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Debussy, Claude Achille : Préludes 1　"Minstrels"

Work Overview

Music ID : 22375
Instrumentation：Piano Solo　
Genre：prelude
Total Playing Time：2 min 00 sec
Copyright：Public Domain
prelude
Piano Solo
piano solo

Commentary (1)

Author : Shiraishi, Yuriko

Last Updated: January 27, 2020
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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.

The title originates from a minstrel show Debussy saw in the summer of 1905 when he visited Eastbourne in southern England. Minstrel shows were a popular form of entertainment from the mid to late 19th century, featuring white performers in blackface who sang, danced, and performed skits. Following an opening with an awkward rhythm (mm. 1-8), a propulsive episode appears (mm. 9-18). Within this episode, the two-measure melody from mm. 11-12 (see musical example) becomes an important motif connecting a swift duple-meter episode (mm. 28-31), a mocking low-register episode (mm. 35-44), and a lyrical episode (mm. 63-74). From m. 78, the opening rhythmic motif returns, and from m. 87 to the end, the two-measure motif recurs, bringing the piece to a close.

Musical Example: Two-Measure Motif, mm. 11-12

Writer: Shiraishi, Yuriko

Arrangements & Related Works(1)

Japanese