Friday Performance Pick – 138

Debussy, Sonata for Cello and Piano

When you think of the music of Claude Debussy (1862-1918), you might conjure up big washes of sound—the kind of sonorities you would find in his seascape La Mer. Or perhaps you think of the ethereal and bucolic Prélude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Lush sounds, blurred melodic lines, ambiguous tonality, often indistinct forms, . . . Impressionism.

monet-sunrise
Monet, Impression Sunrise

Debussy was a contemporary of the French Impressionist painters. His relatively short lifespan fits within that of Claude Monet (1840-1926). There are many reasons that it makes sense to label his as an Impressionist, even though he didn’t like the term applied to his music.

Debussy composed his Sonata for Cello and Piano toward the end of his life in 1915. He had planned a series of six sonatas but completed only three. The cello sonata was composed following a period in which Debussy produced very little and after he had learned of his cancer.

The work is surprisingly short. Each of its three movements lasts only 3-4 minutes. While it contains much of the impressionism you might expect of Debussy, he seems to be moving in new directions. It is highly episodic and the episodes tend to be distinct and often change abruptly. There are no allusions to extra-musical themes.

Less blurring of lines, less reliance on color, more distinct uses of tonality of thematic development. It looks back to a more classical form in some ways and points more toward modernism in others.

This performance has a separate video for each movement.