close
Home > Debussy, Claude Achille > Préludes 1 > "La cathédrale engloutie"

Debussy, Claude Achille : Préludes 1　"La cathédrale engloutie"

Work Overview

Music ID : 22373
Instrumentation：Piano Solo　
Genre：prelude
Total Playing Time：5 min 00 sec
Copyright：Public Domain

Commentary (1)

Author : Shiraishi, Yuriko

Last Updated: January 27, 2020
[Open]
Note: This article is automatically translated from the original Japanese text. The author of the original work did not supervise this translation.

It is said to be inspired by the legend of Ys, passed down in Brittany. In the deeply silent sea, a gentle mist of sound, formed by ascending chords of perfect 5ths and 4ths, rises (mm. 1-6), and the bells of the cathedral, once submerged in the sea, slowly resonate (mm. 7-13). As the bass gradually begins to move in arpeggios, the mist slowly clears, and the cathedral begins to emerge from the sea (mm. 16-27), and with a powerful and grand ff sonority, the cathedral fully appears above the sea (mm. 28-46). From within the cathedral, the chanting of monks is heard as a modal melody, but the cathedral is once again swallowed by the sea (mm. 47-71). The lingering echo of the cathedral's brief resurrection resonates as an echo of the phrase from m. 28 (mm. 72-83), and the quiet sea, with its faint sound of bells and mist, returns (mm. 84-89).

Writer: Shiraishi, Yuriko
Japanese