From the Composer -

With their modernity and innovative writing, Debussy's "24 Preludes for Piano" paved the way for 20th-century music. Pianist Hugues Leclère invited 22 leading contemporary composers to collaborate in re-examining this monumental achievement by Debussy. The 22 new works thus created, as an homage to Debussy and through the composers' free interpretations, were inserted between each of the 24 preludes across two volumes. This collaboration by 23 individuals, woven together as if overlapping the 100 years from Debussy to the present day, was premiered in Paris in 2012 as a program lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes per volume, without intermission.

"Vent d'Automne" (Autumn Wind) is inserted between "Brouillards" (Mists) and "Feuilles mortes" (Dead Leaves), which mark the beginning of Volume 2. This short piece, rather than being a simple imitation, values the atmospheric quality conveyed by sound, in order to smoothly connect the two preludes. It evokes the first winds announcing the arrival of autumn, the early mornings when autumn frost descends, and of course, the premonition of biting cold. At the same time, it is enveloped in the poetic chords evoking autumn created by Debussy, the suspended temporal gaps, and the universal, formalized sense of presence that is not bound by time.

This work is dedicated to Maki Okada, a performer who listens to the overtones of mist and shadow.

Hugues Dufourt