Debussy, Dukas, Roussel

Featuring

Domingo Hindoyan
Thelma Handy
Nicholas Bootiman
Cormac Henry
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Claude Debussy

Albert Roussel
Paul Dukas

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Recording & Production

This album was recorded from live concerts and sessions at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall in January and February 2022.

Composition History

Paul Dukas's "La Péri," a Poème dansé, is based on the Persian myth of Iskender (Alexander the Great) and his search for the bearer of the Flower of Immortality.

Historical Context

Claude Debussy's fascination with traditional Asian scales and harmonies, which influenced his compositions, began after an outing to the 1889 world's fair in Paris, where he encountered the Javanese gamelan.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Claude Debussy believed music was not merely the expression of a feeling, but the feeling itself, describing it as "a dream from which the veils have been lifted."

Compositional Technique

Despite the fluid rhythms and vaporous melodies of Claude Debussy's "Jeux" suggesting spontaneity, the work's "intimations of pleasure" are actually held together by a tightly woven web of interdependent thematic, rhythmic, and harmonic relationships.

Composer Biography

Albert Roussel, a composer on this album, initially studied at the École Navale and served as a lieutenant officer in the navy, traveling to the Middle East and other colonial territories, before resigning his commission to become a full-time composer.