Reverie

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy (trans. Ray Thompson)

General Info

Year: 1890 / 2011
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Ray Thompson Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $1.95

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
Horn in F

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

More proof, as if it were needed, that Claude Debussy was the master of creating dream-like atmospheres in his piano music.

Written in 1890, Debussy's Rêverie was one of his first solo piano works to make an impact. Even at this early stage in his career, when he was still working out what kind of composer he wanted to be (he was apparently a fervent debater when it came to Wagnerism), it's clear to see traits of that signature Debussy sound.

However, the young Debussy had not quite developed the style and tricks that would earmark him as one of his generation's most notable talents. There are no fireworks here, no sudden explosions in texture that would come to characterize his later works -- this is more of a meditation, the perfect precursor to exploring those later works.

The gently repetitive theme that opens the work feels like a descent into sleepy dream-world (as the title suggests), and as the textures become ever richer the dreams only become more lush and addictive. A fantastic early sign that this Debussy fellow was one to watch…

- Program Note from Classic FM for piano arrangement

Commercial Discography

None discovered thus far.

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Wind Ensemble (Michael Griffith, conductor) – 25 February 2020

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

• Danse (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Kurokawa)
• Golliwog's Cakewalk (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Kano) (1908)

All Wind Works

• Afternoon of a Faun, The (arr. Walters) (1894/1950/1999?)
• Beau Soir (arr. Warner)(1880/1971)
• Children’s Corner Suite (arr. Winterbottom) (1908)
• Clair de lune (arr. de Meij) (1890/1905/2017)
• Clair de Lune (arr. Wallace) (1890/1905/1995)
• Danse (arr. Boyd) (1890/1983)
• Danse (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Kurokawa)
• Danses Sacrée et Profane (arr. Odom) (1904/2019)
• Danses Sacrée et Profane (tr. J. Lloyd) (1904)
• Debussy: Girl with the Flaxen Hair (arr. Akey) (1910/1995)
• The Engulfed Cathedral (tr. Longfield) (1910/1987)
• The Engulfed Cathedral (arr. Miller) (1910/1986)
• The Engulfed Cathedral (tr. Patterson) (1910/1993)
• The Engulfed Cathedral. See also: La Cathédrale Engloutie
• Fêtes (arr. Schaefer) (1959)
• Fêtes from "Three Nocturnes" (tr. Tatebe)
• Four Debussy Songs (trans. Anderson) (2018)
• Golliwog's Cakewalk (arr. Curnow) (1908/1985)
• Golliwog's Cakewalk (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Kano) (1908)
• The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (tr. Brand) (1910)
• The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (tr. Bernotas) (1910)
• The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (arr. Moss) (1910/2007)
• The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (arr. Sparke) (1910/2007)
• Hommage à Rameau (arr. Hunsberger) (1905/2009)
• La Cathédrale Engloutie (arr. Mortimer) (1910/2016)
• La Cathédrale Engloutie. See also: The Engulfed Cathedral
• La Mer (trans. Odom) (1905/)
• L’isle joyeuse (arr. Mashima) (1904/2005)
• L'isle joyeuse (arr. Volans) (1904/1995)
• Marche Écossaise (tr. Schaeffer) (1891/1908/1964)
• Marche Écossaise (tr. Scatterday) (1891/1908)
• 'Menuet' from Suite Bergamasque (arr. Southard) (1890/2012)
• Minstrels (tr. Scarbrough) (1910/2016)
• Pagodes from "Estampes" (arr. Grainger) (1996)
• Petite Suite (arr. Brakkee) (1889/1999?)
• Petite Suite (tr. Winterbottom) (1889)
• Petite Suite (arr. Kimura) (1889/1998)
• Premiere Arabesque (1891)
• Première Rhapsody (tr. Baars) (1910/12016)
• Première Rhapsody (arr. Walker; ed. Pappas) (1910/1963/2004)
• Rêverie (tr. Thompson) (1890/2011)
• Sarabande (tr. Bennefield) (1894/1901/2020)
• Sarabande (tr. Erickson) (1894/1967)
• Suite Bergamasque Mvt 2 Menuet (arr. Thompson)
• Three Debussy Pieces (arr. Singletary)

Resources

• "Debussy – Reverie." Classic FM (London). Web. Accessed 11 September 2020
• Perusal score
• Ray Thompson Music Accessed 11 September 2020
• "Rêverie (Debussy, Claude)". IMSLP. Web. Accessed 11 September 2020