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[seekingferret]

sophia_sol wasn't so happy with the playlist of Haydn highlights I made for her, but she liked the Debussy Homage to Haydn, so I proposed to make a Debussy playlist.

A Playlist of my favorite Debussy works

1. String Quartet in G Minor, Movements 1 and 3 by Quatuor Ebene

-Because honestly I wanted to put the whole damn thing in here, but decided against it. But these two movements are probably the most interesting.

2. Estampes Number 2: La Soiree Dans Grenade by Claude Debussy (as pianist)

-First started listening to it because there were accusations of similarity between it and a Ravel piece, but I think it uses chromatics in really interesting and effective ways.

3. Children's Corner 1: Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum by Claude Debussy (as pianist)

- Because it's really fun and whimsical and colorful, and because it sets up #4.

4. Children's Corner 1: Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum by Bela Fleck with Joshua Bell and Gary Hoffman

- Because Debussy on the banjo.

5. Chansons de Charles D'Orleans Movement 2: Quant J'ai Ouy Le Tabourin by the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir

-Because I wanted to show off Debussy's choral writing, and because this is lovely.

6. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune by the Paris Radio Symphony Orchestra

-Because when I asked everyone what were the obligatory pieces on a Debussy playlist, they all agreed that it was the Prelude and Clair de Lune. And because it deserves to be obligatory listening. It's so dreamy and magical.

7. Suite Bergamasque, Movement III: Clair de Lune by Peter Schmalfuss

-Because when I asked everyone what were the obligatory pieces on a Debussy playlist, they all agreed that it was the Prelude and Clair de Lune.

8. Beau Soir by Joshua Bell

-Because Joshua Bell

9. Pelleas et Melisande: : Mes longs cheveux by Mary Garden

-Because Pelleas is his operatic masterpiece, and Garden debuted the role of Melisande, and this is such a fascinating time capsule.

10. Ravel's Sonata for Cello and Violin by Jaime Laredo and Leslie Parnas

-Because I ended the Haydn playlist on a song written in tribute to Haydn, and it seemed appropriate to do likewise here. Ravel dedicated his sonata to Debussy shortly after Debussy's death.

Download playlist

Comments

[sophia_sol]

Thank you! I'm about to be internet-free for a number if days but I'm looking forward to giving it a listen next week

[sophia_sol]

Listening to this was SO FASCINATING TO ME because I'm used to thinking of all, um, "classical" music as all sounding more or less the same and all more or less boring, and not differentiating by composer. Which, I mean, in my defense when a person is not particularly familiar with an entire musical genre it's easy for it all to sound the same, and I experienced the same sort of thing before I figured out how to like rock music and pop music.

But it turns out my enjoyment of the Debussy song on the Haydn playlist was not a fluke, I genuinely like Debussy!

And I liked the Ravel song at the end too - it sounds to me a lot more structured than the Debussy pieces but it's still fun and interesting.

I still doubt this'll ever be my first choice of thing to listen to, but I'm glad to have discovered some appreciation for this sort of music as well. Thank you.

(and I'm sorry about being so woefully behindhand in listening to this and commenting!)

[seekingferret]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Um... yeah. Debussy was composing 150 years after Haydn. It's not surprising that he would not sound at all like Haydn, even though he was unquestionably influenced by Haydn. 150 years is a lot of time.

[sophia_sol]

I'm not saying he sounds nothing at all like Haydn! I know perfectly well there's a quantity of time between them, but they're still in the same broad musical family and I still do hear plenty of similarities. It's like, say, the Child ballads and modern folk musicians (eg Heather Dale) are part of the same general style of music despite being separated by hundreds of years, and there are both differences and similarities.