What a stunning performance, Cole, of Debussy's "La Cathédrale engloutie" - I am indeed in heaven: thank you so much. Such a treat for me! I remember being struck when I read that, with regard to composition, Debussy stated: "There is no theory. You merely have to listen. Pleasure is the law.” And I freely admit to finding the greatest pleasure in the beautiful music he created (and since I lack theoretical knowledge regarding composition myself, I also am driven by the idea of a 'pleasure law'!). We know that the visual arts during Debussy's life-time proved an important fund of inspiration, although the 'Impressionist' label has perpetuated the erroneous notion that Debussy tried to do in music what Monet, Renoir, and Degas did in painting. Those artists were certainly in his field of vision, but the rush and blur of brushwork that defines Impressionist painting is clearly contrary to Debussy’s wonderfully crystalline technique. Elusive he might have been on his aural canvas, but never vague. I suppose he is closer in spirit to the Symbolist movement, with its vivid evocations of unreal realms and fable-bright worlds, as is the case in this particular Prélude. He might not always have welcomed being referred to as an 'Impressionist', but Debussy did admit that such labels were "useful terms of abuse"! And how enigmatic of him in the two books of Préludes to not reveal the title until the end of each miniature. Stephen Hough, the British-born classical pianist, composer and writer, thought that this was "lovely", comparing it to "like a perfume lingering after someone’s walked past. There’s a deliberate ambiguity in this music. Debussy asks the questions and just leaves them hanging in the air." So, these Préludes conjure scenes Debussy saw in reality, in pictures and on postcards, or imagined from reading about them in books and newspapers. 'La cathédrale engloutie' elicits the very precise image of the Cathedral of Ys, drowned by flood waters, as related in Breton legend. An opera on the subject, 'Le roi d’Ys', by Édouard Lalo (a composer Debussy very much admired), had been premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in May 1888 and it is more than probable that Debussy saw it and this may have been the inspiration for his own exploration of the legend. The American music critic, Oscar Thompson, noted that with Debussy, "all begins and ends with the chord" and that the key to everything he accomplished "is in his harmony." And in this piece, we have a striking illustration of this with those hollow, sideways-moving chords eerily evoking the legend in this remarkably graphic music. But to create a picture of the cathedral rising from, and falling back into, the sea requires more than just suggestive harmonies and notes - it demands an exceptional pianistic technique - which you have, Cole. To really attain these effects that reflect such images, controlled pedalling and articulation are required to achieve appropriate tone colour. The entire piece, with its clarity and layering of contrasting voices and timbres, calls for extremely precise yet highly expressive playing. Managing to full potential the climactic episode is an exercise in control to not only portray the full grandeur of the organ, but also the monumentalism of the cathedral itself as it rises from the waves and swell of the ocean. Of course, you achieve all this magnificently, Cole - B R A V O !
Thank you Graham-particularly for mentioning that wonderful quote from Stephen Hough, whom I greatly admire. There will be plenty more Debussy on this channel in the near future!
Hi Cole 👋🏻Greetings from Hong Kong. Amazing work as always. I like how you speak to the camera without many edits. Feels like I’m meeting a really knowledgeable friend. This channel deserves much more viewers!
Your channel is awesome! Debussy is my favorite composer ever, just uncanny originality and a style unlike any other. Love how he utilized modes, eastern tonalities, atonality, etc. As a jazz guitarist I’m often very envious of piano players because I can’t play any of his masterpieces haha! The way he voiced chords is just to die for, so modern sounding. I love how he can write stuff that’s drop dead gorgeous then go into territory that’s completely abstract. Subscribed 👍 also, your playing is simply awesome! Do you think you will ever cover some more 20th century guys? Maybe Messiaen, Stravinsky, Bartok? It would be really cool to see you analyze some of their works!
Thank you so much for this video!!!!!! this is one of my favorite piece of all times and I finally just started to learn this two month ago! ( i am more of a composer so I read a lot of analysis on it lol)
It was a pleasant surprise to hear the first Debussy piece on this channel. I’m eager to hear your analysis and performance of the next piece from the second book in a couple days and the rest of the Kapustin piano sonata at some point. By the way, what piano do you use for these videos? The fact that you are able to play most of these pieces on it so well speaks volumes about it’s sound and action. I’ll keep it in mind in case I ever find myself in a living situation where I don’t want to disturb neighbors.
Thank you! The piano I use is a Kawai VPC1, and the virtual instrument is the Ivory II American concert D (heavily customized). I highly recommend both, I’ll do a video at some point going over all the strengths/weaknesses.
Wow, this is quite the coincidence - I uploaded an orchestration of this piece almost at the exact same time as you uploaded this. Noticed myself just how strange the structure of this piece was - in particular, the transition between sections/themes/variations was quite difficult to arrange to flow smoothly when played with the orchestra, despite how well it flows when played as piano solo. The points in regards to tempo were things I was unaware of - I did change tempo at two points (beginning and end), but the rest I took at the same tempo. Though, in general I think the slower tempo I chose (the slower tempo was deliberate, even if I was ignorant) works with the orchestration, as the other instruments of the orchestra of course have expressive capabilities playing long notes in a manner not possible on the piano. Anyhow, absolutely love this piece, and this is a great analysis and playing as usual! Very much appreciated.
Thank you! This is very interesting to me, and I’ll need to take a listen to your orchestration. I could imagine it would be far easier to sustain the half-note sections at the slower speed with sustaining instruments at your disposal! This is music that lends itself quite well to orchestration. I assume you know the Grainger orchestration of Pagodes? I found that one to be very inspiring as well
@@TheIndependentPianist I actually hadn't heard Grainger's orchestration of Pagodes, though I've heard of it before. Listened through it just now, and that was wonderful, and I fully agree, very inspiring! Very unique orchestration, that really brings out the colours of that work perfectly.
I beg your pardon for pointing the Isao Tomita interpretation of this piano score who I think is the closest sounds to Debussy´s score. How does Debussy set on a pentagram the sound of a sunken bell? Thanks to Tomita reverse engineering who imagine the sounds that Debussy scored for piano.
What a stunning performance, Cole, of Debussy's "La Cathédrale engloutie" - I am indeed in heaven: thank you so much. Such a treat for me!
I remember being struck when I read that, with regard to composition, Debussy stated: "There is no theory. You merely have to listen. Pleasure is the law.” And I freely admit to finding the greatest pleasure in the beautiful music he created (and since I lack theoretical knowledge regarding composition myself, I also am driven by the idea of a 'pleasure law'!).
We know that the visual arts during Debussy's life-time proved an important fund of inspiration, although the 'Impressionist' label has perpetuated the erroneous notion that Debussy tried to do in music what Monet, Renoir, and Degas did in painting. Those artists were certainly in his field of vision, but the rush and blur of brushwork that defines Impressionist painting is clearly contrary to Debussy’s wonderfully crystalline technique. Elusive he might have been on his aural canvas, but never vague. I suppose he is closer in spirit to the Symbolist movement, with its vivid evocations of unreal realms and fable-bright worlds, as is the case in this particular Prélude. He might not always have welcomed being referred to as an 'Impressionist', but Debussy did admit that such labels were "useful terms of abuse"!
And how enigmatic of him in the two books of Préludes to not reveal the title until the end of each miniature. Stephen Hough, the British-born classical pianist, composer and writer, thought that this was "lovely", comparing it to "like a perfume lingering after someone’s walked past. There’s a deliberate ambiguity in this music. Debussy asks the questions and just leaves them hanging in the air."
So, these Préludes conjure scenes Debussy saw in reality, in pictures and on postcards, or imagined from reading about them in books and newspapers. 'La cathédrale engloutie' elicits the very precise image of the Cathedral of Ys, drowned by flood waters, as related in Breton legend. An opera on the subject, 'Le roi d’Ys', by Édouard Lalo (a composer Debussy very much admired), had been premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in May 1888 and it is more than probable that Debussy saw it and this may have been the inspiration for his own exploration of the legend.
The American music critic, Oscar Thompson, noted that with Debussy, "all begins and ends with the chord" and that the key to everything he accomplished "is in his harmony." And in this piece, we have a striking illustration of this with those hollow, sideways-moving chords eerily evoking the legend in this remarkably graphic music.
But to create a picture of the cathedral rising from, and falling back into, the sea requires more than just suggestive harmonies and notes - it demands an exceptional pianistic technique - which you have, Cole. To really attain these effects that reflect such images, controlled pedalling and articulation are required to achieve appropriate tone colour. The entire piece, with its clarity and layering of contrasting voices and timbres, calls for extremely precise yet highly expressive playing. Managing to full potential the climactic episode is an exercise in control to not only portray the full grandeur of the organ, but also the monumentalism of the cathedral itself as it rises from the waves and swell of the ocean. Of course, you achieve all this magnificently, Cole - B R A V O !
Thank you Graham-particularly for mentioning that wonderful quote from Stephen Hough, whom I greatly admire. There will be plenty more Debussy on this channel in the near future!
Hi Cole 👋🏻Greetings from Hong Kong. Amazing work as always. I like how you speak to the camera without many edits. Feels like I’m meeting a really knowledgeable friend. This channel deserves much more viewers!
Incredibly well played. Thank You very much.
Your channel is awesome! Debussy is my favorite composer ever, just uncanny originality and a style unlike any other. Love how he utilized modes, eastern tonalities, atonality, etc. As a jazz guitarist I’m often very envious of piano players because I can’t play any of his masterpieces haha! The way he voiced chords is just to die for, so modern sounding. I love how he can write stuff that’s drop dead gorgeous then go into territory that’s completely abstract. Subscribed 👍 also, your playing is simply awesome! Do you think you will ever cover some more 20th century guys? Maybe Messiaen, Stravinsky, Bartok? It would be really cool to see you analyze some of their works!
One of the most fascinating performances I've heard of this piece.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for this video!!!!!! this is one of my favorite piece of all times and I finally just started to learn this two month ago! ( i am more of a composer so I read a lot of analysis on it lol)
It was a pleasant surprise to hear the first Debussy piece on this channel. I’m eager to hear your analysis and performance of the next piece from the second book in a couple days and the rest of the Kapustin piano sonata at some point.
By the way, what piano do you use for these videos? The fact that you are able to play most of these pieces on it so well speaks volumes about it’s sound and action. I’ll keep it in mind in case I ever find myself in a living situation where I don’t want to disturb neighbors.
Thank you! The piano I use is a Kawai VPC1, and the virtual instrument is the Ivory II American concert D (heavily customized). I highly recommend both, I’ll do a video at some point going over all the strengths/weaknesses.
Wow, this is quite the coincidence - I uploaded an orchestration of this piece almost at the exact same time as you uploaded this. Noticed myself just how strange the structure of this piece was - in particular, the transition between sections/themes/variations was quite difficult to arrange to flow smoothly when played with the orchestra, despite how well it flows when played as piano solo.
The points in regards to tempo were things I was unaware of - I did change tempo at two points (beginning and end), but the rest I took at the same tempo. Though, in general I think the slower tempo I chose (the slower tempo was deliberate, even if I was ignorant) works with the orchestration, as the other instruments of the orchestra of course have expressive capabilities playing long notes in a manner not possible on the piano.
Anyhow, absolutely love this piece, and this is a great analysis and playing as usual! Very much appreciated.
Thank you! This is very interesting to me, and I’ll need to take a listen to your orchestration. I could imagine it would be far easier to sustain the half-note sections at the slower speed with sustaining instruments at your disposal! This is music that lends itself quite well to orchestration. I assume you know the Grainger orchestration of Pagodes? I found that one to be very inspiring as well
@@TheIndependentPianist I actually hadn't heard Grainger's orchestration of Pagodes, though I've heard of it before. Listened through it just now, and that was wonderful, and I fully agree, very inspiring! Very unique orchestration, that really brings out the colours of that work perfectly.
I beg your pardon for pointing the Isao Tomita interpretation of this piano score who I think is the closest sounds to Debussy´s score. How does Debussy set on a pentagram the sound of a sunken bell? Thanks to Tomita reverse engineering who imagine the sounds that Debussy scored for piano.