Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "La soirée dans Grenade"

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.

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.

This evocative work is from the set of pieces called Estampes, composed in 1903.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Claude
• Debussy
• piano
• recording
• classical
• La
• soirée
• dans
• Grenade
• estampes

[cynic150]

What contrasting tempi! Very moody, atmospheric and passionate! Marvelous revelation. So convincing and colourful.

[malondo7]

Well theres the overall spanish influence that seemed to be the rage around the turn of the centurey..Ravel even more so..Those lovely dark mysterious bluenotes at 1:02 that american Jazz was soon to adopt..and that burst of romance at 1:45..Estampes in all sums up Debbusy very well..The perfect recital ..

[wendy3212]

@mickyj300x but the melody breaks up now DX

[mickyj300x]

@wendy3212 Well, if you take a look at the score (which is available on many sites; the one I used was IMSLP) you can see that Debussy has marked for the melody to be played "m.g.", which is french for "Left Hand". So what you do is you start the roll with the left hand, continue and finish it with the right hand, and then play the (beginning) of the melody with the left hand. Hope this helps.

[evbabe101]

Tres manifique! 

[wendy3212]

how do you play those rolling chords at the end? the distance is more than 2 octaves! do you play them as appegios?

[shaylen911]

I was lucky enough to see Canadian pianist Jamie Parker perform this live last night, and it was absolutely brilliant.

[TheCatedral]

Serait-il interressant de rapporter ici la superbe interprétation de Monsieur Jean Boguet de cette pièce, ainsi que de toute l'oeuvre pour piano de Claude Debussy?

Si pleine d'intimité et de demi-teintes impressionistes á la palette si profondément française.

Jean Boguet est un nom qu'il faut unir à Debussy. Absolument indispensable.

À mon goût, bien sûr.

[drmgrl11]

@MidnightMoonlover8 haha good one

[CARambolagen]

@MidnightMoonlover8

But Ravel wasn't pleased that Debussy just ripped him off, especially in the light that Debussy was the elder composer and that some critics derogatively called Ravel a debussist, wheras, when it comes to the piano Ravel vclearly was the innovator... It was Debussy who pioneered the harmonic opening, but it was Ravel who opened up the piano and took orchestratiion to the limits, which by and large haven't been greatly extended since then...

[MidnightMoonlover8]

@CARambolagen well he did ask