Debussy: 6 Préludes (arr. for flute & string trio)

Description

An ardent worshipper of Debussy for as long as I can remember, If aced a moral dilemma when I set out to arrange his marvelous Préludes.

To an arranger with orchestrating skills, the charming quartet for flute and string trio ojfers infinite possibilities for subt!e gradations of nuances: four virtuoso instru ments , some polyphonie but ail with iridescent timbres...

Yet nothing in Debussy's output could serve as a mode! for such work, except the much earlier String quartet and the Sonata for flute, alto and. . . harp.'

Indeed, could one imagine La Cathédrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedra!) or La Terrasse des audiences du clair de lune (The Terrace for Moonlight Audiences) without the addition of a harp (that has nearly the same range as a piano)? Four non-resonant instruments cannot Jully render the poetical, almost rnagica.l long resonances of the low register of the piano.

Keen to remain true to the very essence of Debussy's music, I restricted myself to a handful of Préludes.

Alain WlMER