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Home > Debussy, Claude Achille > D'un cahier d'esquisses

Debussy, Claude Achille : D'un cahier d'esquisses

Work Overview

Music ID : 103
Composition Year:1903 
Publication Year:1904
Instrumentation:Piano Solo 
Genre:character pieces
Total Playing Time:4 min 30 sec
Copyright:Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Nakaduka, Yurina

Last Updated: June 12, 2015
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Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

Composed in 1904. It is consistently written on three staves. As the title suggests, this piece displays a wide range of expressions, as if it were a collection of ideas written in a sketchbook. At the beginning of the piece, a series of solemn chords appears. The soundscape created by the low register evokes a dark and somber atmosphere, but the range of the chords gradually expands into the high register. In the low register, the left hand moves in a creeping manner, while in the middle register, the right hand carries the melody and harmony. The octaves on C, sounded within this texture, are like bells (measures 16-21). Subsequently, the density of sound increases, first in the high register, then in the low register. After a period of silence, the sounds begin to layer again. Within the quietness of pp and ppp, weighty chords display changes in color. Thereafter, with the bass resonating, a sudden shift occurs as a multitude of fluid sounds sweep across the keyboard. Then, with chords layered over undulating bass, the right hand sings the melody. After emitting brilliant arpeggios in the high register and playing melodic harmonies, the piece concludes with the tonic chord of D-flat major.