Debussy, Claude

Debussy, Claude

Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane. Deux Danses pour harpe avec accompagnement d’orchestre (Piano Reduction for 2 pianos or harp & piano, 2 copies)

For more information on the piece:

Debussy’s Danses were a commission from the Brussels Conservatory, and were composed in April and May 1904. The commission itself was an indication of his growing fame—one that seemingly sprouted overnight after the success of the opera, Pelléas et Mélisande in 1902, but which actually was preceded by decades of hard work and hardship. The idea behind the commission was to promote a new instrument: the chromatic harp. It was cross-strung, and marketed by the firm of Pleyel as an improvement over the pedal harp advocated by their arch-rival, Erard. Its advantage was supposed to be its simplicity, but the harp never caught on. Performances today use the pedal version.

Debussy’s Danses consist of two pieces: «Danse sacrée» and «Danse profane» (giving the effect of a­ single piece since they flow into one another without pause). They are charming, elegant, and serene—but met with a mixed reception at their premiere on 6 November 1904 in Paris as part of the Colonne concert series. Gabriel Fauré, writing for Le Figaro, was caustic: «Over and over one encounters the same harmonic singularities. Sometime they seem curious and seductive—and at other times simply unpleasant.»

More than one reviewer remarked on the pictorial associations evoked by the Danses. Comparisons of this type were common in discussions of Debussy’s music, and it was their recurrence that led to him being classified as an «Impressionist»—a term, incidentally, which he despised. In this instance, reviews noted similarities in the Danses to the paintings of Eugène Carrière (1849-1906) and Henri Le Sidaner (1862-1939). Both were artists with stylistic affinities to Impressionism. But if a painter needs to be associated with the Danses a more apt choice might be Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898). Puvis, very much an independent spirit, often set his work in a personalized and dream-like antiquity…

read preface to full score / Vorwort zur Partitur lesen > HERE