Monday, May 07, 2007

Complete Piano Music Volume 1 (Debussy - Haas; Philips)

I've never really listened to Debussy properly, but my cloudy impressions and the fact that his music always gets described as 'impressionistic' led me to expect that this would be all dreamy, misty, oceanic mood music. In fact, I was surprised to discover, it's often quite churning and turbulent, exciting the mind's eye and causing the occasional stomach-flip, and all in all positively demanding attention (even if it seems to work best, at least for me, on the level of suggestion). Includes his Préludes and a bunch of other stuff - my ear has most been caught by the Images, and especially "Hommage à Rameau" (somewhat arbitrary to mention that one rather than any number of others - it just happens to be one which has resonated on several occasions and recently). Much more exploring to do with his work - looking forward to it.