Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/12/2007, uploaded on 01/21/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Claude Debussy composed his Suite bergamasque for solo piano in 1890, making it an early piece in his career and preceded by only a handful of other works for piano. Yet, it was not published until fifteen years later in 1905, when publishers were eager to get their hands on a portion of Debussy’s growing success and fame.  The suite, as published, however, shows a greater artistic maturity and technique than Debussy likely possessed during his formative years, indicating that he possibly revised the work (though to what extent is difficult to tell) prior to its publication. In addition to whatever revisions Debussy made to the suite, he also altered the titles of two of its four pieces. The last piece, Passapied, was originally entitled Pavane, while the third piece, his famous Claire de lune, at first bore the title Promenade sentimentale. The change of title for this latter piece has led many to speculate on the connection between it and the poem of the same name by Paul Verlaine, particularly since Debussy had already set that particular poem to music twice by 1891.

Within the Impressionistic style of Debussy’s writing, Suite bergamasque also pays homage to the great French keyboardists of a long past century. A Prélude in F major opens the suite, with outer sections marked by florid passages and moments of contrapuntal interplay between the different voices of the musical texture. A new melodic idea, one that seems to glint in the moonlight, emerges in the movement’s lengthy central episode, alongside a frolicking rhythmic motif that propels the energetic movement to a reprise of the opening. In the second movement, entitled Menuet, there is little save for the triple meter that bears semblance to the old French dance. Yet, there are, nevertheless, at times passages that conjure in the listener’s mind the motions of a dancer. Overall, however, the movement is a comical one, with a principal motif that seems to suggest a fiery demeanor, but reveals that it is only a mask when the music slips into moments of mystery or humor.

Following the Menuet is the famous Clair de Lune, one of Debussy’s most recognizable compositions. Meaning “Moonlight,” it is a piece of ethereal beauty in D-flat major. It is structured in a ternary design, opening with a yearning melody that gives way to a somewhat more animated, but no less sublime, central episode. Like the second movement, the finale also makes reference to an antiquated Baroque dance without specifically drawing on its peculiar aspects. In this case, however, the reference is even more elusive. Though entitled Passapied, the movement is marked to be played much faster than that dance it supposedly alludes to, and its common meter betrays its original form as a pavane. Nonetheless, it is an energetic arcane-sounding movement that provides a compelling conclusion to the suite.     Joseph DuBose

Suite Bergamasque       Claude Debussy

I. Prélude; II. Menuet; III. Clair de lune; IV. Passepied

The Suite Bergamasque (ber-gah-'mask) is one of the most famous piano suites of Claude Debussy and is widely regarded as the most fascinating. It was likely named after Paul Verlaine's poem "Clair de lune", which refers to a bergamask-a rustic dance from the region of Bergamo in northern Italy. The piece was published in 1905 and consists of four movements.

The Prélude is full of dynamic contrasts with a spectacular beginning and ending. The second movement is a Menuet, following the typical Baroque suite form. It is quite mysterious, yet playful during its pianissimo parts and shows interesting harmonies. It is followed by the well-known Clair de Lune (Moonlight), a very soft and tender masterpiece of Debussy, played mostly pianissimo. Finally, the playful Passepied has an interesting combination of Baroque and French flavor.      Xiang Zou

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.