10115 Danse Bohémienne

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

arranged by Roger Harvey

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £25.00

Programme notes:
This short piece was written in 1880 for Tchaikowsky's patroness, Nadezdha von Meck, for whom Debussy was acting as piano tutor to her children, and was the young composer's first published piano work. In fact von Meck sent it to Tchaikowsky for comment: he felt it was charming but under-developed. This, of course, was an early sign of Debussy's rejection of symphonic style in favour of expression of momentary sensations.
The title suggests a gypsy style and though there is a flavour of this, the dance is more of a salon-piece than a real statement of nationalistic style.

Performance notes:
Choose a tempo that has life but is not rushed; consider that the semiquaver groups should be played elegantly and without any sense of stress.
Play with light articulation and a great sense of rhythmic style.
If the grace notes in the solos at letter D present a problem they can be ommitted.
Take care to match the overlapping voices in the trio section between E and H.
The cedez 4 bars before H should be played "comodo", i.e. take as much time as needed to ensure clarity of rhythm and harmonic line.