Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La cathédrale engloutie"

The composer Claude Debussy needs little introduction. As a pianist, he was noted for his avoidance of the crisp, dry and articulated style which typified French pianism of the nineteenth century. His style of playing was simple, highly tone-conscious and completely uncluttered by over-expressive angst.

This piece is number ten in the first book of Préludes. The recording is a piano roll recording made by Debussy for Welte in 1913 (just three years after the work was composed). The piano rolls for Welte are amongst the most accurate we have, conveying the original performed dynamics, attack and pedalling rather faithfully, and when a good roll is played on a properly conditioned piano, the problems of dubious rhythmic bumpiness which infect many roll playbacks can vanish. This rendition seems as fine as we could hope for.

Debussy makes important changes to the music here, doubling the tempo when bars are notated in 3/2 (the prevailing tempo being 6/4).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Claude
• Debussy
• piano
• recording
• classical
• La
• cathédrale
• engloutie
• Préludes
• Book
• no.10

[tinkleneko]

"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)

[d60944]

@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.

[MERTx123]

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

[d60944]

@MERTx123 What *kind* of analysis do you want? Structural? Harmonic? Pseudo-Schenkerian? Thematic? etc.?

[15maLLowgIrl15]

I love the rhythm and the combination of the tones! 2 thumbs up for claude debussy !!

[adv20]

10 deaf peaople disliked the video

[jorgepeterbarton]

@Balmung115 they do and did too! tidal reservoirs can mean ghost towns just rise out of lakes at the right time.

[maskedpillager]

@poojaloobaCow i can send you a cd with debussy's piano roll recordings, message me if you want

[JazzKeyboardist1]

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,

[zzBillyz]

Where did you find this recording? Is it part of a set?

[borgesbacobass]

@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.

[Balmung115]

Listening to this piece makes me wish an Engulfed Cathedral actually existed. I would love to see the imagery set to this piece.

[blingblingshineshine]

@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.

[drummerbobbob]

@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

[monamia19]

@ezt123dp the sunken cathedral :)

[ezt123dp]

anyone know what the title translates into? I don't know french.