "sunken" to be a better translation (I speak French).
snatchingthepiano 2 years ago
yes
abviolinplayer 2 years ago
love.
ek00rb 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
(LOL) Debussy's playing his own composition . . .at too fast a tempo (at 1:55 . . .) for the essential effect it's capable of embodying.
Just goes to prove . . . that artists don't necessarily (and in fact, rarely . . .) know what they are doing.
greenrate 2 years ago
@greenrate There are other explanations that may better justify a faster tempo than stating Debussy didn't know what he was doing.
ruxtomikron 2 years ago
that's STUPID!!!!
you can't tell the COMPOSER that he's playing too fast
888167 2 years ago 95
@888167 A lot of people who play piano pieces today do so very slowly and spoil it. I suppose they think it makes it sound "better" and get way too over-emotional.
raymangold22 11 months ago
@888167 thats absolute, no bullshit, banter.
BladeKempMusic 6 months ago
@BladeKempMusic ? english please
888167 6 months ago
@888167 you dont have to try and be clever; it was quite clearly english.
BladeKempMusic 6 months ago
@BladeKempMusic Well I'm not, I just don't get what u are saying.
f.i. what does banter mean?
And if u mean that it's no bullshit to say that the COMPOSER plays his OWN PIECE too fast, then think again.
You can say "4 me he's playing 2 fast I like it slower or something, but not HE'S PLAYING TOO FAST; THIS PIECE SHOULDN'T BE PLAYED LIKE THIS
888167 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@888167 actually i was agreeing with you
BladeKempMusic 6 months ago
@888167 Well if he says he didn't play it too fast, then you can tell him he wrote it wrong. :p
Sephern 5 months ago
or it goes to prove that everybody thinks they know better!
I much prefer this version to the boring academic interpretations, however full of essential effects..
the roll may have been a bit fast, maybe not..
pianos of debussy's time had less sustain, so these chords would die-off sooner.
acortot 2 years ago 2
@acortot This piano being used to play the roll back is a restored 1923 Welte one (designed to go with the rolls). Not quite contmporary with Debussy, but most definitely not a modern one - it will be quite close to the original.
d60944 2 years ago
20th century not 19 century change that up top
tonytrilex 2 years ago
It was 19th century actually, debussy composed more in the 19th than the 20th century.
samuelishmedia 2 years ago
Well, Debussy's famous Preludes were all written in the 20th century, and they're quite different from his previous compositions.
ruanpingshan 2 years ago
The reference to 19thC is about the piano playing (the style, technique, etc. was part of the 19th C schools, formed and immersed in that - and is not a "20th C" style of playing), not the date of the composition.
d60944 2 years ago
Debussy did indeed compose more in the 19th century, but his preludes date from 1910 onwards, and so are classified as 20th century pieces. He was a 'cusp of the century' composer, one could say... and he was certainly revolutionary enough in his use of chords etc that one may discuss his music under the "1900-1945" label if one wanted to.
UnoriginalJess92 2 years ago
This song was in Escape From New York.
Loader2K1 2 years ago
wanderfull!!!
giuseppeilgrande 2 years ago
Debussy is my favorite!
rockstarr2113 2 years ago
I thought you were a "rockstarr" :S
NeoVelocity 2 years ago
This piece is my favorite piece by Debussy. Debussy is my favorite composer. Im reading through his preludes again, and they are all amazing but playing this one makes you feel like your going through a religious experience. I love it
orianegr 2 years ago
This is my b.f.'s Tom's favourite composition by Achille Claude Debussy. Here you will here it played by the composer himself and the quality of the sound has been adequately restored. I am trying to learn it, but somehow I find Debussy difficult to play. Nevertheless, I shall keep trying until I master 'La Cathedrale engloutie', if only to please Tom...Marcel Dupratil (French teenager, Marseille, France)
Armenterosma 2 years ago
On this piece Debussy shows his high genius as a composer and as a pianist. No other pianist captures the magic of this piece..I am surprised its on youtube.
You should hear it on my tube system wiith Thor Seas speakers/tube CD player
MASTER!
also ck out Virol here on youtube playing Debussy's Arabesque1,,she is 10 yrs old!! Pure poetic grace.
the finest, to my critical ears of that piece.
WOW here Debussy captures old world charm, where time has no clock, opposed to modern time.
paulfbest 2 years ago 2
i'm also surprised it's on youtube, and glad of it :)
i used to play this piece years ago when i was taking piano lessons. i miss playing it alot, i think i'm going to start playing again just so i can play this piece... and many others hehe
jacknesky 2 years ago
ok I will bow to your greater knowledge d60944. I've listened to a lot of piano rolls and because of it, I know that tempo is not always right.
acoustic records are easier to verify because of a singer's formant at about 3,000 hz, resonances of the piano that don't depend on tuning (like the 62 and 90 hz soundboard resonances).
i'm not knocking you, I'm just knocking people that say "It's a piano roll of course it's the right tempo!"
bonerici 2 years ago
dear bonerici, please enlighten me as to how to hear these 62 and 90 hz soundboard resonances, and what the hell they are... since I've been transcribing old piano recordings for years and I would LOVE to be able to easily determine what key they are ACTUALLY playing in! Please send me a PM.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
right d60944 I agree it's a welte, but you know it is a piano roll and they are supposed to run at 70 feet per minute, but there is ZERO way to tell for sure it was recorded at 70fpm, it might have been 60 fpm and on playback it would sound fast. It's a limitation of all the piano rolls, they don't record tempo, the tempo is written BY HAND on the roll and it could be wrong.
bonerici 2 years ago
The early Welte system used (red), was generally reliable for getting the speed right - they took great pains over it. Other rolls makers do indeed have a greater latitude, and I do know of Welte rolls that seem to be at compeltely the wrong speed... that said, these Debussy rolls seem consistent. One can usually hear a wrong speed by the way in which rhythms get "jerky" (when too slow), or the pedalling stops making sense (when too fast or too slow). What makes you suspect the tempo here?
d60944 2 years ago
Incidentally, given that A=440 was not firmly established in the period, and that "78 rpm" records and cylinders had various playback speeds until into at least the 1920s...... what do you make of the reliability of even acoustic records? ;-)
d60944 2 years ago
Er - I think you mean 7 feet per minute = Tempo 70. But Welte may have had their own tempo standard based on some German measure rather than Imperial. In any event, with most rolls it's easy to deduce the correct tempo just by listening to it several times at different speeds.
RollaArtis 2 years ago
guys! This is a PIANO ROLL. Which means there is a motor (well in the old days it was spun by hand) but anyway there's a crank. on the recording piano it was probably done at 70fpm but who knows how fast the tempo knob was at? I'm saying DONT trust the tempo on player pianos u just dont know.
bonerici 2 years ago
This is not a player piano roll. It is a Welte reproducing piano roll. The technology (apart from both using paper rolls) is a world apart. Welte rolls were recorded using an electric motor to turn the roll and using electrical currents to detect how the keys were pressed down, and how the pedalling was done, etc., etc. This electronic information was then converted into analogue perforations on a paper roll. Playback at a piano revereses the process.
d60944 2 years ago
It is very accurate, if the roll and piano are in good condition. The thing missing is proper conveying of nuances of inner chordal voicings and subtle elements of piano tone.
d60944 2 years ago
That's true. Of course the piano tone depends upon which piano the roll is played on, and it may have a very different tone than the piano upon which Debussy played to make the original roll.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
Certainly, the Welte system of recording note lengths and dynamics for each individual note was electric, very clever, and very novel (see the article in the most recent AMICA bulletin). HOWEVER, contrary the incorrect liner notes to some of the earlier (1950's and 60s) recordings of Welte rolls, The Welte playback instruments (vorsetzers, inner-players, and cabinet pianos) ALL use a regular (though finely-made) pneumatic system and hole-punched rolls.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
The reason that "Red Welte" rolls sound so good is that they had a fine "granularity" or number of hole punches possible per foot of paper, and always played at a constant speed which, unlike practically every other player and "reproducing" piano, was fixed and not easily adjustable. The Welte rolls were all meant to play at this constant factory speed. Finally, the editors who converted the 88 dynamic tracks recorded into the two tracks (bass and treble) of the finished roll, were the best.
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
Other reproducing piano companies such as Ampico and Duo-Art very often used a simple marking piano to take down the pianist's notes sans dynamics, with a person hidden behind a curtain writing down the dynamics as the person played! Many pop rolls of these companies were originally 88-note rolls with expression added later by an unrelated musician!
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
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Claude De Pussy rules!
Edhallick 2 years ago
Finally i can hear Debussy play his "La cathédrale engloutie"!!
Thanks a lot for this!!!
All the best from italy
DIno
MagicDonDino 2 years ago
This is definitely one of the most beautiful pieces I ever heard. Really love the church bell sounds.
Alexjr1543 2 years ago 8
what do you think is more difficult, this or clair de lune?
shaanp100 2 years ago
they both present different problems, id say they're both equally challenging
kraziasian 2 years ago
this by far
hartnell114 2 years ago
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I don't know anything about the preludes; but I know that Claire de Lune is very easy to play.
ZhaMSD 2 years ago
Not really. To play well? No. Sure it's no Chopin Etudes, but Claire de Lune does take a certain amount of finesse that only comes with skill.
isayhi72 2 years ago
Your correct, I suppose that though the notes are easy to play, the song does require much knowledge of interpretation.
ZhaMSD 2 years ago 2
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This!!!
Trust me...
Sudaraka1988 2 years ago
this i can play both
sammygee17 2 years ago
clair de lune is a grade 10 piece, this is an AR.
geographyihate 2 years ago
shaanp:
i knew / know 3piano teachers would never attempt this
the loveliest piano song...
this version too fast
iluvhotblondes 2 years ago
Tell that to Debussy. He's the one playing it.
NojusArturas 2 years ago 3
nojus:
dont i know that? it says cdb did this. i've got 17 renditions of this piece.
maybe he was high on absinthe or ???? on this recording
this beautiful piece sounds better a little slower.
know how many versions bob dylan has of same song?
hendrix?
neil young?
sometimes an artist/composer varies their composition.
no harm - just my thoughts this piece is more haunting and deeper a little slower
iluvhotblondes 2 years ago
I'm playing this right now and there is a marking in the piece about the half note section beginning with the E. I personally play it a tad slower, but I think the way he played it was better than I'll ever play it.
NojusArturas 2 years ago
Oh Snap!
AllPowerfulMitch 2 years ago
nojus:
you are 110% right after my 15 time listening.
it is perfect- god this sounds good
iluvhotblondes 2 years ago
This is a recording of Debussy. You are berating the author.
charleshoskinson 2 years ago
Absolutely masterful.
BigBrotherMateyka 2 years ago
this is a piece of the cavaliers show next year....
TVDrumline 3 years ago
this years music will be badass.
pharfenagen 2 years ago
It IS! and I know the flag work to this piece! wooohoooo
axnamexinxlights 2 years ago
d60944 Magnifiquie! Je t'adore musique de
Debussy! Merci, Penny
pennymusicMAma 3 years ago
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i dnt no why, but this peice is boring n makes me fall asleep, but i hab to do it for nysmma
ccri5548 3 years ago
I feel so bad for you
Flatliner0452 2 years ago 2
its a beautiful piece. Or maybe you could go out and write something better.
bananasmoothie 2 years ago 2
Debussy never wrote a bad piece of music. Genius.
mlr2112 3 years ago
Just as a side note, although some may think Debussy took liberties to his own pieces, I am sure he still wanted everyone to have their own interpretation of it. If you didn't know he wrote the title of his pieces at the end so that way the performer wouldn't be in the mind set of "This is supposed to sound like this..." He wanted the performer to play it the way they think it should be played.
tjemsley 3 years ago 3
I would have to agree. I think he'd want you to put your own 'impression' into the piece.
saintneko 2 years ago
That is an awesome way to present a tune!
KawhackitaRag 2 years ago
Could I get anyone's opinion on this?
I'm a bit confused as with what to do with the doubling tempo thing. I'm aware that it has a lot to do with interpretation, but what do you think if i doubled only the part around 0:45 as he has done, and then for the 1:40 part play it at the slower tempo...so a mixture of the two? Let me know please :)
kinkei123 3 years ago