Debussy, C.: Preludes, Books 1 and 2

Featuring

Anker Blyme
Claude Debussy

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Debussy's music is often associated with "impressionism," a term from painting where artists reproduce the impression a motif has on them, leading to vague and shimmering effects.

Compositional Technique

Debussy often replaced diatonic scales with the whole-tone scale, which lacks semitones characteristic of major and minor scales.

Compositional Technique

To achieve impressionistic effects, Debussy departed from conventional functional harmony, giving each harmony its own worth and creating a tension-free world of sound.

Performer Biography

Anker Blyme, the pianist on this recording, was born in 1925 and is described as an "aristocrat among Danish pianists" known for his natural virtuosity.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Debussy placed the titles of his Preludes after each piece and in brackets, indicating they were suggestions for interpretation rather than strict program music.

Composition History

Debussy's Preludes, like those by Bach, Chopin, and Rachmaninov, are short, single-movement character pieces, but Debussy did not adhere to the conventional pattern of keys.