The Suite bergamasque is one of the most fascinating piano pieces of Claude Debussy.
It was published in 1905 and consists of four parts, or movements.
The first movement is entitled "Prélude" and is played in the key of F, tempo rubato. It is full of dynamic contrasts with a very spectacular beginning and ending.
The second movement is entitled "Menuet" (according to a Baroque Suite). It's quite mysterious, yet playful during its pianissimo parts and shows interesting harmonies.
It is followed by Clair de Lune, a well-known, very soft, and very tender masterpiece of Debussy, played mostly pianissimo.
Finally, the fourth movement is entitled "Passepied" and is played in F# minor, allegretto ma non troppo . It is again playful and ends up with a very silent part after going through a section in C minor.
Clair de lune de la Suite Bergamasque
Perhaps most famously, it is the third movement of Claude Debussy's Suite bergamasque for solo piano, composed in 1890. It is mostly played pianissimo, and the variations between intensity and distance makes this masterpiece one of the most beautiful ones from the impressionist epoch. It is played in Db Major, with the exception of its climax which is played in C# Minor.
This piece was origially intended to be used for a segment of Walt Disney's Fantasia, but the sequence was deleted from the film at 70% completion because of Fantasia's excessive length. The animated Clair De Lune sequence, which illustrates the flow of the music with the movements of swans, was later restored from a workprint in 1996 and included on a 2000 Fantasia DVD box set.
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