Classical Music | Soprano

Recorded on 07/31/2013, uploaded on 03/12/2014

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

In the midst of searching for his own unique musical voice, Claude Debussy discovered the works of the Symbolist writers Maurice Maeterlinck, Stéphane Mallarmé, and Paul Verlaine, and thus found a reflection in words of all he sought in his own music. Maeterlinck provided him the means of escaping Wagner’s operatic influence and the libretto to his one and only complete opera Pelléas et Mélisande; Mallarmé offered the inspiration for his revolutionary orchestral tone poemPrélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Verlaine, the text for nearly one-third of Debussy’s total output of song.

The discovery of Verlaine’s poetry was particularly pivotal in the development of Debussy’s mature style. Both men were fond of nuance and sought the means, particularly through rhythm, to reinvent their respective art forms. Thus, it is no surprise that Verlaine came to have a greater influence over the composer than any of Debussy’s other artistic contemporaries. In 1903, Debussy composed his Ariettes oublieés, a song cycle based on Verlaine’s poetry. Numbering six songs in all, the cycle is a clear display of Debussy’s burgeoning mature style, as he fed off the inspiration he received from Verlaine and distanced himself from the early French masters he idolized.

In the opening song of the cycle, C’est l’extase langoureuse (“It is the languorous ecstasy”), Debussy’s music is magnificently reflective of Verlaine’s text. Like the feelings and sensations described in the poem, the melodies and harmonies of Debussy’s setting seem to float dreamily on, drifting in some frozen moment of time.     Joseph DuBose

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.