I am enjoying the comments on this page. So many people think they don't know or like classical music, but here it is, and it touches the soul and stirs the imagination of all who hear it, especially this piece. It sounds familiar because composers for film grew up hearing classical music, and it inspired them to write fine music that sounds like this. I am happy that so many listeners of all ages are enjoying this.
For me, it is sitting in warm grasses surrounded by rolling hills somewhere in the UK or Europe and feeling the Sun and warm breezes lull me into a blissful semi-slumber.
it doesn't need a melody. the point of modernist and impressionist music like this is that the music is music and you don't need keys and melodies to enjoy it. i hope that clears it up a bit
Thank you. One of my favorite composers. I was in a symphony when I was younger. We played La Mer and we even played it like it should sound! Worked hard but it was worth it, his stuff is just gorgeous.
The English horn play the same theme over and over., but it's the music around that theme that changes. Wonderful writing. So much beauty done with so little effort.
Yuzo Koshiro's Actraiser score always reminds me of Debussy as well. Especially the Orchestral Suite versions. That game still has one of the best soundtracks in a game ever, even considering the limitations of the SNES in 1991.
@Dally3232 Exactly. When I hear this piece, I always imagine running through a dark and scary forest, with intermittent bursts of sunlight through the tree branches that kind of trick you into thinking all is well for just a little while.
@marla4634 It sounds like it starts in B minor. But it changes rather freely. Debussy's music can be taken as being, in that sense, atonal (without a tonal centre, or key).
@19ZeldaLover95, there are certain passages in Right of Spring that seem to me very similar. Particularly in the very beginning, but also some other places where there is little or no rhythm. It's not just randomness, lots of music of that time and later has random passages, and yet sounds different. I guess it is the sqeezing of tonality: the same sort of squeezing. (cont.)
@jacoclaypool666 A late response, but as for Sweeney Todd, I think Elfman borrowed from the "Dies Irae," an old Gregorian chant used as part of the requiem mass (funerals), which had apocalyptic lyrics. The melody was often borrowed by composers, so Elfman was paying homage to the old masters with that. It is also possible Debussy was knowingly borrowing from the same chant at the beginning of this piece.
There are some pieces of the soundtrack for the SNES game Act Raiser that may take some influences off of this work. This piece is one of my favorite orchestral works ever.
The similarities to Beauty and the Beast, Sweeney Todd, and other more modern popular movies and shows is due to the fact that modern composers were inspired by great composers of the past, like Claude Debussy.
"Music is music" What you mean is "20th century is 20th century." There are indeed rules and melodies and direction in music, just not all music, and especially not this time period. There are timeless tales and poignant plots, but not all stories are told the same way.
There are rhythmic similarities too. Of course, this is very relaxed, and the Rite is very intense, but if you isolate its relaxed bits (there are many) or play it at quarter speed, you will hear similarities. Little dropped-off rhythms. Debussy just lets them drop off, Stravinsky also does sometimes, but more often constructs complex super-rhythms from them.
I know I love his works too , I compare him to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, just simply exquisite, I can almost see Jesus walking on the Water, it takes me to where angels dance and sing. I often wonder what sort of music Michael Angelo would have created if he had been a musician instead of an artist. God's performers.......
@JonathanMartinovici what's cool about Debussy is from a theoretical perspective it's all logical, he was a harmonic master, nothing is done at random, how the hell did he hear that stuff? how / what did he practice? where did he get inspiration? it's not like he could listen to recordings, watch you tube, imagine sitting at his side while he played. ditto for all the masters, e.g what kind of dude was Chopin?
you obviously missed the point of the composition.. do clouds repeat themselves, do clouds ever stay the same, no they constantly change and float.. a song is not created with a good melody in mind a good song is created when it conveys the artists feeling.. this song feels like clouds during a night sky.,.
i love debussy. claire de lune breaks my heart. virtuoso pianist with a quite tragic life. he was a naughty frenchman with women. one of his wives shot herself in the chest and survived in the place de la concorde.
@ShemTheSham Especially when the strings come in at first, I totally agree. Could be right out of the Rite. And I feel like Stravinsky must have stolen some of these colors, lol.
Disabuse yourselves of the merits of German barbarism: crude and boorish music. Now this--something so French and refined; delicate and whimsical, like a fairytale of the mind. My God, such timbre and subtlety, like the little nook behind a lover's ear--mystery and magic to last one an eternity. So unlike the coarse brutality of German nakedness.
I hate when people think they have to validate classical music by speaking about it in fakey street slang. Like all the YT vids of geeky white AND black kids making excruciating rap videos of Shakespeare or Chaucer to try and make it hip. Doesn't work! It is what it is!! It's not a rap song. Talk about it with honest words if you really like it.
I am enjoying the comments on this page. So many people think they don't know or like classical music, but here it is, and it touches the soul and stirs the imagination of all who hear it, especially this piece. It sounds familiar because composers for film grew up hearing classical music, and it inspired them to write fine music that sounds like this. I am happy that so many listeners of all ages are enjoying this.
This is haunting yet comforting, and scary yet beautiful...
Are you there after 10 years
Such a beautiful and inspirational piece! Love it! Love Debussy! One of my fav composers!
Debussy is my favorite above all the others, simply genius.
I was born and raised on the west coast with the ocean and all of his pieces are light, rolling ocean waves and beach to me, beautiful.
For me, it is sitting in warm grasses surrounded by rolling hills somewhere in the UK or Europe and feeling the Sun and warm breezes lull me into a blissful semi-slumber.
it doesn't need a melody. the point of modernist and impressionist music like this is that the music is music and you don't need keys and melodies to enjoy it. i hope that clears it up a bit
This is a gift for all of us.
Thank you. One of my favorite composers. I was in a symphony when I was younger. We played La Mer and we even played it like it should sound! Worked hard but it was worth it, his stuff is just gorgeous.
The English horn play the same theme over and over., but it's the music around that theme that changes. Wonderful writing. So much beauty done with so little effort.
Such warmth, yet so distant...
Love this, I have it back ground, the most romantic piece ever
Absolutely!
Amazingly atmospheric.
Just imagine in a mid-summer afternoon you are sitting in a tree shade and watching over the the white cloud moving slowly on the blue sky.
i love just staring at his face, staring at the music, and sweating all over the place.
you get me
1 of my new favorite pieces,,,RIP Debussy
The first soundtrack composer. before there was film, in my book.I always visualize his music.
Yuzo Koshiro's Actraiser score always reminds me of Debussy as well. Especially the Orchestral Suite versions. That game still has one of the best soundtracks in a game ever, even considering the limitations of the SNES in 1991.
@Dally3232 Exactly. When I hear this piece, I always imagine running through a dark and scary forest, with intermittent bursts of sunlight through the tree branches that kind of trick you into thinking all is well for just a little while.
beautiful piece of music
oh man when the piece hits 1:04 my heart melts..
Beautiful piece.
The motive is amazingly affective
there is power is this beauty....just open your heart to it...or as i would say in my hippie days - go with the flow, dude.
@marla4634 It sounds like it starts in B minor. But it changes rather freely. Debussy's music can be taken as being, in that sense, atonal (without a tonal centre, or key).
This really reminds me of Limbo. Just the picture of being in a dark forest, all alone
Fruity, yet tannic
Beautiful.
beauty and the beast...
@19ZeldaLover95, there are certain passages in Right of Spring that seem to me very similar. Particularly in the very beginning, but also some other places where there is little or no rhythm.
It's not just randomness, lots of music of that time and later has random passages, and yet sounds different.
I guess it is the sqeezing of tonality: the same sort of squeezing.
(cont.)
@jacoclaypool666 A late response, but as for Sweeney Todd, I think Elfman borrowed from the "Dies Irae," an old Gregorian chant used as part of the requiem mass (funerals), which had apocalyptic lyrics. The melody was often borrowed by composers, so Elfman was paying homage to the old masters with that. It is also possible Debussy was knowingly borrowing from the same chant at the beginning of this piece.
There are some pieces of the soundtrack for the SNES game Act Raiser that may take some influences off of this work. This piece is one of my favorite orchestral works ever.
Thanks for sharing.
gives me shivers
awesome
The music conveys a certain nebulous quality. It could easily depict a fog in lieu of clouds.
this is just so beautiful
To jest genialnee . Uwielbiam go . !
@jacoclaypool666 I thought the EXACT SAME thing when I had to listen to this for class. Nice spotting!
The similarities to Beauty and the Beast, Sweeney Todd, and other more modern popular movies and shows is due to the fact that modern composers were inspired by great composers of the past, like Claude Debussy.
@malondo7 Very good way to put it. It totally haunts the imagination!
It really is a beautiful piece. I swear I have heard this on a movie or at least something similar to it ... anyone know? Thanks for this.
Poltergeist...the original. Jerry Goldsmith would probably admit to being influenced by this piece while writing the score.
The dies ire is commonly used in film. Look it up
Was opening Score to Wakefield Pooles 1971's "The Boys in the Sand"
lucky you i wish i could fall asleep that easily
exercise more
THIS is MUSIC!
@jacoclaypool666 it's from a gregorian chant "dires ire" (day of wrath). it symbolizes death in a variety of musical pieces.
enjoyed.
Its a shame that piece isn't the first thing to pop up in search
I hear Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring in this. Am I crazy?
actualy no both pieces employed octatonic scales thats prob why
"Music is music"
What you mean is "20th century is 20th century." There are indeed rules and melodies and direction in music, just not all music, and especially not this time period. There are timeless tales and poignant plots, but not all stories are told the same way.
@Hektor88 Yes, Except Sweeney Todd is by Stephan Sondheim, not Mr. Elfman....
Wow i feel like i am in a grey world made of shadows.. like memories..
There are rhythmic similarities too. Of course, this is very relaxed, and the Rite is very intense, but if you isolate its relaxed bits (there are many) or play it at quarter speed, you will hear similarities. Little dropped-off rhythms. Debussy just lets them drop off, Stravinsky also does sometimes, but more often constructs complex super-rhythms from them.
@SuperMmendoza Yes! I've thought this for so many years!
@Kurtlane Listen to 'Mystic Circles of the Maidens' from Le Sacre, if you want to hear a clear Debussy influence on early Stravinsky.
@MatthewLedZepfan great comment Matthew... could not have said it better!
I know I love his works too , I compare him to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, just simply exquisite, I can almost see Jesus walking on the Water, it takes me to where angels dance and sing. I often wonder what sort of music Michael Angelo would have created if he had been a musician instead of an artist. God's performers.......
@Kurtlane - no, dude...I agree...it's probably because both Debussy and Stravinsky were warping tonality so much...squeezing it for it's last drops.
this song would be trippy on drugs
this song feels like drugs :D
it is, but so is everything
@skellez83 yea i noticed that too, sounds much like beauty and teh beast..
@dandaily4 Right on dandaily, def get a KOTOR vibe, this music was so ahead of its time.
@JonathanMartinovici what's cool about Debussy is from a theoretical perspective it's all logical, he was a harmonic master, nothing is done at random, how the hell did he hear that stuff? how / what did he practice? where did he get inspiration? it's not like he could listen to recordings, watch you tube, imagine sitting at his side while he played. ditto for all the masters, e.g what kind of dude was Chopin?
@jacoclaypool666 Yes. In fact, much of Debussy's work reminds me of Danny Elfman's work.
does anyone else notice the similarities between those first few chords and the ballad of sweeney todd? the swing your razor part anyway?
@jacoclaypool666 i hear beauty and the beast!! in the very beginning before the narrator tells the story.
Does this remind anyone of the music in Carmen Sandiego? As in the computer game for kids? (HAHA) It kinda gives me the same feeling.
🌹❤👍
you obviously missed the point of the composition.. do clouds repeat themselves, do clouds ever stay the same, no they constantly change and float.. a song is not created with a good melody in mind a good song is created when it conveys the artists feeling.. this song feels like clouds during a night sky.,.
@jacoclaypool666 yes. i bet they developed it from this!
@jacoclaypool666 Yes! I was thinking the very same thing.
If you listen to Camille Saint-Saens' Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals it also sounds exactly like Beauty and the Beast.
"Howdy, my name is Debussy and my head is shaped funny" That's what he says.
@mrcdaniels : Huh? Why? No big whoop at that point...
@MuseDuCafe You're right. Woops!
I just record RUclips audio with Goldwave. Play and record, like recording the radio onto a cassette.
Isn't this from La Mer? Sheesh...
wow I am in good company here... you folks are just as obsessed with Debussy as I am...
T.T i cant sit through this without getting tired
THATS WICKIDDY WICKIDDY WACK
damn im trying to listen to this masterpiece and my sister is playing the piano so loud, cnt hear sht!
@uneedtherapy42 thanks!
This video should be louder.
@jacoclaypool666 actually yeah, I do.
He said it was a dreamy an he fell asleep so that begs the question. What dream did he have?
Lnad before time
i love debussy. claire de lune breaks my heart. virtuoso pianist with a quite tragic life. he was a naughty frenchman with women. one of his wives shot herself in the chest and survived in the place de la concorde.
@gamershrader try notating it, or even reading the score, i promise you won't get tired!
@jacoclaypool666 yes
His music isnt the least bit threatening. Almost organic.
at night.... in france
@ShemTheSham Especially when the strings come in at first, I totally agree. Could be right out of the Rite. And I feel like Stravinsky must have stolen some of these colors, lol.
@19ZeldaLover95,
Here, for example:
watch?v=vb8njeKBfqw
At 7:40 - 8:40
Sounds very much like "Clouds." Doesn't it?
Clair de Lune i'll think you will find
@19ZeldaLover95, Wow! Fifteen year old. You are smart. And interested in good things.
Disabuse yourselves of the merits of German barbarism: crude and boorish music. Now this--something so French and refined; delicate and whimsical, like a fairytale of the mind. My God, such timbre and subtlety, like the little nook behind a lover's ear--mystery and magic to last one an eternity. So unlike the coarse brutality of German nakedness.
Beautiful words
Digimon Adventure 02 - Shizuka na Fuan
a little too dreamy. spacey but the sounds are pleasant. it needs a melody though like claire du lune.
@Hektor88........elfman is a hack....homage? don't make me laugh.
@19ZeldaLover95, I am 50.
I hate when people think they have to validate classical music by speaking about it in fakey street slang. Like all the YT vids of geeky white AND black kids making excruciating rap videos of Shakespeare or Chaucer to try and make it hip. Doesn't work! It is what it is!! It's not a rap song. Talk about it with honest words if you really like it.
I can't help but think of bambi's mom getting shot.