Études (Debussy)
| Études for Piano | |
|---|---|
| by Claude Debussy | |
Composer's manuscript for the first étude, Pour les cinq doigts | |
| Catalogue | CD 143 |
| Genre | Étude |
| Composed | 5 August – 29 September 1915 |
| Dedication | To the memory of Frédéric Chopin |
| Performed | 21 November 1916 by George Copeland, Aeolian Hall, New York City, U.S. (Études nos. 10 and 11) 10 November 1917 by Marguerite Long, Société nationale de musique, Paris, France (Études nos. 1, 10, and 11) |
| Duration | 0:40:00 |
| Scoring | Bibliothèque nationale de France (ms. 993) |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 14 December 1916 |
| Location | Concert for the benefit of "L'Aide affectueuse aux musiciens," Paris, France |
| Performers | Walter Rummel |
The Études (CD 143) are the final collection for piano by Claude Debussy, comprising twelve pieces composed between 5 August and 29 September 1915. Divided into two books and dedicated to the memory of Frédéric Chopin, they were premiered partially by pianists George Copeland on 21 November 1916 in New York City, Walter Rummel on 14 December 1916; at a concert for the benefit of "L'Aide affectueuse aux musiciens" in Paris, and Marguerite Long on 10 November 1917 at the Société nationale de musique.
Composed during the turmoil of World War I, this work is characteristic of Debussy's "late style" – austere, concentrated, and visionary – as also seen in the first two of his Sonatas and the suite for two pianos En blanc et noir, composed contemporaneously.
Building on Chopin's Études and Liszt's Transcendental Études, the work addresses various aspects of pianistic technique, from intervals (thirds, fourths, sixths, octaves) and digital mechanisms in the first book, to explorations of new sonorities in the second.