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Track List

1 Children's Corner, L. 113: I. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum 02:03
    by Claude Debussy
2 Children's Corner, L. 113: II. Jimbo's Lullaby 03:10
    by Claude Debussy
3 Children's Corner, L. 113: III. Serenade for the Doll 02:55
    by Claude Debussy
4 Children's Corner, L. 113: IV. The Snow Is Dancing 02:06
    by Claude Debussy
5 Children's Corner, L. 113: V. The Little Shepherd 02:05
    by Claude Debussy
6 Children's Corner, L. 113: VI. Golliwogg's Cakewalk 02:46
    by Claude Debussy
7 Images, Book 1, L. 110: I. Reflets dans l'eau 05:03
    by Claude Debussy
8 Images, Book 1, L. 110: II. Hommage à Rameau 06:18
    by Claude Debussy
9 Images, Book 1, L. 110: III. Mouvement 02:56
    by Claude Debussy
10 Images, Book 2, L. 111: I. Cloches à travers les feuilles 03:41
    by Claude Debussy
11 Images, Book 2, L. 111: II. Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut 04:55
    by Claude Debussy
12 Images, Book 2, L. 111: III. Poissons d'or 03:06
    by Claude Debussy
13 Tarantelle styrienne, L. 69 04:49
    by Claude Debussy
14 Rêverie, L. 68 03:31
    by Claude Debussy
15 Deux arabesques, L. 66: I. 03:33
    by Claude Debussy
16 Deux arabesques, L. 66: II. 02:45
    by Claude Debussy
17 Nocturne, L. 82 05:38
    by Claude Debussy
18 Valse romantique, L. 71 03:04
    by Claude Debussy
19 L'isle joyeuse, L. 106 04:49
    by Claude Debussy
20 Le petit Nègre, L. 114 01:29
    by Claude Debussy
21 Masques, L. 105 04:09
    by Claude Debussy
22 Danse bohémienne, L. 9 01:51
    by Claude Debussy
23 Ballade slave, L. 70 06:22
    by Claude Debussy
24 Mazurka, L. 67 02:17
    by Claude Debussy
25 La plus que lente, L. 121a 03:25
    by Claude Debussy
26 Berceuse héroïque, L. 132a 04:39
    by Claude Debussy
27 Hommage à Haydn, L. 115 01:43
    by Claude Debussy

Total Time: 95:08

About Walter Gieseking plays Claude Debussy Piano Works Vol 2

Walter Gieseking occupies an important place in the recorded history of French piano music, particularly through his interpretations of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Born in Lyon to German parents, Gieseking spent much of his childhood in southern France and Italy before studying at the Hanover Conservatoire from 1911 to 1916, where his principal teacher was Karl Leimer. He made his Berlin recital debut in 1920, and an international career followed.

Although his repertoire extended from Bach and Mozart to contemporary composers, French music became one of his defining specialities. Gieseking’s approach to the piano was particularly suited to Debussy’s writing, in which the character of a passage often depends on subtle changes of touch, the balance between musical layers, and the resonance created by pedalling. His interpretations attend closely to Debussy’s detailed performance markings while allowing the music’s shifting colours and textures to emerge without excessive emphasis.

Gieseking’s career was affected by the political circumstances surrounding the Second World War, and his relationship with American audiences was difficult for a period. He returned to the United States in 1955, performing an all-Debussy programme at Carnegie Hall. By then, he had recorded virtually all of Debussy’s solo piano music for Columbia between 1951 and 1954. He died in London in October 1956, aged 60, leaving behind a recorded legacy that includes extensive surveys of Debussy, Ravel and Mozart.

The programme brings together works from different stages of Debussy’s career. It moves from the playful miniatures of Children’s Corner to the two books of Images, then to a selection of independent piano pieces written between his early years and the final period of his life. Heard together, they reveal the range of his keyboard writing: from relatively direct dance forms and lyrical melodies to music built around intricate textures, unusual harmonies and carefully controlled resonance.

Composed between 1906 and 1908 and published in 1908, Children’s Corner was dedicated to Debussy’s daughter, Claude-Emma, affectionately known as Chouchou. Its six movements carry English titles, reflecting the nursery objects and English cultural references associated with the child’s world.

Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum begins with a flowing, exercise-like motion, referring humorously to the traditional studies used to develop keyboard technique. Jimbo’s Lullaby, named for a toy elephant, turns to a gently rocking character. Serenade for the Doll offers a delicate, miniature serenade, while The Snow Is Dancing evokes the movement of falling snow through repeated figures and shifting patterns.

The Little Shepherd is more spacious and restrained, with a simple melodic line and an improvisatory quality. The suite concludes with Golliwogg’s Cakewalk, whose syncopated rhythms and dance character reflect the cakewalk’s place in popular entertainment of the period. The movement also includes a brief musical reference to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Throughout the suite, Debussy combines humour and technical ingenuity with a sophisticated understanding of the piano’s capacity for varied tone and articulation.

The two books of Images represent a central stage in Debussy’s development as a piano composer. The first book, published in 1905, contains three pieces that explore sound, movement and historical reference in distinct ways.

In Reflets dans l’eau (“Reflections in the Water”), rippling figures and changing harmonies suggest reflections that continually alter with the light. Hommage à Rameau looks back to the French Baroque tradition, but its measured pace and harmonic language are unmistakably Debussy’s own. Mouvement is built around continuous, finely articulated motion, requiring precision without losing the fluidity of the musical line.

The second book, published in 1907, develops this interest in musical imagery. Cloches à travers les feuilles (“Bells Through the Leaves”) places the suggestion of distant bells within a shifting, finely layered texture. Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut (“And the Moon Descends over the Ruined Temple”) unfolds at a more reflective pace, with an atmosphere shaped by sustained harmonies and changes of register. Poissons d’or (“Goldfish”) is more animated, with rapid figurations and sharply changing gestures that evoke the movement and glint of fish in water.

These works demand more than dexterity alone. The pianist must distinguish between overlapping musical layers, shape phrases within delicate dynamic ranges and control the resonance so that detail remains audible even in dense passages. These are precisely the kinds of demands that make Gieseking’s Debussy recordings especially significant.

Several works in this programme reach back to Debussy’s early years, when he was still working within forms inherited from nineteenth-century French and European music.

Danse bohémienne, an early work dating from around 1880, is a compact dance piece. Rêverie, written around 1890, has a more lyrical and reflective character, with a melody that unfolds over gently shifting accompaniment. The two Arabesques, composed around 1890–91, explore flowing lines and decorative patterns. Their writing gives considerable importance to the continuity of the musical phrase and to the relationship between melody and accompaniment.

The Nocturne, dating from 1892, is a more extended exploration of atmosphere and sonority. Valse romantique, from around 1890, draws on the familiar waltz form while showing Debussy’s early interest in flexible phrasing and harmonic colour. These works demonstrate how his individual language developed within, and gradually moved beyond, established musical genres.

Several of the remaining pieces show Debussy using traditional forms as starting points for more personal musical explorations.

Tarantelle styrienne, composed around 1890 and later revised and published under the title Danse, is driven by the energy of a dance. L’Isle joyeuse, composed in 1904, is one of his more expansive piano works. Its animated rhythms, bright figurations and broad harmonic movement create a sustained sense of momentum, with the pianist required to manage both brilliant passagework and the larger structure.

Le petit Nègre, published in 1909, is a short dance piece whose title reflects the language of its time. Masques, composed in 1904, is more turbulent, alternating sharply defined gestures with passages of rapid movement. Ballade slave, an early composition later revised as Ballade, and the Mazurka draw on dance traditions while retaining individual harmonic and rhythmic characteristics.

La plus que lente, published in 1910, is a waltz whose title suggests something beyond ordinary slowness. Its flexible pacing and refined melodic writing distinguish it from a straightforward dance miniature

The final two works bring the programme into Debussy’s later period. Berceuse héroïque was written in 1914 in response to the German invasion of Belgium and dedicated to King Albert I. Although its title combines the ideas of a lullaby and heroism, the music is sombre and restrained rather than conventionally triumphant. Hommage à Haydn, composed in 1909 for a publication commemorating Joseph Haydn, offers a different kind of tribute, using a compact piano form to engage with an earlier musical tradition through Debussy’s own harmonic language.

Across this selection, the demands on the performer change considerably. The rhythmic precision of Golliwogg’s Cakewalk, the fluid motion of the Arabesques, the layered sonorities of Images and the concentrated expression of Berceuse héroïque require different approaches to touch, timing and sound.

Gieseking’s recorded interpretations are notable for the attention they give to these distinctions. He does not need to impose a single expressive manner on the music: the character of each piece emerges through its rhythm, phrasing, dynamics and harmonic detail. This approach is particularly appropriate to Debussy, whose scores contain carefully differentiated instructions about articulation, tempo and tone.

Recorded at Abbey Road Studio No. 3 in London, this programme brings together sessions from 1951 and August 1953. Alongside the two books of Images and the complete Children’s Corner, the shorter works provide a broad view of Debussy’s piano music, from early experiments with established forms to the distinctive sound world of his mature compositions.

EU Public Domain Notice
The historical sound recordings included in this release are in the public domain in the European Union. Blue Music Group has created a new digital restoration and mastering of these historical recordings. The digital restoration and mastering by Blue Music Group are protected by applicable copyright and related rights. Rights may differ in other territories, including the United States. This release is not intended for distribution in the United States.

Cover artwork: The original photographic image has been legally assessed as being in the public domain in the EU following the expiry of the applicable 50-year term under Section 49a. The image has been restored, enhanced and colorized by Blue Music Group. © Blue Music Group. All rights reserved.

Credits

Walter Gieseking – piano

Tracks 1–6:
Recorded 26–27 September 1951

Tracks 7–12:
Recorded 13–14 August 1953

Tracks 13–27:
Recorded between 12 and 20 August 1953

All recorded at Abbey Road Studio No. 3, London.