The first performance was given on October 15 of that year in Paris. This site uses cookies. Techniques of counterpoint and orchestration used to create these illusions are in many ways similar to a magician’s skillful misdirection or legerdemain. Claude Debussy’s La Mer (“The Sea”) is not a literal portrait of the ocean.There is no “program” or story, as we might hear in Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony or a Strauss tone poem. Dialogue du Vent et de la Mer This slow introduction accelerates and crescendos to the main body of the movement, which arrives at a moment that suggests the sunrise. Jeux de Vagues III. Though some melodic ideas presented at the beginning of the movement recur near the end, most of the movement is a continuous development of fragmentary motifs and melodic phrases, which playfully explore strange and enchanting new sounds. [PDF] + Video - Orchestra - Romantic * License : Public Domain - 3 movements : I. Don’t miss Debussy’s La mer March 8, 9 and 10, 2019! In this post, discover how Debussy’s masterpiece revolutionized orchestral music. La Mer Orchestre de Paris-Salone Elements of Style Texture Form VERY GENERALLY Debussy often uses the addition or subtraction of instruments and lines to contribute to crescendos and diminuendos. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Rather than shock his listeners, he sought to seduce them with beautiful sounds long outlawed by established laws of harmony and form. Pleasure is the law…”. Members of the Académie des Beaux Arts famously condemned him, saying that “M. This is part 1 of our 3 part series on Debussy's enchanting orchestral work, La Mer. Described by the composer as "a seascape without figures," it is arguably the greatest and most original French symphony. Composed between 1903-5, it piece was initially not well received, but soon became one of Debussy's most admired orchestral works. He sails through storm and calm, wind and rain, in music that rises and falls with the rhythms of the sea. Debussy called La mer "three symphonic sketches," avoiding the loaded term symphony. In this moment of calm, the horns introduce a chorale, interspersed with figuration from solo violins. He continued to work on the score, however, while staying in Jersey, and then in Dieppe. —Calvin Dotsey. La prima è stata eseguita a Parigi il 15 ottobre 1905 dall'Orchestre Lamoureux sotto la … The first recording was made by Italian Piero Coppola in 1928. Reviews. The work was started in 1903 in France and completed in 1905 at Grand Hotel Eastbourne on the English Channel coast. Predictably, he met with resistance from the French musical establishment. “wind” theme in the bassoons and pizzicato cellos, A Baroque Christmas: Q&A with Guest Vocalist Morris Robinson, Playliszt: 10 Great Pieces by Music’s Original Rock Star. Get tickets and more information here. But I still have a great passion for the sea.” The ocean seems a perfect match for Debussy’s art, with its shifting shapes, sparkling surfaces and mysterious depths. La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre (French for The sea, three symphonic sketches for orchestra), or simply La mer (i.e. Parisian audiences initially didn't really warm to it either, perhaps partly because of the scandal of Debussy having left his wife for the singer Emma Barduc.Debussy took inspiration not from the rolling waves of the Pacific or the Atlantic, but from the rather more unlikely locale of Eastbourne on the south coast of England. He sails through storm and calm, wind and rain, in music that rises and falls with the rhythms of the sea. Careful remastering certainly makes the Debussy items sound fresher and more vivid than ever before, and the performances are terrific. What to Listen For. Reviews. You have merely to listen. Your email address will not be published. $14.90. Instead of presenting an exposition with two contrasting themes, a development and a recapitulation as the first movement of a symphony would, Debussy reveals continuously developing episodes that wash over the orchestra like waves. Buy dis… In La mer, Debussy tells the story of the eternal odyssey of the ocean. The work was started in 1903 in France and completed in 1905 at Grand Hotel Eastbourne on the English Channel coast. These corrections are found in a score which Debussy gave to his wife as a present for her private library in 1913. Though Debussy never explicitly described the work as such, it is nonetheless hard to deny that La Mer strongly resembles a symphony. Debussy's La mer: a complete guide to the best recordings Rob Cowan Tuesday, September 18, 2018 Rob Cowan chooses his top recordings of Debussy’s seascape, which helped establish the composer’s reputation as the founding father of musical modernism French composer Claude Debussy’s major works included Clair de lune (“Moonlight”; in Suite bergamasque, 1890–1905), Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894; Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun), the opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), and La Mer (1905; “The Sea”). Us what you think it illustrates from dawn to noon on the whole each part of the odyssey... Sea salt and see the crests of the ocean at Seoul Arts center, Aug 21.!: I '' avoiding the loaded term symphony the confines of normal practice impressionist. Often brash, noisy characters, iconoclasts intent on shattering traditions ; Debussy, however, was between... Recording was made by Italian Piero Coppola in 1928 symphony, La Mer was not a.! 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