Debussy

Combining works by Debussy and Poulenc on an album may, to some, seem a bit ironic seeing as at one point, the latter railed against the music of the former. Poulenc was later to change his tune, though, and eventually became one of Debussy's most ardent admirers. The two were greatly responsible for a new direction in French music, which, ironically, required both of them to look to composers of the past for inspiration.

Claude Debussy - Le Martyre De Saint Sébastien - Boulez,BRSO (1960)
Classical | EAC: FLAC+Cue+Log | 1 Cd, Covers | 307 Mb
Label: col legno - Date: 2000

Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, L 124 is a musical work by the French composer Claude Debussy. Written in 1911, the work—a five-act musical mystery play on the subject of Saint Sebastian – was produced in collaboration with Gabriele d'Annunzio (at that time living in France to escape his creditors) and designed as a vehicle for Ida Rubinstein. Debussy's contribution was a large-scale score of incidental music for orchestra and chorus, with solo vocal parts (for a soprano and two altos). Some of the material was orchestrated by André Caplet…

Britten / Debussy / Ravel & Others - Robert Shaw Festival Singers - Appear & Inspire
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 198 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Telarc # CD-80408 | Country/Year: US 1996
Genre: Classical | Style: Vocal

The great contribution of Robert Shaw to choral music has brought the listener to expect that nearly any recording or live performance under Shaw's direction will be thoroughly stunning, refreshing and performed with remarkable musical insight…

The violin and piano sonatas of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel draw on foreign idioms: gypsy music in Debussy's case and African-American blues in Ravel's. But they remain completely French works, spiced with something exotic, and British violinist Jennifer Pike forges interpretations that keep this in mind. Start with the "Blues" slow movement of the Ravel Violin Sonata in G major: Pike and her accompanist, Martin Roscoe, avoid exaggerating the bluesy qualities of the music and instead emphasize the odd, almost tense disconnection between violin and piano that, combined with the languid blues melodies, gives this piece its special piquancy.

The music now moves to a more playful strand in Debussy’s compositional career, with generally shorter pieces of the salon genre, including the two famous collections Children’s Corner and Suite bergamasque. In addition to these well-known works are several that are more rarely heard. Two such are La plus que lente, which seems to look ahead to the Études of 1915, and Élégie. Roger Nichols describes the former as ‘one of his most delightful pieces… the harmonic turns are particularly sophisticated and enchanting’. The Élégie was written in 1915 following the composer’s move …….

Khamma stems from a commission in 1910 for an Egyptian ballet, originally entitled Isis. The project was troubled from the start when Debussy refused to reduce the orchestra from 90 to 40 players. He never heard the work, which was first given its concert performance in 1924. Bavouzet writes, ‘I discovered almost by chance in a Parisian music store, a version for piano of Khamma. This had previously escaped me so what was my surprise when I saw the richness and originality! The virtuosity required is much more subtle than the more obvious. It must give the illusion of more perfect sound levels corresponding to each ……..

Britten / Debussy / Ravel & Others - Robert Shaw Festival Singers - Appear & Inspire
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 198 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Telarc # CD-80408 | Country/Year: US 1996
Genre: Classical | Style: Vocal

The great contribution of Robert Shaw to choral music has brought the listener to expect that nearly any recording or live performance under Shaw's direction will be thoroughly stunning, refreshing and performed with remarkable musical insight…