Product Description
Claude Debussys two sets of Préludes for piano have always been among my favorites and I have selected these three from Livre 1 because they work well on low instruments. If you are unfamiliar with the Préludes, I suggest you listen to some recordings first to get an idea of what these pieces are all about. You can then perhaps introduce your own ideas. Debussy specified the very slow tempo for Footprints, but the other tempos are just my suggestions. Likewise, the translations of the less familiar French terms are mine, and you may wish to rethink them. These pieces will really test your quartets ability to play together.
The score is in bass clef, but alternative treble clef parts are included.
The Interrupted Serenade tells the story of an unlucky serenader, tuning up at the start and then proceeding with a serenade to a lover, but then being disturbed several times and beginning again and again until being forced to give up in frustration. Keeping together with a balanced sound despite the constant changes in tempo and dynamics and the lead moving around the parts will test your playing skills.
Footprints in the Snow paints a picture of a bleak, snow-covered landscape. We normally want our music to move forwards, but the challenge here is to bring it almost to a standstill, to portray "a scene of utter solitude and stillness, [with] the music creating its own silence" (Roy Howat).
Minstrels describes the performers that Debussy would have seen in Parisian music halls in the early 1900s. This is a mix of cakewalk, tap-dance, acrobatics, comedy, drums and poking fun at a sentimental tune. Again, the challenge is keeping together with a balanced sound despite the constant changes in tempo and dynamics and the lead moving around the parts.
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