# The I'm Addicted To Debussy And Ravel Thread



## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

ATTENTION DEBUSSY AND RAVEL FANS

















I'm probably one of the biggest Impressionist freaks on here, but for those who share an equal passion please come in and pull up a chair.

If you're a fan of either of these composers, then come in here and share your latest purchases, your thoughts about them, and why you like them.

Here is my Debussy/Ravel collection:

- Debussy/Ravel: Orchestral Works (8-CD set)
Orch: Orchestre de Paris
Cond: Jean Martinon
Label: EMI

- Complete Works For Orchestra (4-CD set)
Orch: Ulster Orchestra
Cond: Yan Pascal Tortelier
Label: Chandos

-La Mer; Nocturnes; Jeux; etc.
Orch: Cleveland Orchestra
Cond: Pierre Boulez
Label: DG

-Images; Printemps; etc.
Orch: Cleveland Orchestra
Cond: Pierre Boulez
Label: DG

-Debussy: Images; Jeux; La Mer; Ravel: Alborada del gracioso; Daphnis et Chloé (5-CD set)
Orch: City of Birmingham Symphony
Cond: Sir Simon Rattle
Label: EMI

-Orchestral Works (4-CD set)
Orch: Montreal Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw
Cond; Charles Dutoit, Riccardo Chailly, Ernest Ansermet, Bernard Haitink
Label: Decca

Ravel:

- Daphnis et Chloe (Hybrid SACD)
Orch: Boston Symphony
Cond: Charles Munch
Label: RCA

- Bolero, La Valse, etc. (Hybrid SACD)
Orch: Boston Symphony
Cond: Charles Munch
Label: RCA

- Orchestral Works (4-CD set)
Orch: Ulster Orchestra
Cond: Yan Pascal Tortelier
Label: Chandos

- The Piano Concertos; Valses nobles et sentimentales
Orch: Cleveland Orchestra
Cond: Pierre Boulez
Label: DG

-Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos, etc.
Orch: Berlin Philharmonic
Cond: Claudio Abbado
Label: DG

- Shéhérazade; Le Tombeau de Couperin; Debussy: Ballades de Villon
Orch: Cleveland Orchestra
Cond: Pierre Boulez
Label: DG

-Daphnis et Chloe; La Valse
Orch: Berlin Philharmonic
Cond: Pierre Boulez
Label: DG

-Ma Mere L'Oye; Rhapsodie Espagnole; etc.
Orch: Berlin Philharmonic
Cond: Pierre Boulez
Label: DG

-Orchestral Works (4-CD set)
Orch: Montreal Symphony
Cond; Charles Dutoit
Label: Decca

-Orchestral Works (2-CD set)
Orch: Boston Symphony
Cond: Seiji Ozawa
Label: DG

-Daphnis and Chloe, Pavane for a Dead Princess
Orch: Atlanta Symphony
Cond; Yoel Levi
Label: Telarc

-Complete Orchestral Works
Orch: London Symphony
Cond: Claudio Abbado
Label: DG

-Daphnis et Chloe, Pavane, et
Orch: London Symphony
Cond: Pierre Monteux
Label: Decca

-Orchestral Masterpieces (2-CD set)
Orch: L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Cond: Ernest Ansermet
Label: Decca

-Complete Orchestral Works (4-CD set)
Orch: Orchestre National de France
Cond: Eliahu Inbal
Label: Brilliant Classics


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## Edmond-Dantes (Mar 20, 2009)

AH! I absolutely LOVE Debussy. ;P The passion of his works truly has moved me over the years. Claire de Lune is a given for feelling, but unfortunately, that damn twilight series seems to have made the rest of his work even more "obscure" than before.

It's alway bugged me a bit that Claire de Lune has been so hugely popular. He has so many other works that are so very good that get overshadows by that one piece...

Though, it might just be the people around me that don't know his other works. Is it the same way with you?


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Edmond-Dantes said:


> AH! I absolutely LOVE Debussy. ;P The passion of his works truly has moved me over the years. Claire de Lune is a given for feelling, but unfortunately, that damn twilight series seems to have made the rest of his work even more "obscure" than before.
> 
> It's alway bugged me a bit that Claire de Lune has been so hugely popular. He has so many other works that are so very good that get overshadows by that one piece...
> 
> Though, it might just be the people around me that don't know his other works. Is it the same way with you?


I actually don't talk to many people, Edmond. You guys on this forum are really the only people I talk to. I don't have many friends at all. I'm a pretty lonely person.

Anyway, that's not the topic of discussion here. My favorite Debussy piece is either "Images for Orchestra," "Children's Corner," "La Mer," "Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone," etc. I mean there are so many to choose from.


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## Edmond-Dantes (Mar 20, 2009)

Ah, yes, I went off on a rant. :-/ Very sorry.


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Edmond-Dantes said:


> Ah, yes, I went off on a rant. :-/ Very sorry.


I enjoyed the rant, Edmond.  I mean I too wonder the same thing about Ravel in regards to Bolero. I mean he certainly composed a lot other pieces that warrant recognition.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I go through little phases of Ravel and Debussy. Needless to say, I'm not in one of them now, as I'm currently dominated with interest in Shostakovich's relentlessly heavy music. I can't think of anything more polarly different from the illuminated, inspired, transparent writings of the impressionists. I love their music, but I find that I must be in the right mood to take it in (although the opening of the "Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faun" is certainly very captivating no matter the mood I'm in).


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## PostMinimalist (May 14, 2008)

The crazy thing about Ravel And Debussy for me is that I have more scores than records! A san orchestrator I need a lot of reference material and these are two of the most inspirational orchestrstors of all time. I have also done some serious work on Dedussy having arranged the whole of the first book of piano preludes for string orchestra. There is a slim chance that the LCO will have a go at this work in 2010 and some of them have already been played in Greece and Seattle. It's amazing how much variety can be found in even a single score of Debussy. Les Images is possibly the most comprehensive guide to orchestrstion one could wish for.
FC


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I just purchased this today:










I am really looking forward to recieving this as it contains all the Debussy & Ravel I am interested in hearing.

Apart from the new purchase I dont have a whole lot of Debussy Ravel:

Simply Debussy (4 CD box set) - Various conductors/orchestras/performers: Performances of selected Orchestral works (1 CD), Piano works (2 CD's) and Chamber Music (1 CD).
Ravel: Panorama - Various conductors/orchestras/performers
Ravel, Debussy & Saint-Saens - Orchestral Works: Karajan/BPO


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

C71 said:


> I just purchased this today:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


One thing I noticed in your collection is you are light on orchestral works by both Ravel and Debussy. Now granted that Martinon set will cover both composers, but from my experience there are always other avenues to explore with both of these composers.

For Ravel: I would checkout Charles Dutoit and Pierre Boulez. You have the Martinon, which is excellent, but Dutoit and Boulez must also be considered. There is also a set on Chandos by Yan Pascal Tortelier that I would never part with that is excellent.

For Debussy: You must also check out Dutoit, Boulez, and Tortelier. In fact, I own a set on Decca that is excellent that contains all of Dutoit's Debussy work with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and it's really amazing. For Boulez, get the "La Mer" and "Images For Orchestra, etc." both on Deutsche Grammophon and both are superlative.

I would also checkout Ravel's piano concertos. Now there are only two concertos as you probably already know, but I own several recordings of both and they are all very different from each other. I would first go with the Krystian Zimerman/Pierre Boulez/Cleveland Orchestra set on Deutsche Grammophon, then work my through the Argerich/Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic to the Pascal Roge/Charles Dutoit/Montreal Symphony. These are all outstanding performances that must be heard in my honest opinion.


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## Herzeleide (Feb 25, 2008)

I adore both these composers. I think Debussy's best music has a particular magic about it that is totally sui generis. Big influence on the Spectral composers (particularly, to my ears, some of the wonderful string arrangements in _La mer_).


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## confuoco (Feb 8, 2008)

I can not join you, I'm addicted only to Debussy, not Ravel


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

confuoco said:


> I can not join you, I'm addicted only to Debussy, not Ravel


You're a not a big fan of Ravel, eh? Well that's cool, Ravel isn't for everyone, but do you have a favorite piece by him?


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## Bach (Jun 2, 2008)

Ravel's Piano Trio is the finest in the repertoire..


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Bach said:


> Ravel's Piano Trio is the finest in the repertoire..


Yes, it's a fine piece of music no question about it.


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## confuoco (Feb 8, 2008)

Mirror Image said:


> You're a not a big fan of Ravel, eh? Well that's cool, Ravel isn't for everyone, but do you have a favorite piece by him?


Ravel was a brilliant composer, no doubt, but I'm just not addicted to him, as I am to Debussy who is my big love. I consider his music more interesting somehow, but that is only my subjective reception...Sincerely, I don't like to see join them in one couple as Laurel and Hardy or Bonnie and Clyde, I'm convinced their music is not so similar as many people think.

Sure I have favorite piece by Ravel, *Ma Mère l'Oye* in orchestral version (beautiful in its simplicity, the last movement is just amazing), *Piano concerto in G* (I listed _Adagio assai_ in The most inspired slow movements thread...and concerto in D is also very worthy) and *Tzigane*. These are my favorites, but I like also others works.


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

confuoco said:


> Ravel was a brilliant composer, no doubt, but I'm just not addicted to him, as I am to Debussy who is my big love. I consider his music more interesting somehow, but that is only my subjective reception...Sincerely, I don't like to see join them in one couple as Laurel and Hardy or Bonnie and Clyde, I'm convinced their music is not so similar as many people think.
> 
> Sure I have favorite piece by Ravel, Ma Mère l'Oye in orchestral version (beautiful in its simplicity, the last movement is just amazing), Piano concerto in G (I listed Adagio assai in The most inspired slow movements thread...and concerto in D is also very worthy) and Tzigane. These are my favorites, but I like also others works.


This seems to be a common problem with history books. They lump Debussy and Ravel together. They were both very different composers no question about it. Debussy was a very radical composer. His pieces sound much more freer of the constraints that classical composition had at the time. He broke away from those forms and started experimenting with color and texture until he came up with something totally new.

Ravel, on the other hand, was very much a classicist. He had a firm grounding in the tradition of classical music as he enjoyed the many different styles that had been established in classical music at the time, but also loved other genres of music too like Spanish music and American jazz. He was also a brilliant orchestrator, one of the best in classical music. He wrote some of the of the most difficult woodwind parts I've ever heard, but ultimately his music was an amalgamation of all these influences, especially the influence of Debussy and his teacher Gabriel Faure.


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## confuoco (Feb 8, 2008)

Mirror Image said:


> This seems to be a common problem with history books. They lump Debussy and Ravel together. They were both very different composers no question about it. Debussy was a very radical composer. His pieces sound much more freer of the constraints that classical composition had at the time. He broke away from those forms and started experimenting with color and texture until he came up with something totally new.
> 
> Ravel, on the other hand, was very much a classicist. He had a firm grounding in the tradition of classical music as he enjoyed the many different styles that had been established in classical music at the time, but also loved other genres of music too like Spanish music and American jazz. He was also a brilliant orchestrator, one of the best in classical music. He wrote some of the of the most difficult woodwind parts I've ever heard, but ultimately his music was an amalgamation of all these influences, especially the influence of Debussy and his teacher Gabriel Faure.


Quite accurate comparison, I think when one takes closer look at their work, he find at least so many differences as similarities. Joining them to one tandem is quite superficial, based on orchestral colors and "impresionism" tag.


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## Lisztfreak (Jan 4, 2007)

I AM addicted to Debussy's orchestration. Something unearthly. I could listen to Jeux, Nocturnes, La mer and Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien all day long.

Also the Préludes, both _livres_, and the Fantaisie for piano and orchestra are ever-present on my playlists. And the String Quartet is one of the juiciest French ventures into the genre, IMO.


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## confuoco (Feb 8, 2008)

Lisztfreak said:


> Also the Préludes, both _livres_, and the Fantaisie for piano and orchestra are ever-present on my playlists. And the String Quartet is one of the juiciest French ventures into the genre, IMO.


Fantasie for piano and orchestra is his early and almost unknown piece, and it is wonderful (altough not so original as later works)


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

I like Debussy's orchestration pretty good. I wouldn't rate him as good an orchestrator as Berlioz, Ravel, Richard Strauss, or Rimsky-Korsakov, but he's definitely up there in the high ranks.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

Mirror Image said:


> One thing I noticed in your collection is you are light on orchestral works by both Ravel and Debussy. Now granted that Martinon set will cover both composers, but from my experience there are always other avenues to explore with both of these composers.
> 
> For Ravel: I would checkout Charles Dutoit and Pierre Boulez. You have the Martinon, which is excellent, but Dutoit and Boulez must also be considered. There is also a set on Chandos by Yan Pascal Tortelier that I would never part with that is excellent.
> 
> ...


Cool, cheers for the recommendations  - I have considered buying the Zimerman/Boulez disc on several occasions before this so may start expanding the collection with that one when I am able .


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## Edmond-Dantes (Mar 20, 2009)

Ah, I forgot to mention my favorite Debussy and Ravel.

Debussy:
La fille aux cheveux de lin
L'isle
Fantaisie
La Mer
Cello Sonata

Ravel:
Pavane pour une infante defunte
Ma mere l'oye: Le jardin feerique
Le tombeau de Couperin: no 5 Minuet
Bolero 
Rapsodie espagnole: Feria 

And yes, it is VERY wrong to lump Ravel and Debussy together...


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## R-F (Feb 12, 2008)

Ravel's music makes me melt inside. Cluttered away in my Dad's CD collection (almost completely deviod of classical music) I found Ravel's orchestral works- basicly highlights. Now I'm expanding into more and more of his works. 
I'm thinking of getting the full score of Daphnis et Chloe. Mirror Image, you're a huge Ravel listener- what recording would you recommend? I've heard your recommendations are very reliable!


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## Edmond-Dantes (Mar 20, 2009)

Er... I think you mean Mirror Image there R-F. lol


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## R-F (Feb 12, 2008)

Edmond-Dantes said:


> Er... I think you mean Mirror Image there R-F. lol


Oops! Thanks for pointing that out! Y'see, my brother is obsessed with a video game called Mirror's Edge, so I keep getting confused...


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## Edmond-Dantes (Mar 20, 2009)

No problem there. I understand the feeling quite well, as I'm TERRIBLE with names. lol


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

R-F said:


> Ravel's music makes me melt inside. Cluttered away in my Dad's CD collection (almost completely deviod of classical music) I found Ravel's orchestral works- basicly highlights. Now I'm expanding into more and more of his works.
> I'm thinking of getting the full score of Daphnis et Chloe. Mirror Image, you're a huge Ravel listener- what recording would you recommend? I've heard your recommendations are very reliable!


I'm glad you're a Ravel fan, R-F! He's certainly my favorite composer no question about it.

Here are a couple readings of "Daphnis et Chloe" that you can't go wrong with R-F:

Pierre Boulez - Berlin Philharmonic









Charles Dutoit - Montreal Symphony Orch.









Other choices: Ravel - Orchestral Works, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Ulster Orchestra, Chandos
Ravel - Orchestral Works, Jean Martinon, Orchestre de Paris


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## R-F (Feb 12, 2008)

Thanks very much for that Mirror Image. I'll check out the Boulez first.


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

R-F said:


> Thanks very much for that Mirror Image. I'll check out the Boulez first.


You're welcome. No problem at all.


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