Nuages and Fêtes from Three Nocturnes

Program notes

About the Work

Debussy’s Three Nocturnes (1899) are among the founding masterpieces of musical Impressionism: atmospheric orchestral tone-poems that capture light, air and movement rather than telling a story. Debussy was at pains to explain that the title ‘Nocturnes’ was not meant in the manner of Chopin’s piano pieces but in a broader, more decorative sense, borrowing the word from painting: he was thinking of the painter Whistler’s misty, tonal ‘nocturnes.’ Each of the three pieces is a study in a particular play of light and colour. Tonight we hear the first two; the third, ‘Sirènes,’ is omitted because it requires a wordless female chorus, and the first pair is very often performed on its own.

‘Nuages’ (‘Clouds’) is one of Debussy’s most exquisite creations, a slow, hushed evocation of, in his words, ‘the immutable aspect of the sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds.’ Over gently rocking woodwind chords, a solo cor anglais intones a haunting, fragmentary melody that drifts and recurs, while muted strings shift in subtle gradations of grey. It is music of stillness and infinite subtlety. ‘Fêtes’ (‘Festivals’) could hardly be more different: a brilliant, exhilarating burst of energy and light, evoking ‘the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light.’ Its famous central episode is a fantastical procession: a distant band approaching, conjured by muted trumpets and harps in a hypnotic march that swells and then recedes into the night. Together the two make a perfect, contrasting pair, and a ravishing opening to the concert.

What to Listen For

In ‘Nuages,’ listen for the very opening, quiet rocking chords in clarinets and bassoons that set up a sense of slow, aimless drift, and then for the plaintive solo cor anglais (English horn) melody that becomes the piece’s recurring emotional centre. Notice how Debussy avoids strong cadences and clear rhythm, so the music seems to float free of time, all muted colour and half-light; listen, too, for a magical moment when flute and harp trace a delicate, pentatonic shape like a sudden gleam through the greyness.

In ‘Fêtes,’ the change is electric: listen for the scurrying, dancing rhythms and brilliant orchestral flashes that open the piece in a whirl of festivity. Then listen for the celebrated central procession: far-off muted trumpets and pizzicato strings building a strange, exciting march that grows louder as if approaching, reaches a blazing climax, and then fades away into the distance. Throughout both pieces, savour Debussy’s revolutionary orchestration: the emphasis on colour and atmosphere over melody and development, the subtle washes of sound, and the sheer sensuous beauty that changed the course of music.