![]() This symphonic poem by Belgian composer Armand Marsick is meant to evoke the atmosphere surrounding a spring during summer nights. La mer consists of three movements: De l’aube à midi sur la mer, Jeux de vagues, and Dialogue du vent et de la mer. To depict those elements, however, he avoided the much-overused arpeggiated triads, previously favored by Wagner and Schubert. In doing so, he succeeded in suggesting the presence of wind and waves, what scholar Caroline Potter described as “musical onomatopoeia”, that evoke the movement of waves and the pitter-patter of falling droplets of spray. ![]() With his La Mer, Claude Debussy translated impressionism onto music sheets, combining impressionistic harmonies and unusual orchestrations. Whether you love them or you loathe them, you must be at least a tiny bit familiar with impressionistic artworks, their misty seascapes, and their shimmering lights. Two main themes can be discerned: the first is meant to describe the stunning beauty of the cave, the second conveys the idea of the rolling waves. In fact, during his travel to Scotland, he had sent a postcard to his family with the opening phrase of the overture written on it, claiming it provided the most fitting description to the places he had visited. Having been composed in 1830, The Hebrides is an early example of a tone poem, in that it is meant to describe the beauty of the cave itself rather than telling a story. Felix Mendelssohn, The HebridesĪlso knowns as Fingal’s Cave, The Concert Overture The Hebrides was inspired by Mendessohn’s visiting the eponymous cave. Here are eleven examples of water-themed music, ranging from renditions of epic poems to the mere descriptions of landscapes where mighty rivers flow by. It might be worth noting, however, that during the late 19th and early 20th century, the rise of the movement of Impressionism in music led to even more vivid depictions of water, with composers such as Ravel and Debussy devoting many of their compositions to the waves of the sea or to the flow of the river–think, among others, Ondine for the former Reflets dans L’eau for the latter. ![]() The result is a duet between the soundscapes of Debussy and the swirling dance material of Gruwez, who explicitly dances ‘between the tones’.The water element abounds in classical music throughout the centuries: just consider Händel’s Water Music (whose title, however, just references the fact that his music was to be performed on a barge), Schubert’s lieders such as Die Forelle, Strauss’s An der Schönen blauen Donau or, more recently, James Horner’s Hymn to the Sea. The duo explore and translate how he fiddled with the musical rules by focusing on silence and space, small detours and gestures. Together with pianist Claire Chevallier, who previously worked with Rosas and Anima Eterna, the choreographer takes on Debussy’s Préludes and Études. The dance language of Lisbeth Gruwez, who previously moved skilfully between the lyrics of Bob Dylan, is in perfect harmony with this piece. The French impressionist, rebel among composers, succeeded in expressing poetry: rather than genre exercises, he created vast landscapes and cascading waterfalls. ‘Music is the space between the notes,’ claimed Claude Debussy. ![]() Together they explore the spaces between the notes in Claude Debussy’s compositions, which challenged and rebelled against the structural rigidity of other composers. Piano Works Debussy is a physical duet between choreographer Lisbeth Gruwez and pianist Claire Chevallier.
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