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In my columns, I write about flute music, history of the flute and flutists, tips on technique and interpretation, and what it is like to be a musician. I think it is important to set the flute in a cultural and historical framework.

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Warmly, Mimi

Debussy and the Flute

I am very happy to introduce my book of arrangements for flute and piano, Nuit d'etoiles: 8 Early Songs by Claude Debussy, which will be published by Theodore Presser Company in summer, 2002. Preparing this book has been a great pleasure for me. I've lived with this beautiful music for several years - arranging the songs, trying out my arrangements with my wonderful pianists, and performing them for many audiences.

Did you ever think about the affinity between the flute and the human voice? The voice is a wind instrument like the flute; both share breathing, phrasing, and an open sound quality. I have always been fascinated by the connection between the flute and the voice. I love arranging and performing songs from the vocal repertoire and include a set of songs on almost all of my recital programs. While I have performed my arrangements of songs by several composers, these songs by Debussy lend themselves particularly well to the flute.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) is famous for developing the Impressionist style of music. He moved away from the Romantic tradition of the 19th century, favouring ambiguity of key and direction and nuance of colour and texture, and adopted elements from Asian music. Debussy influenced his immediate successors, such as Maurice Ravel, and generations of composers on both sides of the Atlantic to the present day.

Debussy wrote many of the masterpieces of our flute repertoire, such as L'apres-midi d'un faune (Afternoon of a Faun) for orchestra, with its famous flute solos. Perhaps you've played Debussy's Syrinx for solo flute, a dramatic and evocative piece based on the Greek myth of Pan and Syrinx. We also play Debussy's stunning Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp.

Nuit d'etoiles: 8 Early Songs includes an Introduction, in which I give the background on Debussy and his songs; Performance Notes, which are my suggestions for interpreting the songs; a Glossary of the French and Italian musical terms in the songs; and websites and suggestions for further reading.

The songs challenge musical expression more than they do technique, and are accessible to players of every level - from beginner to professional. The eight songs afford the performer versatile possibilities for programming. They can be performed all together or individually as encore pieces. I often perform them in sets of three or four songs, and suggest sets in my book. I also encourage you to be creative in assembling your own sets of songs. Below, I include excerpts from my Introduction, Performance Notes, and the opening section of Nuit d'etoiles, the song I titled my book after. The song, which means Night of Stars, has special significance for me. I first performed it when I was eighteen years old, the same age Debussy was when he wrote it, and perhaps the same age as you.

From the Introduction: I was attracted to the songs of Claude Debussy by the beautiful, lyrical melodies, the richness of nuance and colour, and the long vocal phrases perfectly suited to being spun out on the flute. These songs are an idiomatic addition to the flute repertoire.

Debussy wrote over 60 songs spanning the entire trajectory of his career. The 8 Early Songs (1880-1891) are a product of his formative years. The earliest songs were written while Debussy was a student at the Paris Conservatory, where he had studied piano from the age of ten. He wrote his early songs in the French Romantic style of his day, heard in the music of Charles Gounod and Jules Massenet.

Debussy derived inspiration from literary sources throughout his life: Mallarme, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Poe. The 8 Early Songs were set to poems by Théodore de Banville, Paul Bourget, André Girod, and Paul Verlaine. The works share thematic and stylistic elements of Romantic poetry: love is a central theme, and the songs portray its passion, melancholy, thrill, and despair; nature reflects human emotions; and personification and symbols occur throughout.

From the Performance Notes: The opening lines of the poem set the melancholy mood of the song, a reverie about lost love: "Nuit d'etoiles, sous tes voiles, / Sous ta brise et tes parfums, / Triste lyre qui soupire, / Je reve aux amours defunts." [Night of stars, beneath your veils, / In your breeze and your aromas, / a sad lyre is sighing, / I dream of lost loves.] The lover dreaming of his lost beloved sees her in the blue water of a fountain, in a red rose, and in the stars. The song is marked Allegro, but must not sound rushed. Keep the phrases long and connected by avoiding gaps at the rests in bars 6 and 8. Let yourself be inspired by the mood of the music to play with creativity and individual expression.