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Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
From Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune

Claude Debussy composed the Suite bergamasque in 1890 while he was still fairly unknown, and published it after extensive revisions only in 1905. By that time, after L’après-midi d’un faune, Pelléas et Mélisande and the String Quartet, he had become famous – or notorious. The order and number of movements in the Suite was probably affected by publishing, rather than musical considerations, since even the titles were not finalized until it went to print. The Suite belongs to a tradition of French keyboard music dating back to the eighteenth century with the keyboard works of the Couperin family and also Jean-Philippe Rameau. These are short pieces evoking a mood, an image or even the personality of a specific individual. Like so many of Debussy’s subsequent works, they are deliberately referential, containing programmatic, visual or musical allusions that would have been readily familiar to his audience.

The significance of the title bergamasque is uncertain. Bergamo is about 25 miles northeast of Milan, considered the traditional home of white-faced clown Harlequin of the commedia dell’arte, the street theater dating from the sixteenth century; Debussy had always been a fan of the tradition.

The third movement, the famous Clair de lune, is Debussy’s most used – and abused – composition, and has been transcribed and orchestrated repeatedly. Because of its familiarity, it can evoke superficial salon music, unless played with great care. The movement was not born with this name; the original title was Promenade sentimentale, which Debussy changed just before publication. The title Clair de lune came from Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine’s poem, which Debussy had already set twice to music. In the poem appear the alliterative lines “masques et bergamasques” perhaps giving Debussy the idea for the title of the Suite.

Although the theme is universally familiar to concertgoers and piano students, it may not be so obvious that after the first statement of the main melody this five-minute piece has no harmonic resolution until the very end. It wanders through a series of subsidiary melodies, maintaining a high level of musical tension for such a languid piece. 

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
From Suite bergamasque: Clair de lune

Claude Debussy composed the Suite bergamasque in 1890 while he was still fairly unknown, and published it after extensive revisions only in 1905. By that time, after L’après-midi d’un faune, Pelléas et Mélisande and the String Quartet, he had become famous – or notorious. The order and number of movements in the Suite was probably affected by publishing, rather than musical considerations, since even the titles were not finalized until it went to print. The Suite belongs to a tradition of French keyboard music dating back to the eighteenth century with the keyboard works of the Couperin family and also Jean-Philippe Rameau. These are short pieces evoking a mood, an image or even the personality of a specific individual. Like so many of Debussy’s subsequent works, they are deliberately referential, containing programmatic, visual or musical allusions that would have been readily familiar to his audience.

The significance of the title bergamasque is uncertain. Bergamo is about 25 miles northeast of Milan, considered the traditional home of white-faced clown Harlequin of the commedia dell’arte, the street theater dating from the sixteenth century; Debussy had always been a fan of the tradition.

The third movement, the famous Clair de lune, is Debussy’s most used – and abused – composition, and has been transcribed and orchestrated repeatedly. Because of its familiarity, it can evoke superficial salon music, unless played with great care. The movement was not born with this name; the original title was Promenade sentimentale, which Debussy changed just before publication. The title Clair de lune came from Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine’s poem, which Debussy had already set twice to music. In the poem appear the alliterative lines “masques et bergamasques” perhaps giving Debussy the idea for the title of the Suite.

Although the theme is universally familiar to concertgoers and piano students, it may not be so obvious that after the first statement of the main melody this five-minute piece has no harmonic resolution until the very end. It wanders through a series of subsidiary melodies, maintaining a high level of musical tension for such a languid piece.