Composed in 1903-04, L’isle joyeuse (“The Happy Isle”) is a single-movement work for the piano and a trademark piece of Debussy’s mature compositional style. Debussy took his inspiration for the piece from Jean-Antoine Watteau’s Rococo painting L'Embarquement pour Cythère (“The Embarkation for Cythera”). Cythera, one of the Greek isles, according to legend is the birthplace of Venus, the goddess of love. In Watteau’s painting, illustrating the joyous and pleasurable time enjoyed by the French aristocracy following the death of Louis XIV, an amorous couple is seen in the presence of a statue of Venus, while others, encircled by cupids, make their way down a hill to a golden boat. Some have speculated that the painting is, in fact, a departure from the island of Cythera, suggesting the brevity of love and perhaps coinciding better with Debussy’s chosen title.
Fashioned in a sort of modified sonata form in A major, Debussy begins L’isle joyeuse with a cadenza-like passage of brilliant and rapid figurations that lead to the piece’s principal theme. This energetic subject is based predominantly on the Lydian mode but later, with the arrival of a related idea, adopts the whole-tone scale. Appearing roughly a third of the way into the piece is the lyrical second subject in a rich diatonic A major, with only occasional inflections from the Lydian mode and set against rippling arpeggio quintuplets. Throughout the development, fragments of both themes are heard amongst the interesting and lush textures which Debussy so masterfully could usher forth from the piano. Each theme is given a reprise in the recapitulation. However, the second theme’s return is delayed with much expectation so as to gives its fortissimo rendering near the end greater weight. Following this climatic reprise, an altered form of opening cadenza brings the piece to a brilliant conclusion.Joseph DuBose
The program concludes with three French pieces from the early 20th century that were inspired by stories of water.All three have a playful, scherzando quality, and all use colorful pianistic effects to evoke their images...
Finally, L’isle joyeuse(“The Joyful Island”) focuses around a dance theme and builds to a triumphant climax.It was inspired by a Rococo painting that depicts a mythical scene on the island of Cythera.Chia-Ching Shen
Classical Music | Piano Music
Claude Debussy
L’Isle Joyeuse (The Island of Joy) Play
Recorded on 01/02/2013, uploaded on 01/02/2013
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Composed in 1903-04, L’isle joyeuse (“The Happy Isle”) is a single-movement work for the piano and a trademark piece of Debussy’s mature compositional style. Debussy took his inspiration for the piece from Jean-Antoine Watteau’s Rococo painting L'Embarquement pour Cythère (“The Embarkation for Cythera”). Cythera, one of the Greek isles, according to legend is the birthplace of Venus, the goddess of love. In Watteau’s painting, illustrating the joyous and pleasurable time enjoyed by the French aristocracy following the death of Louis XIV, an amorous couple is seen in the presence of a statue of Venus, while others, encircled by cupids, make their way down a hill to a golden boat. Some have speculated that the painting is, in fact, a departure from the island of Cythera, suggesting the brevity of love and perhaps coinciding better with Debussy’s chosen title.
Fashioned in a sort of modified sonata form in A major, Debussy begins L’isle joyeuse with a cadenza-like passage of brilliant and rapid figurations that lead to the piece’s principal theme. This energetic subject is based predominantly on the Lydian mode but later, with the arrival of a related idea, adopts the whole-tone scale. Appearing roughly a third of the way into the piece is the lyrical second subject in a rich diatonic A major, with only occasional inflections from the Lydian mode and set against rippling arpeggio quintuplets. Throughout the development, fragments of both themes are heard amongst the interesting and lush textures which Debussy so masterfully could usher forth from the piano. Each theme is given a reprise in the recapitulation. However, the second theme’s return is delayed with much expectation so as to gives its fortissimo rendering near the end greater weight. Following this climatic reprise, an altered form of opening cadenza brings the piece to a brilliant conclusion. Joseph DuBose
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The program concludes with three French pieces from the early 20th century that were inspired by stories of water. All three have a playful, scherzando quality, and all use colorful pianistic effects to evoke their images...
Finally, L’isle joyeuse(“The Joyful Island”) focuses around a dance theme and builds to a triumphant climax. It was inspired by a Rococo painting that depicts a mythical scene on the island of Cythera. Chia-Ching Shen
More music by Claude Debussy
La Puerta del Vino, from Préludes Book II
Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir, from Préludes, Book I
Soiree dans Grenade, from Estampes
Rapsodie (arr. Rousseau)
Arabesque in C sharp major
Beau Soir
Ondine, from Préludes Book II
La Cathédrale engloutie, from Preludes, Books 1, No.10
Estampes
Apparition, from Quatre chansons de jeunesse
Performances by same musician(s)
Chaconne from Partita in d minor, BWM 1004
Ba Ban
Ondine, from Préludes Book II
Jeux d’eau (Fountains)
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
Courtesy of International Music Foundation.