Debussy: Études, L. 136 & Children's Corner, L. 113

Featuring

Aleck Karis
Claude Debussy

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Debussy's personal aesthetic credo, evident in pieces like 'Dr Gradus ad Parnassum', involved rejecting drudgery and orthodoxy to allow the musical spirit to roam freely.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Debussy's Études represent a distillation of his style, moving into a more modern idiom and leaving behind the descriptive allusions of his earlier works.

Performer Biography

Aleck Karis, the pianist on this recording, has performed extensively across the Americas, Europe, Japan, and China, and has participated in over a hundred premieres with the new music ensemble Speculum Musicae.

Composer Biography

Debussy, known for being acerbic and difficult, had one shining exception in his relationships: his daughter Claude-Emma, also known as 'Chouchou', to whom he dedicated his 'Children's Corner' suite.

Composition History

Debussy composed his Études and other final works in a remarkable burst of creative activity during a four-month period in Normandy, after a year-long compositional block.

Compositional Technique

Debussy's Études are dedicated to the memory of Frédéric Chopin, a Romantic composer Debussy loved, and include studies in thirds, sixths, and octaves, similar to Chopin's Opus 25.

Composer Biography

The outbreak of World War I in August 1914 and his deteriorating health due to cancer deeply affected Debussy, leading to a period of depression and inability to compose.