Three Debussy Pieces

From Wind Repertory Project
Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy (arr. Thomas Singletary)


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Subtitle: For Double Woodwind Quintet and Brass Quintet


General Info

Year: 1890 /
Duration: c. 8:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Thomas Singletary
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $45.00


Movements

1. Passepied from Suite Bergamasque – 4:08
2. La fille aux cheveux de lin – 2:10
3. Le Petit Nègre – 1:55


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III
Trombone
Tuba


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Claude Debussy, child piano prodigy, began studying at the Paris Conservatory at age 11. His teachers recognized his obvious talent but often questioned his attempts at musical innovation and improvisation. By the turn of the twentieth century, he had established himself as the leading figure of French music.

Originally composed for the piano in 1890, Passepied was finally published in 1905 as one movement of his Suite Bergamasque that also included one of his best-known works, Clair de lune. A departure from Debussy’s more adventurous harmonic and textural style, La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair) has great beauty through simplicity. The eighth piece in Debussy’s First Book of Préludes, this beautiful music has been widely recorded and transcribed for many instrumental settings.

While much of Debussy’s piano music is difficult to execute for a young pianist, Le Petit Nègre is playable following a strong elementary foundation. The piece was first published as one of forty pieces by different composers in the Méthode élémentaire de Piano by Théodore Lack.

Le Petit Nègre is a bouncy cakewalk in C Major, reminiscent of Debussy’s more well-known Golliwogg’s Cakewalk.

The three pieces by Debussy included in this transcription were originally arranged for the Honors Chamber Winds of the FSU [Florida State University] Summer Music Camps, an ensemble consisting of two woodwind quintets and one brass quintet that perform independently and as a combined group.

- Program Note by arranger


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Concert Band (Simon Holoweiko, conductor) – 21 February 2018


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Thomas Singletary, personal correspondence, February 2018