Softly resonant haze
In my enduring quest to make up for a lack of musical education, I’m currently reading about Claude Debussy’s Préludes, two ‘books’ of 12 pieces each for solo piano. The titles of the pieces alone will describe them better than I can. My favourites so far are Footsteps in the snow, What the west wind has seen, and The submerged cathedral.
Some of the performance indications in the score are just as evocative. Here’s a selection:
- profondément calme, dans une brume doucement sonore – profoundly calm, in a softly resonant haze
- peu à peu sortant de la brume – gradually emerging from the haze
- moqueur – mocking
- flottant et sourd – floating and muffled
- sonore sans dureté – resonant without harshness
- comme un tendre regret – like a tender regret
Translations were taken from Images and ideas in modern French piano music. Actually, they were taken from a teaser of the book on Google Books, which I found after searching for a translation. I’d never even heard of the book, but now I need it. Thanks, Google.
You can download sheet music and a complete performance by Ivan Ilić from IMSLP (the International Music Score Library Project): Book 1 and Book 2!
