Claude Debussy

Six Préludes

After I had transcribed the Épigraphes antiques, beautifully performed several times by the Ensemble orchestral contemporain, I was invited by Daniel Kawka to renew the experience with Debussy's Préludes for piano in the same orchestration: two flutes, one oboe, one clarinet, one bassoon, one french horn, one harp and a solo string quintet, that is to say a total of twelve instruments. Debussy's twenty four Préludes represent with his Études, Images and Estampes, an essential corpus in the composer's works for piano. These pieces, of a great variety of style, are all written under the sign of refinement and of rhythmical and harmonic subtlety. These pages are more an evocation than a description: Debussy wrote the title only at the end of each piece.

Considering the instruments I had at my disposal, I selected pieces of a delicate and subtle atmosphere, rather than the ones with too clearly defined colours or too typically pianistic. My concern - in the absolute respect of the score - has been to render the multiple nuances for, as Paul Verlaine wrote it:

Oh! only the nuance betroths

Dream to dream and flute to horn!



(translation Philippe Do)