Debussy: Clair de lune | Menahem Pressler, piano
posted by DW Classical Music
Mar 23, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bxpm0EmOMU

Drenched in the light of the moon: Claude Debussy’s “Clair de lune” is an ode to the night sky. It’s one of the French composer’s best-known pieces and it was given an emotional interpretation on 17 October 2012 at a concert in the Salle Pleyel in Paris by piano virtuoso Menahem Pressler (1923 - 2023).

The French composer Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918) is a representative of musical Impressionism. Debussy was fond of subject matter from nature such as sea, clouds and snow and attempted to inject these phenomena of nature with musical character, whereby a formal freedom was of particular importance to him. Claude Debussy was an individualist who wasn’t afraid to ruffle feathers. He started getting noticed in 1894 with the orchestral work “Prélude à l´après-midi d´un faune”; the final breakthrough came with the opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” premiered in 1902.

The piece “Clair de lune” is part of the “Suite bergamasque“ composed by Claude Debussy in 1890. It consists of four movements; “Clair de lune“ is the third of these. The piano suite was first performed in 1905. Claude Debussy often drew inspiration from the poetry of Paul Verlaine – sensitive, somber descriptions of the natural world in accordance with late 19th-century tastes. “Clair de lune” was also inspired by an eponymous poem by Verlaine. This particular movement of the suite is a frequent inclusion on concert programs and is exceedingly popular – not just on stage. “Clair de lune” also features on many movie soundtracks.