Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 09/24/2008, uploaded on 03/21/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Claude Debussy composed his two books of preludes during a remarkably brief period—the first, between December 1909 and February 1910; and the second, during roughly the same period in 1912-13. Though totaling twenty-four in number between the two books, Debussy’s preludes do not follow the precedent established by J. S. Bach’s ubiquitously known Well-Tempered Clavier (namely, a prelude in each of the major and minor keys) and imitated by several other composers, including Frédéric Chopin, Charles-Valentin Alkan, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. However, this does not mean that Debussy’s preludes are without order, and the relationships that can be found among them indicate that their published order was, to a certain extent, quite purposeful, yet also designed with a degree of inherent flexibility. Debussy, in keeping with the artistic philosophy of his day, also composed each prelude with specific scene or image in mind. Yet, to partially disguise these intents from the listener and to allow his audience to discover them of their own accord, Debussy craftily placed his titles at the end of each prelude. Performance practice of the preludes varies. Early performances, even by Debussy himself, established a precedent of grouping the prelude in threes or fours, allowing performers to pick those in which they perhaps are most comfortable. However, some performers also choose to perform each book in their entirety.

The tenth prelude of Book I, La cathédrale engloutie (“The Sunken Cathedral”) is based on the ancient Breton legend of the Cathedral of Ys. A mythical city built off the coast of Brittany, Ys was the most beautiful city in Europe, but was submerged into the ocean as judgment for the sins of the king’s daughter. According to the legend, the city’s cathedral rises up from the ocean depths on clear mornings and the sounds of priests and bells can be heard. Debussy ingeniously creates the sonorous and magical landscape of the legend throughout the prelude in his use of anachronistic techniques, such as the open fifths of the opening, suggesting simultaneously the archaic organum techniques of music in the Middle Ages, the clear ring of church bells, and the vast expanse of the ocean depths. Furthermore, the chant-like melody that appears throughout the prelude is perhaps meant to be the song of the cathedral’s priests.       Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.