Composed 1904; 11 minutes

As described above, in 1897, the Paris instrument manufacturer Pleyel developed and patented a cross-strung 
chromatic harp as an alternative to the dominant Érard double-action pedal harp of the day. The chromatic harp’s two rows of strings slanting across one another, did away with the pedals, and had a string for every semitone. Pleyel’s company director, Gustave Lyon, then persuaded the Brussels Conservatoire to run a course for the new instrument. In 1904, he commissioned Debussy to write a test-piece (morceau de concours) for the Conservatoire final examination. 

Debussy’s two Danses of 1904 were originally designed “for chromatic harp, with accompaniment of string orchestra,” and are written in a consciously antique and thoroughly French style. The first, Danse sacrée, is slow, solemn and ‘sacred’ in the way it uses modal coloring to create atmosphere and demonstrate the harp’s chromatic potential. It incorporates a theme from the Dance of the Veils by Portuguese composer Francisco de Lacerda (1869-1934), which Debussy came across in a French musical journal. It also pays more than a passing nod to Erik Satie’s evocative Gymnopédies (two of which Debussy favored with transcriptions for orchestra). With its slow waltz tempo, the Danse profane is more sensuous. The Danses were first publicly performed at the Concerts Colonne in Paris on November 6, 1904. Regular classes for the chromatic harp continued at the Brussels Conservatory until at least the 1990s.

— All program notes copyright © 2024 Keith Horner. Comments welcomed: khnotes@sympatico.ca