THE M USI C
Images By
Claude Debussy
BORN : August 22, 1862, in St. Germain-en-Laye, France DIED:
March 25, 1918, in Paris
Ω COMPOSED : 1905–12 Ω WORLD PREMIERE : Ibéria was the first of the three pieces that comprise Debussy’s Images to premiere, on February 20, 1910, with Gabriel Pierné conducting. Rondes de printemps followed on March 2, under the direction of the composer. Gigues was first performed on January 26, 1913, under the baton of André Caplet, who helped orchestrate the work. Ω CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE : Each of the three parts of Images also debuted in Cleveland separately: Nikolai Sokoloff led the first performances of Ibéria in January 1921; Rondes de printemps came next, in 1937, with conductor Carlos Chavez; and Gigues entered the Orchestra’s repertoire in 1951, when Pierre Monteux led the Orchestra in the complete work for the first time. Ω ORCHESTRATION : 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), piccolo, 2 oboes, english horn, oboe d’amore, 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (castanets, xylophone, tambourine, snare drum, chimes, tambourin provençal), 2 harps, celeste, and strings Ω DURATION : 35 minutes
and images is a fundamental characteristic of Claude Debussy’s works. In addition to the many specific physical references on which he based compositions — from the ocean in La Mer to all kinds of landscapes and portraits in the two books of piano preludes — the word Images appeared in an early set of piano pieces (1894) and in two better-known sets for piano (1905–08), before this title was used again for the orchestral Images. THE ASSOCIATION OF MUSIC
8 | 2022/2023 SEASON
It was natural for Debussy to think in musical images. He was a great lover of art and counted many painters among his friends. But his artistic vision went beyond mere musical representation of a subject. For Debussy, his images were seen or dreamed by the mind’s eye and then realized in his colorful soundworld. In the case of the orchestral Images, the tableaux primarily capture motion combined with the senses of sight, hearing, and even smell — the middle