The Two Arabesques (Deux arabesques), L. 66, is a pair of arabesques composed for piano by Claude Debussy when he was still in his twenties, between the years 1888 and 1891.
Première Arabesque (4:53)
Deuxième Arabesque (4:00)
Both pieces performed in 2016 by Patrizia Prati on piano at Madrid's Museum of Romanticism
Although quite an early work, the arabesques contain hints of Debussy's developing musical style. The suite is one of the very early impressionistic pieces of music, following the French visual art form. Debussy seems to wander through modes and keys, and achieves evocative scenes throughout both pieces. His view of a musical arabesque was a line curved in accordance with nature, and with his music he mirrored the celebrations of shapes in nature made by the Art Nouveau artists of the time.[1] Of the arabesque in baroque music, he wrote:[2]
“That was the age of the ‘wonderful arabesque' when music was subject to the laws of beauty inscribed in the movements of Nature herself.”
This arabesque is in the key of E major. The piece begins with parallelism of triads in first inversion, a composition technique very much used by Debussy and other Impressionists which traces back to the tradition of fauxbourdon. It leads into a larger section which begins with a left hand arpeggio in E major and a descending right hand E major pentatonic progression.
The second quieter B section is in A major, starting with a gesture (E-D-E-C♯), briefly passing through E major, returning to A major and ending with a bold pronouncement of the E-D-E-C♯ gesture, but transposed to the key of C major and played forte.
In the middle of the recapitulation of the A section, the music moves to a higher register and descends, followed by a large pentatonic scale ascending and descending, and resolving back to E major.
Arabesque No. 2. Allegretto scherzandoedit
The second arabesque in G major is noticeably quicker and more lively in tempo. It opens with left hand chords and right hand trills. The piece makes several transpositions and explores a lower register of the piano. Again notable is a hint of the pentatonic scale. It closes in a similar fashion to the first arabesque.
The first piece was used as the theme to Star Gazers. It is also featured in the 2001 Japanese film All About Lily Chou-Chou along with other works from Debussy.
Referencesedit
^Stillman, Mimi (Fall 2007). "Debussy, Painter of Sound and Image". The Flutist Quarterly. 33 (1): 41–46.
^Lesure & Smith (eds.) Debussy on Music 1977, p84. Cited in Stillman, Mimi (Fall 2007). "Debussy, Painter of Sound and Image". The Flutist Quarterly. 33 (1): 41–46.
^Olson, Lynn Freeman (1985). Debussy -- Deux Arabesques for the Piano. Alfred Music Publishing. ISBN0739023063.
arabesques, deux, arabesques, pair, arabesques, composed, piano, claude, debussy, when, still, twenties, between, years, 1888, 1891, première, arabesque, source, source, deuxième, arabesque, source, source, both, pieces, performed, 2016, patrizia, prati, piano. The Two Arabesques Deux arabesques L 66 is a pair of arabesques composed for piano by Claude Debussy when he was still in his twenties between the years 1888 and 1891 Premiere Arabesque 4 53 source source Deuxieme Arabesque 4 00 source source Both pieces performed in 2016 by Patrizia Prati on piano at Madrid s Museum of Romanticism Problems playing these files See media help Although quite an early work the arabesques contain hints of Debussy s developing musical style The suite is one of the very early impressionistic pieces of music following the French visual art form Debussy seems to wander through modes and keys and achieves evocative scenes throughout both pieces His view of a musical arabesque was a line curved in accordance with nature and with his music he mirrored the celebrations of shapes in nature made by the Art Nouveau artists of the time 1 Of the arabesque in baroque music he wrote 2 That was the age of the wonderful arabesque when music was subject to the laws of beauty inscribed in the movements of Nature herself Contents 1 The arabesques 1 1 Arabesque No 1 Andantino con moto 1 2 Arabesque No 2 Allegretto scherzando 2 In other media 3 References 4 External linksThe arabesques editThe two arabesques are given these tempo marks 3 Andantino con moto Allegretto scherzandoArabesque No 1 Andantino con moto edit This arabesque is in the key of E major The piece begins with parallelism of triads in first inversion a composition technique very much used by Debussy and other Impressionists which traces back to the tradition of fauxbourdon It leads into a larger section which begins with a left hand arpeggio in E major and a descending right hand E major pentatonic progression The second quieter B section is in A major starting with a gesture E D E C briefly passing through E major returning to A major and ending with a bold pronouncement of the E D E C gesture but transposed to the key of C major and played forte In the middle of the recapitulation of the A section the music moves to a higher register and descends followed by a large pentatonic scale ascending and descending and resolving back to E major Arabesque No 2 Allegretto scherzando edit The second arabesque in G major is noticeably quicker and more lively in tempo It opens with left hand chords and right hand trills The piece makes several transpositions and explores a lower register of the piano Again notable is a hint of the pentatonic scale It closes in a similar fashion to the first arabesque In other media editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed February 2024 Learn how and when to remove this template message The first piece was used as the theme to Star Gazers It is also featured in the 2001 Japanese film All About Lily Chou Chou along with other works from Debussy References edit Stillman Mimi Fall 2007 Debussy Painter of Sound and Image The Flutist Quarterly 33 1 41 46 Lesure amp Smith eds Debussy on Music 1977 p84 Cited in Stillman Mimi Fall 2007 Debussy Painter of Sound and Image The Flutist Quarterly 33 1 41 46 Olson Lynn Freeman 1985 Debussy Deux Arabesques for the Piano Alfred Music Publishing ISBN 0739023063 External links edit2 Arabesques Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Listen to Deux Arabesques arranged by Kenneth Hesketh HD Video of the popular Arabesque No 1 specially arranged for Flute and Harp by Singaporean Flutist Jed HuangPortal nbsp Classical Music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Two Arabesques amp oldid 1212541132, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
