Classical Music | Soprano

Recorded on 11/06/2010, uploaded on 11/06/2010

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 poem Prélude 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.

The fourth song of the cycle, Chevaux de bois (“Wooden horses”), provides a sharp contrast to the solemn song which precedes it. Here, Verlaine’s text is full of the joys of childhood and the countless times spent riding the merry-go-round. With his usual ingenious ability to summon up picturesque scenes by means of tones and harmonies, Debussy evokes the spinning merry-go-round with a prolonged trill and syncopated rhythmic motif in the opening measures. The vocal melody is tuneful and joyous; carefree in its demeanor as if this is not a recollection of childhood, but instead a pure expression of it. Only briefly does the innocent mood of the song turn somewhat somber when the narrator reflects on the fact that the horses are not real. The listener is carried into the twilight hours and a picturesque sunset is painted by Verlaine and reflected in the sudden slowing of the tempo at the beginning of Debussy’s setting of the last stanza. The original tempo is momentarily returned to with the last line of text, but the listener is left with image of the merry-go-round vacantly spinning on in the last measures of Debussy’s song.    Joseph DuBose

Claude Debussy: Ariettes oubliées

Year/Date of Composition 1885-1887:

I and II: March 1887

III and IV: 6 and 10 January 1885

V: January 1886

Year of First Publication 1888 Librettist Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) Language French Dedication Mary Garden Piece Style Early 20th century Instrumentation Voice and Piano