Category: Debussy Presentation Series
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Ondine
Based on a story by Baron Friedrich de la Motte Foch, Ondine recalls the mythical half-mermaid creatures “Undine’s” and Debussy’s interest in the supernatural and fairy tales. Dr. Tobin refers to his thesis about Debussy Preludes where he mentions Ondine, it can be downloaded as a PDF. Dr. Tobin ends the discussion with a performance…
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The Fairies Are Exquisite Dancers
This week Dr. Tobin discusses this supernatural Prelude from Book II. He shows the illustration which inspired it, Arthur Rackham’s illustration of the Fairies from “Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens” by J.M Barrie, which we have in the collection of Adams Music House! Dr. Tobin avoids being too technical for too long, and concludes this…
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Sunken Cathedral
This week Dr. Tobin discusses Claude Debussy’s Book I Prelude Engulfed or “Sunken Cathedral”. It is based on the legend of the sunken town of Y off the Breton French Coast. Dr. Tobin discusses how Debussy paints the image of a sunken cathedral that rises from the depths of the sea. After the discussion, he…
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Debussy Broulliards
This week Dr. Tobin is taking a suggestion from Jason Hoogerhyde, Professor of Composition at Southwestern University, to discuss the Book II Prelude Broulliards. Dr. Tobin did a thesis which explored abstract pitch relationships in Debussy Preludes. This week the material is rather abstract, but he tries to keep it understandable. Debussy uses abstraction to…
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Pagodes and La Mer
This week Dr. Tobin discusses one of his favorite pieces, Pagodes from Estampes. The role that the Javanese Gamelan, the 1889 Paris Exposition, Japanese art, the Symphonic Poem “La Mer”, and Debussy’s love of the sea are all discussed. The presentation ends with a performance of Pagodes on Debussy’s special 1904 Bluethner Piano, played in…
Adam's Music House 