Claude Debussy: Images oubliées

Featuring

Stéphane Tétreault
Olivier Hébert-Bouchard
Claude Debussy

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Interpretation

The performers, Stéphane Tétreault (cello) and Olivier Hébert-Bouchard (piano), arranged all works on this album, except for the Cello Sonata, to amplify the atmospheres suggested by Debussy.

Composition History

Debussy composed Page d'album in 1915 for Le vêtement du blessé, an organization that aided victims of the First World War by auctioning off his autograph manuscript.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in the concert hall of Domaine Forget in Quebec, Canada, from December 6 to 8, 2021.

Instruments

Stéphane Tétreault, the cellist on this recording, plays the 1707 "Countess of Stainlein, Ex-Paganini" Stradivarius cello, generously loaned to him by Mrs. Sophie Desmarais.

Historical Context

Debussy's Berceuse héroïque, composed in 1914, may be his first musical evocation of the immense impact the Great War had on him.

Compositional Technique

In his Hommage à Haydn, Debussy experimented with the concept of a "musical signature," spelling out Haydn's name in a persistent motif using German nomenclature.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Claude Debussy's Images oubliées, which titles this project, reveals the composer's control over his musical language and his constant pursuit of new ideas, despite rejecting the term "impressionism" often attributed to him.