The Sunday Listen: ‘Estampes’ by Claude Debussy
The Sunday Listen: ‘Estampes’ by Claude Debussy
Hello pianists,
This week’s Sunday Listen is Debussy’s slightly not-as-well-known suite for piano, the Estampes.
These series of (literally translated) ‘pictures’ or ‘prints’ showcases three of Debussy’s most exotic soundscapes, spanning the length of half the globe in a compact, rather convenient half an hour.
The first piece, Pagodes references the hypnotic sounds of the Javanese gamelan which Debussy heard at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle. Built heavily on the pentatonic scale, it’s music that breaks free of the harmonic rules of the time and drifts with a sense of serene largesse.
La soirée dans Grenade instantly transports us to sultry Spain, maybe during the night, with the drowsy sounds of a distant strumming guitar and an underlying habañera dance rhythm. Perhaps the most pictorial piece here, it also owes a small amount to Issac Albeniz, whose Iberia suite I’ve shared previously.
Finally, the flying raindrops of a summer thunderstorm in Normandy can be heard in Jardins sous la pluie, along with quotes of two French folksongs: Nous n’irons plus aux bois and Dodo, l’enfant do. This final movement ends amid innocent, playful splashes that seem to leap from the piano’s keys.
Next week – something not at all classical…
Happy listening!
Will