Claude Debussy's stand-alone piece L'isle joyeuse, L.106 (The Joyful Island) is one of the French composer's most famous piano works and one of the most popular works of Impressionism. The monumental piece, which appeared around the same time as the Estampes in 1904, clearly and explicitly represents the theme of Dionysian frenzy, the glaring day, and the dazzling sun-glare. It is an expression of ecstatic-orgiastic exhilaration in an ancient dream and ideal landscape. The Lydian mode plays a decisive role in the composition, a mode to which the ancient Greeks attributed a sensual aura. Regarding the pianistic side of this piece, which is extremely popular among virtuosos, Debussy himself said: "Mon dieu, how difficult this piece is to play; it seems to me to unite within itself all ways of dealing with the piano, for it combines strength and grace, if I may say so..." Here, one senses the author's satisfaction at having presented a truly "difficult" piece for once.

History of Composition

Embarkation for Cythera, 1717/18, Berlin version of the subject; Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin
Debussy wrote the virtuosic and technically relatively difficult piece as early as 1903. It was probably inspired by a painting by the French painter Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), titled L'Embarquement de Cythère (Embarkation for Cythera, a Greek island considered in mythology to be the island of happiness and sensual fulfillment). However, he completely reworked it during a stay in Jersey in the summer of 1904. The title L'Isle joyeuse can thus also be understood as an allusion to the island of Jersey, as it is, on the one hand, the sunniest of all the British Isles, famous, among other things, for its extensive beaches, and on the other hand, it served as a refuge for Debussy when he had fled Paris with Emma Bardac. The piece is therefore repeatedly linked to the relationship he began with the banker's wife at that time. In any case, it is striking that he used the English word "isle" in the title instead of the French word for island, "île." In the same year, 1904, L'isle joyeuse was published by Durand along with another monumental stand-alone piece, the Masques.

Structure and Analysis

In contrast to the Masques, the full day shines here, and the power of an intensified feeling for life radiates. Although the composition was inspired by the painting L'Embarquement de Cythère, the piece goes far beyond the painting itself. "The beginning is formed by a chain of arabesques springing from the Lydian trill, with the performance indication quasi una cadenza (like a cadenza). This is followed by a preluding character marked Modéré et très souple (Moderate and very flexible) that spins itself out almost entirely over the A pedal point; melodically, it is mainly characterized by triplet garlands and an indefinitely swaying counterpoint, Un peu en dehors (A little prominently). Subsequently (from bar 28), the triplet movement continues in 3/8 time, combined with chromatic progressions of enchanting grace. This pronounced developmental style reaches its climax with the resumption of the trill chain (bar 52) and leads over to a broad, expansive Lydian cantilena (bar 67) in 3/8 time, molto rubato (very free). With a tempo (in time), a kind of development section begins, in which cadenza-like ascending and descending arpeggios combine with fragments of the preceding movement elements. From bar 145, poco a poco animé(gradually becoming lively), the motifs introduced in the first main section are resumed, transposed to C. With plus animé (more lively) in bar 160, the main key of A major is reached again. This development culminates in a whole-tone passage in forte (loud) from bars 182-185. A new movement section, pianissimo (very soft) from bars 186-199, over the G-sharp pedal point, leads to the Coda motif, which rhythmically echoes Chabrier and harmonically echoes Mussorgsky. The new, tempestuously agitated rhythm appears with un peu cédé (a little yielding) at bar 220 as a counterpoint to the Lydian cantilena. In a rapid intensification, a Dionysian frenzy of movement unfolds, which flows into the brightly glittering trill arabesques of the beginning (bar 244). A Lydian chord trill forms the virtuoso conclusion of the piece." – W. Danckert

Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/L’Isle_Joyeuse/ License: CC BY-SA 4.0