Estampes
Debussy: Estampes
Pagodes
La soirée dans Grenade
Jardins sous la pluie
The three impressionistic Estampes, (literally
‘prints’ or ‘engravings’) were composed in 1903. Pagodes is an
imaginative dream picture of oriental pagodas, musically inspired by the Javanese and
Cambodian gamelan musicians Debussy had heard in Paris. The melodic ideas are founded on
the oriental pentatonic scale.
La soirée dans Grenade (Evening in
Granada) is a voluptuous, evocative nocturne, though Debussy’s only first-hand
knowledge of Spain was a day in San Sebastian! It is based on habanera rhythm.
Jardins sous la pluie (Gardens in the
Rain), a toccata, has two French nursery songs woven into it and may suggest capricious
spring weather seen through a nursery window.
© Eric Mason
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