Julian Jacobson’s final post in his Debussy series spotlights the last six preludes from Book 2 in preparation for his recital on June 6th at the 1901 Arts Club in London.
This concert is now sold out but you can hear the performance online, here.
Read earlier posts in this series, here.
Preludes Book 2 nos. 7-12
And so to the final six Preludes of Debussy’s magnum opus for piano. Having diverted us with a clown’s antics in General Lavine, Debussy withdraws into his deepest subconscious for no. 7, La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune, a piece almost as mysterious and complex as its title. This has nothing to do with people listening to Debussy’s Clair de lune, but might be translated as “The terrace for moonlight audiences” or “spectators”. It is even a little difficult to untangle the exact significance of the title, but it seems to relate to a highly evocative article in the journal Le Temps describing the coronation of King George V as Emperor of India. The phrase set in train one of Debussy’s most extravagant, perfumed and poetic fantasies, with a freely-evolving structure beholden only to its own inner logic. The tempo is mainly slow, with a more energetic build-up in the middle leading to a chain of massive eleven-note chords (the right hand thumb taking two of them) before subsiding into the prevailing magical half-distance again. One needs a wide palette of orchestral sound and colour, and the ability to balance complex textures, often in widely spaced chords such as the passage at bars 16-18 which is, basically, a nightmare – a beautiful nightmare! (Apparently several eminent early pianists gave up with this Prelude as being just too complicated…)
The remaining Preludes are mainly simpler in texture.
No. 8, Ondine (Undine). Undines are water sprites and mermaids, famous examples in music being Wagner’s Rhinemaidens in the Ring and for pianists, of course, the first number in Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit, composed shortly before Debussy’s second book of Preludes. In place of Ravel’s unparalleled sumptuousness and perfection of detail, Debussy’s Ondine is a much more modest depiction, somewhat experimental in form. Yet in its short duration it manages to convey quite an acute psychological portrait, with watery nature painting, tenderness, menace and moments of questioning before Ondine returns to her natural element in delicious swirls of broken chords divided between the hands, alternating D major and F sharp major.
No. 9, Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. Returning to earth, it’s now time for another humorous portrait-prelude. Pickwick is of course Samuel Pickwick, hero of Charles Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers, and his honorary title translates as Perpetual President Member of the Pickwick Club. Debussy, in general a great Anglophile, loved Dickens and enters into this solemn, self-satisfied Victorian atmosphere with affectionate humour and breezy bustling. The famous opening with the first phrase of the national anthem should not be pounded out as a burlesque – a simple, matter-of-fact forte, “sonorous” as marked, conveys the solemn, self-important mood perfectly well. The Prelude, short as it is, covers a considerable variety of texture and speed and needs careful pacing and voicing.
No.10, Canope (Canopy or Canopic jar). This was an ancient Egyptian funerary urn used to preserve the organs of the dead. A short Prelude maybe, but one of the most profound and mysterious, with its antique, modal parallel chords and wisps of lamenting melody. Pianists who know the Epigraphes antiques duets, or the Chansons de Bilitis songs, will have a good model for the style and expression. In bar 16, the first chord has been printed in numerous versions: I believe the new Durand presents the correct version, with E flat the top note of the chord, not E natural as normally printed and almost universally played.
No. 11, Les tierces alternées (Alternating thirds). And now Debussy has a surprise for us: in place of a human or nature depiction, we have an abstract, etude-like piece based entirely on the technique of interlocking thirds between the hands, often very tricky as the hands get diabolically in each other’s way. Yet the result is not at all like an “etude” – any more than Debussy’s later actual Etudes are! – and one should avoid any hint of a dry technical exercise. After the slowish introduction – Modérément animé – Debussy’s marking for the main tempo is only Un peu plus animé, and I think this Prelude is often taken too fast. Its harmonies and internal melodies have great delicacy and poetry and need subtle voicing and sensitive, constantly shifting pedalling. And the central section – not slower till Debussy marks Retenu at bar 108 – needs fluid rubato and imaginative shaping to show the sudden poetry, humour and tenderness.
No. 12, Feux d’artifice (Fireworks). To end his great collection Debussy gives us a magnificent virtuoso showpiece, the Prelude most often picked by piano students to demonstrate their skills, though as I said earlier it is actually less difficult than Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest. The fireworks in question are the ones traditionally on public display on Bastille Day, July 14, and magnificent indeed they often are. (Debussy makes this quite clear by quoting the Marseillaise at the very end, and one recalls that the clouds of war were beginning to gather, increasing Debussy’s feelings of nationalism).
The pianist has many choices to make, including whether to stick to Debussy’s hand distribution at the opening or recast the material between the hands to avoid the treacherous leaps. After trying various options I now feel that Debussy’s original layout remains the best for indicating the flickering texture; any other solution merely adds complications without necessarily leading to a better or clearer result. Another decision is whether or how much to pedal the opening section, and one hears everything from full pedal to completely dry. Debussy’s instruction – “light, equal and distant” – only helps us up to a point. Personally I feel a half- or even quarter-pedal works best for the fizzing textural demisemiquaver triplets, with the octave “sparks” completely unpedalled. Glissandos add to the fun in this pianistically highly original piece. The harmony is as adventurous as Debussy gets in the Preludes, verging on modernism at times, and the piece needs patient and analytical learning.
And so we come to the end of this great collection of Preludes, perhaps the most significant since Chopin’s and going beyond even that masterpiece in range and expression, while owing everything to it. I’ve enjoyed writing these brief commentaries which have helped crystallise some of my own ideas. I have learnt a great deal from Paul Roberts’ magnificent book “Images – The Piano Music of Claude Debussy”, which I recommend wholeheartedly to any pianist or music lover wishing to get deeper into these endlessly fascinating pieces. And for those pianists embarking on the Preludes, I do hope you will look beyond the famous numbers, since every Prelude has its own greatness and special charm!
Finally, a quick guide to the relative difficulty of the Preludes, on a scale of 1 (easiest) to 5 (most difficult): quite subjective of course, though based on intensive recent experience:
Level 1: La fille aux cheveux de lin; Bruyères
Level 2: Danseuses de Delphes; Voiles; Des pas sur la neige; Feuilles mortes; Hommage à S. Pickwick; Canope
Level 3: Les sons et les parfums; La sérénade interrompue; La danse de Puck; Minstrels; Brouillards; La Puerta del Vino; General Lavine, excentric; Ondine
Level 4: Le vent dans la plaine; Les collines d’Anacapri; La Cathédrale engloutie; Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses; Les tierces alternées
Level 5: Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest; La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune; Feux d’artifice
Publications
Melanie Spanswick has written and published a wide range of courses, anthologies, examination syllabuses, and text books, including Play it again: PIANO (published by Schott Music). This best-selling graded, progressive piano course contains a large selection of repertoire featuring a huge array of styles and genres, with copious practice tips and suggestions for every piece.
For more information, please visit the publications page, here.