'Music is a secret form of mathematics, the elements of which have a share in eternity. It lives in the movement of water, in the undulating motion of changing winds; nothing is more musical than a sunset!' (Claude Debussy)
In a series of five compact discs WERGO releases Claude Debussy's complete works for piano - masterly played by Nina Tichman.
Music is for Debussy part of nature, originating from it and returning to it. As a sensitive mediator it allows one a glimpse of an original state of things in which man and nature were one - and at the same time documents painfully the loss of this original state. Expressions like 'music of silence' and 'music in the open air' are key expressions in understanding Debussy's works.
In 1915 Debussy composed the Douze etudes, his last work for piano solo. He dedicated the work to Frederic Chopin, thus consciously taking his place in the ranks of a great tradition and formulating a claim for the genre 'etude' which extends far beyond its function as a technical practice piece. The titles of the etudes are abstract, indeed, compared with the poetic ideas of the 'Preludes' and other piano works they could in fact be described as truly scientific in their precision. The theme of each title is the technical problem dealt with in each individual piece (intervals, chromaticism, repetitions etc.). The works which follow these dry titles display bold freedom and fantasy, shimmering beauty which leaves far behind all trace of 'etude' character. The etudes, of all things, the epitome of dry school-book learning, become a feast of creativity.
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1Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les cinq doigts
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2Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les tierces
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3Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les quartes
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4Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les sixtes
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5Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les octaves
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6Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les huit doigts
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7Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les degres chromatiques
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8Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les agrements
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9Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les notes repetees
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10Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les sonorites opposees
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11Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les arpeges composes
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12Etudes Nr. 1-12Pour les accords
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13Rêverie
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14Deux ArabesquesAndantino con moto
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15Deux ArabesquesAllegretto scherzando
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16Hommage à Haydn (für Klavier)
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17Danse bohèmienne (für Klavier)