Performance by GoldmanT from Debussy Themed Recital - 2018-06-15
- Performer: GoldmanT
- Location: Scotland
- Experience:
- Composer: Debussy
- Piece: Voiles
- Duration: 251
- Music Link: click to play
- Video Link:
- Music Source:
- Instrument: Kawai CA67
- Recording Method: USB
- Info: Voiles can mean either veils or sails, and I took the latter interpretation, maybe because of the continued Bb note that 'anchors' the composition, so I have a kind of a 'ship's graveyard' thing in mind when I'm playing it, crewless vessels bobbing up and down in the water.
Voiles is sometimes given as the quintessential example of Debussy's impressionistic style, even though he apparently disliked that term (I get the impression, no pun intended, that Debussy would take a contrary view to a lot of things that people said to him, even if he contradicted himself on different occasions - he certainly seemed to contradict himself with the way he wanted his pieces to be performed and was satisfied with few performers' takes on his work). It uses the whole tone scale almost exclusively, apart from some Eb minor pentatonics in the middle, and he did an awesome job of wringing a lot out of a scale that can be quite directionless and rootless, as the whole tone pattern (T-T-T-T-T-T) is the same whichever note you start from, and I think that's down to the repeating Bb bass note that is present most of the way through. Everything is heard in respect of that Bb and it almost multiplies what Debussy could get out of a six note scale. I particularly like the quiet carillion chords in the last eighth of the piece.