Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most infl ...

's ''Reflets dans l'eau'' ("Reflections in the Water") is the first of three

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

pieces from his first volume of ''

Images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

'', which are frequently performed separately. It was written in 1905. As with much of Debussy's work, it is referred to as

Impressionistic Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

, meaning that it expresses emotions and senses by making use of non-functional harmony and ambiguous

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef a ...

s, its tonality being mainly non-diatonic and usually having a sense of

modality Modality may refer to: Humanities * Modality (theology), the organization and structure of the church, as distinct from sodality or parachurch organizations * Modality (music), in music, the subject concerning certain diatonic scales * Modaliti ...

Musical analysis

''Reflets dans l'eau'' opens in a slow tempo (''andantino molto'') (which is repeated through much of the piece) while the right hand is playing a set of chords to accompany the melody. It shares the main characteristics of French music of this period, similar to works by Ravel such as ''Jeux d'eau''. The piece has several brief melody statements and climaxes that are more glimpses of music than full ideas, which is typical of Debussy's middle and late piano works. Writing "images", Debussy was purposely intending not to create linear musical progression, but a sonic representation of water. ''Reflets dans l'eau'' is also an example of the new tone colors Debussy discovered for the piano in this part of his life, and although he later refined this style, it is representative of a major breakthrough in piano writing.

Performance

Between 1968 and 1974 it was conducted and recorded by

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mo ...

who give the whole trilogie a better perspective in listening
About Boulez

Notes

External links

*
PDF copy of Reflets dans l'eau
on Free-scores.com
''Reflets dans L'eau''

Ampico American Piano Company (Ampico) was an American piano manufacturer formed in 1908 through the merger of Wm. Knabe & Co., Chickering & Sons, and Foster-Armstrong. They later purchased the Mason & Hamlin piano company as their flagship piano. The ...

piano roll version, recorded in 1916 by

Leo Ornstein Leo Ornstein (born ''Лев Орнштейн'', ''Lev Ornshteyn''; – February 24, 2002) was an American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative ...

and again in 2009 on a 1925 Mason & Hamlin Ampico RBB using an original Ampico roll. {{Authority control French music Compositions for solo piano Compositions by Claude Debussy 1905 compositions

Musical analysis

Performance

See also

Notes

External links