The ''Première rhapsodie'' (First Rhapsody), L. 116, CD. 124, by

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 ...

is a piece for accompanied

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

. Composed between December 1909 and January 1910, it was dedicated to the French clarinet professor Prosper Mimart. In 1909,

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

, Director of the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, named Debussy to its board of directors (''le Conseil Supérieur''). One of Debussy's first duties was to supply two works for the next year's clarinet examinations. The ''Rhapsodie'' was first performed as part of the examinations on July 14, 1910. The original composition was for clarinet and piano; Debussy published his own orchestration of the accompaniment in 1911, after the official premiere with Mimart. In 1901, Debussy had been commissioned to write a work for

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

and orchestra by Elise Hall, but never finished the 1903 draft during his lifetime. This "Second Rhapsody" was later completed by Jean Roger-Ducasse as '' Rapsodie pour orchestre et saxophone''.

Excerpts

<< \new Staff="clar" \relative c'' \new PianoStaff >> << \new Staff="clar" \relative c'' \new PianoStaff >> << \new Staff="clar" \relative c'' \new PianoStaff >>

References

External links

*
Performance of the ''Première rhapsodie''
by

Richard Stoltzman Richard Leslie Stoltzman (born July 12, 1942) is an American clarinetist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California, and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is pa ...

(clarinet) and Peter John Stoltzman (piano) from the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

format Concertante works by Claude Debussy Chamber music by Claude Debussy Compositions for clarinet and orchestra Compositions for clarinet and piano Music dedicated to ensembles or performers 1910 compositions Rhapsodies {{classical-composition-stub