Maurice Ravel
Nocturnes (Claude Debussy)
In the “Nocturnes” for orchestra and women’s chorus, composed between 1897 and 1899, Debussy realised his concept that the musical form should emerge freely from the material. With the tripartite structure, he referenced the symphony, but at the same time distanced himself from it by replacing the motivic-thematic aspects with a variety of nuanced timbres. The movement titles “Nuages” (clouds), “Fêtes” (festivals) and “Sirènes” (sirens), deriving from nature and culture, allude to the programme music that was popular at the time. However, Debussy was not interested in tone-painting, but rather in poetic imagination. The arrangement of such an impressionistic masterpiece for two pianos, which Ravel completed in 1909, was a challenge that the young composer mastered most brilliantly. Together with Louis Aubert, he also gave the successful premiere on 24 April 1911 in the Salle Gaveau in Paris. We were able to enlist Debussy specialist Denis Herlin for the first critical edition of the arrangement, with Andreas Groethuysen contributing the fingerings.
About the Authors
Peter Jost (Editor)
Dr. Peter Jost, born in 1960 in Diefflen/Saar, read musicology, German and comparative studies at Saarland University in Saarbrücken. He did his PhD in 1988 with a thesis on Robert Schumann’s Waldszenen.
From November 1991 to April 2009 he was a research associate at the Richard Wagner Complete Edition in Munich, and since May 2009 has been an editor at G. Henle Publishers. His Urtext editions comprise predominantly French music of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Lalo, Saint-Saëns and Ravel.
Andreas Groethuysen (Fingering)
Prof. Andreas Groethuysen, born in 1956 in Munich, studied music with Ludwig Hoffmann in Munich and, on a scholarship from the “Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”, with Peter Feuchtwanger in London.
After several years as a soloist, Groethuysen formed a piano duo with Yaara Tal, which has now become the focus of his artistic work. The duo regularly performs in many European countries, in Israel, China, North and South America. In exclusive cooperation with SONY CLASSICAL the internationally acclaimed piano duo has released a great many CDs – 28 to date – almost all of which have been awarded prizes.