Debussy suggestions

Dave Sieber

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Feb 26, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/26/97

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I found a crusty, old cassette on my shelf of Debussy's La Mer. Sound
quality very poor, but I really liked this piece! I thought I'd look in our
library (small local branch) for more Debussy, but found only a CD of some
piano works, which weren't quite the same.

Has anyone some suggestions on Debussy's work similar to this one? Or,
perhaps, another composer whose works I might enjoy?

Thanks,

Dave

John Rethorst

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Feb 26, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/26/97

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In article <01bc240a$c437dec0$1ef8aace@dsieber>, "Dave Sieber"
<dsi...@terminal-impact.com> wrote:

Try Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Images. You also
might like Ravel (a contemporary of Debussy and also French - together
they form the bulk of Impressionism in classical music). Try his Daphnis
and Chloe, and Pavanne for a Dead Princess.

--
John R.

Please delete initial 'x' from email address to reply.

Dave Sieber

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Feb 26, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/26/97

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John Rethorst <xj...@cornell.edu> wrote

> Try Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Images. You also
> might like Ravel (a contemporary of Debussy and also French - together
> they form the bulk of Impressionism in classical music). Try his Daphnis
> and Chloe, and Pavanne for a Dead Princess.

Thanks, John. Somehow, I seem to recall "Afternoon of a Faun" from my
childhood -- I hadn't realized that it was Debussy. Re: Ravel. Of course I
know Bolero, but I'm now curious to find other works. Thanks again.

Dave

Vincent Renaud

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Feb 26, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/26/97

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Dave Sieber (dsi...@terminal-impact.com) wrote:
: John Rethorst <xj...@cornell.edu> wrote

: Dave

Debussy didn't like the word "Impressionism" for his music, at least for
his piano Preludes...

The Bolero is the most famous work from Ravel but surely not the best.
I could highly recommend his Piano Concerto for the left hand in D Major,
and the other Piano Concerto in G major.

Friendly,
Vincent.
--
/ RENAUD Vincent
(----) Ecole des Mines de Nantes
(====< ren...@eleve.emn.fr
(____) http://www.emn.fr/eleves/promo94-98/Renaud/Homepage.html

Russell W. Miller

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Feb 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/27/97

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On 26 Feb 1997 17:30:24 GMT, "Dave Sieber"
<dsi...@terminal-impact.com> wrote:

>I found a crusty, old cassette on my shelf of Debussy's La Mer. Sound
>quality very poor, but I really liked this piece! I thought I'd look in our
>library (small local branch) for more Debussy, but found only a CD of some
>piano works, which weren't quite the same.
>
>Has anyone some suggestions on Debussy's work similar to this one? Or,
>perhaps, another composer whose works I might enjoy?

Allow me to recommend a wonderful recording of Debussy's orchestral
music. It's a 2-CD set, on the Philips label; it's part of their Duo
series, which sells at budget price (the twofer should cost the same
as a full-price CD.) This includes Debussy's most important and
popular orchestral works, such as La mer, Nocturnes, Images, Prelude
to the afternoon of a faun, etc., all performed by the Concertgebouw
Orchestra of Amsterdam conducted by Bernard Haitink. (Actually one
brief work is conducted by Eduard van Beinum, who was Haitink's great
predecessor as principal conductor in Amsterdam.) Sound quality is
first-rate. I really think you'll enjoy this.

Russell W. Miller
r...@miller.mv.com

Marc PERNET

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Feb 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/27/97

to Dave Sieber

Dave Sieber wrote:
>
> I found a crusty, old cassette on my shelf of Debussy's La Mer. Sound
> quality very poor, but I really liked this piece! I thought I'd look in our
> library (small local branch) for more Debussy, but found only a CD of some
> piano works, which weren't quite the same.
>
> Has anyone some suggestions on Debussy's work similar to this one? Or,
> perhaps, another composer whose works I might enjoy?
>

> Thanks,
>
> Dave

I think any other orchestral work by Debussy should please you. You
could look for the following pieces :
- Nocturnes (Nuages, Fêtes, Sirènes)
- Printemps
- Rhapsody pour clarinette et orchestre
- L'après-midi d'un faune
- Jeux
- Images pour orchestre (Gigues, Ibéria, Rondes de printemps)
- Danses sacrées et profanes
I have them all on a two CD set that I find quite good (maybe there are
better recordings, I don't know). Pierre Boulez conducts the New
Philarmonia Orchestra, or the Cleveland Orchestra (depending on the
piece). Reference is CBS Records Masterworks, M2YK 45620 (maybe no
longer available, but other recordings do exist for most of these
works).
Regards.
Marc PERNET

Dave Sieber

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Feb 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/27/97

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Russell W. Miller <r...@miller.mv.com> wrote

> Allow me to recommend a wonderful recording of Debussy's orchestral
> music. It's a 2-CD set, on the Philips label; it's part of their Duo
> series, which sells at budget price (the twofer should cost the same
> as a full-price CD.) This includes Debussy's most important and
> popular orchestral works, such as La mer, Nocturnes, Images, Prelude
> to the afternoon of a faun, etc., all performed by the Concertgebouw
> Orchestra of Amsterdam conducted by Bernard Haitink. (Actually one
> brief work is conducted by Eduard van Beinum, who was Haitink's great
> predecessor as principal conductor in Amsterdam.) Sound quality is
> first-rate. I really think you'll enjoy this.

Hey, that sounds great! I've got one of those same Duo series of Stravinsky
works, and the price is right for a starter library. All the better if the
sound is as good as the price.

Dave

Jonathan Wiener

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Feb 27, 1997, 3:00:00 AM2/27/97

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Dave Sieber wrote:
>
> I found a crusty, old cassette on my shelf of Debussy's La Mer.

Encrusted with salt, I hope.

Michael Laderman

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Mar 2, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/2/97

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"Dave Sieber" <dsi...@terminal-impact.com> wrote:

>I found a crusty, old cassette on my shelf of Debussy's La Mer. Sound
>quality very poor, but I really liked this piece! I thought I'd look in our
>library (small local branch) for more Debussy, but found only a CD of some
>piano works, which weren't quite the same.

>Has anyone some suggestions on Debussy's work similar to this one? Or,
>perhaps, another composer whose works I might enjoy?

>Thanks,

>Dave

I see that you've already gotten some good Debussy suggestions. I'd
like to suggest an additional piece by Maurice Ravel, the ballet
Mother Goose ("Ma mere l'oye" in French), either complete or as a
suite. It exists in both piano 4-hands and orchestral versions, both
by the composer. I think it's one of the most tender pieces ever
written and it leaves a warm feeling after I finish listening to it.
Just as an aside, it's funny that Ravel never got married or had
children, but his music is in my opinion so full of love.

Russell W. Miller

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Mar 2, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/2/97

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"You see, an artist must be very careful when he wishes to marry
someone, because an artist never knows to what extent he may render
his companion unhappy. He is obsessed by his creative work and by the
problems which it poses. He lives a little like an awakened dreamer,
and that's not amusing for a woman who lives with him. One must
always consider that when one wishes to marry."

--Ravel to Manuel Rosenthal, quoted in Orenstein, _A Ravel Reader_.

I second the recommendation of Mother Goose. I find the complete
ballet score much more satisfying than the suite. My favorite
recording is by Monteux on Philips, but I don't know that it's easily
available at present. So if you can't find that, another excellent
version is Skrowaczewski on VoxBox.

Russell W. Miller
r...@miller.mv.com

Viellen

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Mar 2, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/2/97

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i'd also recomend Clair de Lune, Minstrels, La Fille aux Cheveux,=20
Golliwog's Cake walk (funky), Deux Arabesque, and Humoresque.=20

Michael Laderman

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Mar 3, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/3/97

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r...@miller.mv.com (Russell W. Miller) wrote:

>"You see, an artist must be very careful when he wishes to marry
>someone, because an artist never knows to what extent he may render
>his companion unhappy. He is obsessed by his creative work and by the
>problems which it poses. He lives a little like an awakened dreamer,
>and that's not amusing for a woman who lives with him. One must
>always consider that when one wishes to marry."

>--Ravel to Manuel Rosenthal, quoted in Orenstein, _A Ravel Reader_.

>Russell W. Miller
>r...@miller.mv.com

Thanks for the fascinating post, Russell!

Michael

Dave Sieber

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Mar 3, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/3/97

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Thanks Viellen (and also to all the other kind people who had suggestions).

Clair (Clare?) de Lune is also a favorite of mine, it really captures my
mood sometimes. I'll need to get my own recording of it -- usually I wait
for it to appear on the radio ;-)

Dave

Viellen <Vie...@shadolands.net> wrote

i'd also recomend Clair de Lune, Minstrels, La Fille aux Cheveux,

Ramon Khalona

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Mar 3, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/3/97

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The BBC's composer of the month for March is Claude Debussy.
They are playing some of his own recordings (piano rolls and others)
as well as more recent recordings by other artists. You can listen to it
on shortwave (5975 KHz) on Sunday evenings.

One of my favorite recordings is Paul Badura-Skoda's recital, available
on a Harmonic Records CD (H/CD 8505). It contains:

* La Cathedrale engloutie (Prelude 10, Book I)
* Estampes (Pagodes, Soiree dans Grenade, Jardins sous la pluie)
* La Fille aux cheveux de lin (Prelude 8, Book I)
* L'ile Joyeuse
* Des pas sur la neige (Prelude 6, Book I)
* Suite Bergamasque (Prelude, Menuet, Clair de lune, Passepied).

A splendid recording dating from 1984.

Ramon Khalona
Carlsbad, California

Michael Laderman

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Mar 5, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/5/97

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"Dave Sieber" <dsi...@terminal-impact.com> wrote:

>Clair de Lune is also a favorite of mine, it really captures my

>mood sometimes. I'll need to get my own recording of it -- usually I wait
>for it to appear on the radio ;-)

>Dave

Hi, Dave. "Clair de lune" is a movement from a delightful piece called
"Suite Bergamasque" which has some other movements you might enjoy.
Look for a recording of the whole suite.

Happy listening!

Michael

R P M

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Mar 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/8/97

to Dave Sieber

Dave Sieber wrote:

I found a crusty, old cassette on my shelf of Debussy's La Mer.
Sound
quality very poor, but I really liked this piece! I thought I'd look
in our
library (small local branch) for more Debussy, but found only a CD
of some
piano works, which weren't quite the same.

Has anyone some suggestions on Debussy's work similar to this one?
Or,
perhaps, another composer whose works I might enjoy?

Thanks,

Dave

Yes, you might try " Ma mère l'oie" by Ravel.
But allow me to suggest you listen to some Debussy works for the Piano,
like "Rêverie", especially played by Zoltán Kocsis.

Dave Sieber

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Mar 8, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/8/97

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R P M <r...@grupo.bfe.pt> wrote

> But allow me to suggest you listen to some Debussy works for the Piano,
> like "Rêverie", especially played by Zoltán Kocsis.

I have heard some of the piano works, and have enjoyed them. Perhaps it was
my imagination, but I found that these works seemed to have influenced
(jazz pianist) Chick Corea -- his Children's Songs series, and others.

Now, the orchestral works are a new discovery.

Dave

DanBlitzer

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Mar 11, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/11/97

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Do you think that the members of Pink Floyd were familiar with Debussy?

Deryk Barker

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Mar 13, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/13/97

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DanBlitzer (danbl...@aol.com) wrote:
: Do you think that the members of Pink Floyd were familiar with Debussy?