''Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest'' ("''What the west wind saw''") is a

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

composer

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

. It is the seventh piece in the composer's first book of ''Préludes'', written between late 1909 and early 1910. The piece is 72 measures long, taking approximately four minutes to play. It is in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

Background and influence

The title of the piece was inspired by "

The Garden of Paradise "The Garden of Paradise" () is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen first published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark on 19 October 1839 with " The Flying Trunk" and " The Storks" in '' Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collecti ...

", a

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

that was translated into French and published in 1907. Debussy was known to have an affinity towards Andersen's stories, and it has been theorized that the author's character Zephyr – the West Wind – would have "appealed" to the composer when he was writing the prelude. Furthermore, the technical aspects of this piece were influenced by the works of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

. This is evident in Debussy's utilization of "sweeping arpeggios" at the beginning of the piece, which lead towards loud booming chords and extreme dissonance.

History

The prelude is one of three works from Book I – along with ''

La sérénade interrompue LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

'' and ''

La cathédrale engloutie "La cathédrale engloutie" (The Sunken Cathedral) is a musical composition by the French composer Claude Debussy for solo piano, published in 1910. It is the tenth piece in Debussy's first book of préludes. It is characteristic of Debussy in it ...

'' – whose date of completion is unknown. It was first published in April 1910, along with the rest of his preludes from that book. It

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d at the

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Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridg ...

on July 26, 1910, with

Walter Morse Rummel Walter Morse Rummel (July 19, 1887May 2, 1953) was a prominent pianist, especially associated with Claude Debussy's works, as well as a composer and music editor. He was of German- English descent and active mainly in France. Rummel was born in Be ...

performing the work. Due to the challenging nature of this prelude, it is considered a

virtuosic A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, m ...

performance piece, and the first of this kind in his book of preludes.

Musical analysis

Placement within Preludes, Book I

Debussy was known for his extreme meticulousness in the placement of his preludes. Pianist and musical writer Paul Roberts asserts that this prelude, along with the prelude that precedes it and the one that follows it, forms "the central arch" of Book I's structure, since the three pieces provide the most "dramatic contrast" out of all the preludes in the first book. The sixth prelude, '' Des pas sur la neige'' (''Footprints in the Snow''), exudes a feeling of sadness and isolation, while the ''

La fille aux cheveux de lin ''La fille aux cheveux de lin'' () is a musical composition for solo piano by French composer Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impr ...

'' (''The Girl with the Flaxen Hair'')—the eighth—brings about a sense of warmth and gentleness. In stark contrast to both these preludes, ''Le Vent d'Ouest'' evokes a tumultuous nature, with Lederer describing the prelude as exhibiting "cathartic violence". By placing these three preludes in this particular order, Debussy ensured that this prelude—arguably the most technically challenging prelude of the entire collection—was situated in-between the two that are the simplest to play out of the twenty-four.

References

Footnotes Bibliography *

External links

Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest
by

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{Authority control 1910 compositions Preludes by Claude Debussy