I am totally baffled by this recommendation based on a request from pieces like Clair de lune, not that someone who likes Debussy cant like Reich or vice versa, Just that the two composers are almost worlds a part
As a Debussy fan you may be familiar with it already, but if not, let me suggest L’Isle Joyeux. It’s my favorite piece of his.
-P
Maybe not for you, but it was certainly… evocative enough for choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky.
Wikipedia says:
And if you like Claire de Lune, perhaps you would also like… Claire de Lune, on the theremin!
Other suggestions from Ravel:
Gaspard de la nuit
The second movement, “Le Gibet”, might be the closest to what you are looking for, though you might find it a bit slow.
Anyway, it’s probably one of the best piano pieces ever written, and so is his sublimely evocative Jeux d’eau:
Still sticking with Ravel, you should check out his piano concerto, the second movement comes closest to Clair de Lune’s athmosphere.
I’ll also throw Toru Takemitsu out there. For piano, his Litany is the piece that most approaches the impressionist composers:
You might also want to check out his later orchestral works, like A Flock Descends Into the Pentagonal Garden and the lesser-known Vers l’arc-en-ciel, Palma. Both are available on this record.
There seem to be some well-regarded performances, but I can’t give a recent one of my own knowledge.
The reason is that my favorite is a CD reissue of 50s-era LP recordings I owned as performed by Robert Casadesus. The sound is 50s quality. However, Ravel himself heard Casadesus play “Gaspard de la Nuit” and liked his interpretation enough that Ravel struck up a friendship on the spot. For myself in this case, performance approved by the composer trumps sound.
One more recommendation: Holst, Hymns from the Rig Veda, third group, for women’s chorus and harp. It has qualities similar to “Venus” and “Neptune” from “The Planets”.
Dear Doctor:
I know you meant ‘song’ in the generic sense, but Debussy, Ravel, Fauré, Duparc, Satie and Poulenc all wrote masterpieces of vocal music.
Recommended performers include Gérard Souzay (Baritone) with Dalton Baldwin (piano), Pierre Bernac (Baritone) with various pianists including Francis Poulenc. Many people prefer the sound of Souzay’s voice, though some of the same people would say that Bernac is the better interpreter. There is also a very fine recording with Sanford Sylvan, David Breitman and the Lydian String Quartet called “L’horizon chimérique” which is a lovely introduction to Fauré.
Of Duparc there are only 13 pieces in the main repertoire and they all fit on one disc.
Of Ravel, if I had to narrow it down to only one or two if his song cycles, I’d suggest ‘3 songs of Don Quichotte à Dulcinée’ or ‘Histoires naturelles’, both of which show his sense of humour.
Of Poulenc, I would recommend the cycle ‘Banalités’ or ‘Le travail de peintre’
If you listen to no other Debussy song, it must be ‘C’est l’extase’! (My opinion only, but strongly held!) I also deeply love the ‘5 poems of Baudelaire’, in particular ‘Le jet d’eau’ and ‘La mort des amants’.
I am not hurt (much) if you can’t stand classical singing, but some of the above pieces represent some of the greatest settings of French poetry ever. There is a glorious effect unique to French song - French is a highly inflected language with a very strong rhythm of its own, and French composers delighted in setting French poetry so that the strong accent of the word was not on the strong accent of the music. This sets up a wonderful tension between the text and the music, and the subtle phrasing that the singer must use approaches what some of the finest jazz singers accomplish. Okay, I will get off this hobby horse now.
But there are hours of delight that await you in French song…
Seconding this. Absolutely gorgeous. “Le Gibet”'s repeated b flat is supposed to evoke the tone of a church bell sounding for the hanged man. shivers
Are you familiar with Debussy’s first piece (Lent?) of his Images Oubliees trio? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebYHoUJjcKQ)