Debussy: La mer | François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles

Unusual harmonies, fascinating soundscapes, mysterious glitter. “La mer” (The sea) by Claude Debussy is considered the showpiece of musical impressionism. Here it is played by the orchestra Les Siècles under the direction of François-Xavier Roth. The concert took place in 2022 at the Prague Spring Festival in the famous Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague.

(00:00) Coming on stage
(00:25) I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to noon on the sea)
(08:51) II. Jeux de vagues (Play of the waves)
(15:41) III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue between wind and waves)

Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918) wrote the composition of “three symphonic sketches”, between 1903 and 1905. Upon its premiere in Paris in October 1905, “La mer” was not well-received, provoking confusion and dismay among both audience and critics. But after performances in the United States and Britain, it was performed again in Paris in 1908, and then quickly became one of Debussy's most famous and admired orchestral works.

Inspired by the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 with the construction of the Eiffel Tower, the works of Russian Romantic composers, contemporary salon music and the burgeoning jazz movement, Debussy wanted to create music that translated subjective impressions into atmospheric sounds. He thus developed a musical aesthetic that was no longer based on the conventions of Viennese Classicism and Romanticism, but instead followed an independent tonality. In his compositions, he combines European influences with Slavic and Asian music and uses major and minor scales as well as whole-tone scales and pentatonic elements.

Debussy is neither interested in distinctive motifs nor in thematic elaborations and contrapuntal developments. Rather, his compositions are characterized by rapid harmonic changes and unusual instrumentation - such as a glockenspiel in “La mer”. The composer's intention is to convey atmospheres and associations to the listener. Today, his impressionistic musical language is regarded as a link between Romanticism and musical modernism.

Fun fact: As a young boy, Debussy wanted to become a sailor. His longing for the sea is also reflected in his masterpiece “La mer”.

The French orchestra Les Siècles was founded in 2003 by conductor François-Xavier Roth. Translated, Les Siècles means “the centuries”. The name says it all and stands for the conviction that the sound of past centuries manifests itself in the instruments of the time. This means that the musicians are committed to historically informed performance practice and play the particular works on period instruments.

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