Claude Debussy

Martha Baker-Jordan

Beyond Debussy & Ravel: Discovering the Piano Music of Déodat de Séverac

Due to a long association with C. Leonard Coduti, a musicologist who specializes in French music, I became intrigued with his knowledge of French keyboard music "beyond Debussy and Ravel." I began exploring his many recommendations and have found myself fully entranced, fascinated, and amazed at the prolific output of so many wonderful French ...
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Catherine Kautsky

The Hidden Life of the Humble Arabesque

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In a letter of July 1910 to Jacques Durand, Claude Debussy announced that, as an artist, he was "accustomed to living among apparitions." Exactly what form those apparitions took is anybody's guess, but some may well have appeared in the form of arabesques, and not always friendly ones at that. Despite the fact that arabesques are so innocuous ...
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Spencer Myer

From the Artist Bench with Spencer Myer

 Feux d'artifice by Claude Debussy Feux d'artifice by Claude Debussy, performed by Spencer Myer
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Fred Karpoff
I'm really impressed, Spencer! Although I've performed this several times and thought I knew it well, I feel enriched by your pres... Read More
Saturday, 15 August 2020 12:15
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Suzanne Schons

Summer 2019: Book Reviews

Review by Ann DuHamelDebussy's Paris: Piano Portraits of the Belle Époque, by Catherine Kautsky.  The first time I heard Professor Catherine Kautsky speak at a conference, I was utterly entranced: she gave a captivating, lively, and energetic session that I still remember years later. Her enthusiasm for French music was palpable, and she provi...
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Spencer Myer

Colors in Debussy Preludes: A Practical How-To Exploration of Painting with Sound

We apologize for the blurry video. Fortunately, the sound quality is clear, and we hope that you enjoy Mr. Myer's presentation and colorful demonstrations. Click here to download handout Did you enjoy this webinar?Please complete our brief survey to help us improve our webinar series and continue to bring you the highest quality resources...
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Catherine Kautsky

Touching Debussy, Teaching Alchemy

faries-are-dancing The Fairies are Exquisite Dancers, Illustration in 'Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens' by J.M Barrie
Sound is touch at a distance. Jad Abumrad, from Radiolab "Sound is touch at a distance." I heard this quote at a recent talk given by Radio Lab creator, Jad Abumrad, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. Over and over it repeated itself. Mothers sing to babies after they put them down as a way of continuing physical contact, Jad told us. So, i...
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Elizabeth Medici
Wonderful discussion of Debussy's elegant and refined style that gives us so much emotional freedom at the piano. It is also a ver... Read More
Thursday, 12 July 2018 10:22
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Deborah Rambo Sinn

July/August 2018: Editor's Column

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The Debussy Debate With this issue, we celebrate the centennial of Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Pianists and piano teachers hold him in high esteem as one of the great composers, and, as proof, we still teach and perform his works (and dedicate magazine issues to him). His bold experimentation with harmony, breaks from traditional rules, and colorfu...
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Chris Madden

The recorded legacy of Claude Debussy

cm1 Mary Garden in the role of Mélisande (see endnote 1)
In 1904, soprano Mary Garden entered the Paris recording studio of Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd. with her pianist, Claude Debussy. Garden sang three excerpts from Ariettes oubliées, a set of chansons Debussy dedicated to her, as well as an excerpt from Pelléas et Mélisande, an opera for which she premiered the title role. The resulting recording...
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Jane Magrath

First Debussy piano pieces with pedagogical advice

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Claude Debussy was a person of great restraint and even considered elusive by some. He was not concerned with the technical issues of a pianist, and yet was highly attentive to the quality of a pianissimo and its relationship to softer or louder levels of sound. We know his playing generally did not reach a forceful fortissimo. He cared less about ...
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Geoffrey Haydon

Connections between the music of the United States and Claude Debussy

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It has been more than one hundred years since Claude Debussy was composing masterpieces that were part of a general revolutionary movement that challenged European musical traditions. Debussy was looking for ways to distinguish himself as unique and French, while at the same time using sources from other countries. He found inspiration in varied an...
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Helen Smith Tarchalski

July/August 2018: Keyboard Kids' Companion

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To print, use the PDFs below. Just click on the black bar at the top of each page and click on the print icon! Alternatively, you can use the down arrow and save it to your computer for sending to your favorite local office supply store for printing. New this issue! Recordings can be found below the PDF that correspond to this article.  D...
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Steven Hall

May/June 2018: Recordings

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Debussy  Steven Osborne, piano  Hyperion CDA68161  [Total Time 73:21]  hyperion-records. co.uk Debussy Steven Osborne, piano Hyperion CDA68161 [Total Time 73:21] hyperion-records. co.uk Eleven years after the release of his recording of Debussy's complete set of preludes, British pianist Steven Osborne offers a captivating rendi...
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Steven Hall

Jan/Feb 2018: First Looks: Recordings

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 Nyman: Complete Piano Music Jeroen van Veen, piano Brilliant Classics 95112 [Total Time 1:50:45] brilliantclassics.com Prolific Dutch pianist-composer Jeroen van Veen presents all of Michael Nyman's existing solo piano music. Many will recognize Nyman (b. 1944) as composer of the soundtrack for the 1993 award-winning film The Piano, and—of th...
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Hayden Coie

Winning essay from the 2017 Clavier Companion Collegiate Writing Contest

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In the Spring of 2017, Clavier Companion sponsored its ninth annual Collegiate Writing Contest, inviting college students from around the world to submit 1,500 word essays on a pedagogical topic of their choice. We extend our sincere thanks to professors Gail Berenson, Pamela Pike, and Suzanne Schons for serving as adjudicators for this year's cont...
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Bruce Berr, Editor

How do you teach the rhythm challenges in Debussy's Clair de lune?

In this department over the past thirteen years, many authors and myself have alluded to two different meanings of the term "rhythm." Prosaic rhythm (also called counting rhythm) is the mere timing of events decoded from the printed page using counting or other methods. Poetic rhythm is much broader, encompassing virtually everything...
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Ciaran Norton
Please teach me to profess the challenges and all difficulties of the field. The probe is stuffed for the movement of the essayont... Read More
Monday, 22 June 2020 02:01
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