Nocturne is a piano piece by Claude Debussy composed in 1892.

Presentation

Nocturne, for piano, was composed in 1892.

According to Léon Vallas, the work was contracted on July 27, 1892, for a sum of 100 francs, and was subtitled “Interlude.”

The score was published in Le Figaro musical (11th issue) in August 1892, by Paul Dupont in 1892, by the Société nouvelle d'éditions musicales (formerly P. Dupont) in 1903, the Société d'éditions musicales (formerly P. Dupont) in 1907, then by La Sirène and Max Eschig (“revised by Isidor Philipp”), and in modern editions by Henle (1997, ed. Ernst-Günter Heinemann) and Durand (2000, ed. Roy Howat).

Analysis and commentary

For Harry Halbreich, it is “a very pretty piece, bordering on salon music.” The musicologist nevertheless acknowledges that “the inspiration is somewhat hybrid, and the poetic atmosphere is still far from the miraculous success of Clair de lune from the Suite bergamasque, which is in the same key.” Guy Sacre is much less indulgent, considering it to be “the most mediocre of Debussy's early pieces.”

Musically, “the capricious introduction (slow, ad libitum) heralds the pattern of eighth-note triplets in the central episode, a pattern to which the coda will again allude.” Halbreich highlights the main theme of the work, "which approaches D flat through the relative minor of the subdominant and is irresistibly reminiscent of Fauré — although the subsequent seventh chords are purely Debussyian. Moreover, the middle section, “in the character of a folk song,” departs entirely from Fauré, once again drawing closer to the Russians." Sacre also mentions this passage, noting that "the central allegretto in F as ‘Slavic’ as the end of the Ballade, with its unisons and liturgical color, sounds like Borodin or Rimsky-Korsakov.“ Finally, in the coda, ”a natural Lydian G enhances D flat with its luminous touch."

The average performance time of the piece is approximately seven minutes.

In the catalog of the composer's works compiled by musicologist François Lesure, the Nocturne for piano is numbered L 89 (82).

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne_(Debussy) / License: CC BY-SA 4.0