Page 67 - GTMF 2024 Season Program

July 5 & 6
PROGRAM NOTES

jewel in the three-movement confident and clear. Ibéria is wholly
Ibéria, the centerpiece of his free of washy “impressionism”—
triptych Images. Never a whatever that term really means
particularly fast composer, nor a and however poorly that term
particularly decisive one, Debussy applies to music. The opening
spent seven years fussing over Par les rues et par les chemins
Images, which he had originally (Through Streets and Lanes)
conceived for duo-piano features stomping rhythms and
ensemble but soon realized that spicy dissonances, followed by the
only a sizeable orchestra could dreamscape that is Les parfums
produce the colors and effects de la nuit (The Fragrances of the
he required. Night), which in turn leads without
A word is perhaps in order pause into the joyous Le matin
regarding Debussy’s use of the d’un jour de fête (Morning of a
orchestra. Even though he and Feast Day) that sweeps Ibéria to
Ravel are often lumped together its scintillating, slam-dunk ending.
in the popular imagination, they “How is it possible that this
were remarkably different, not Frenchman, who had only visited
only in their personalities but Spain once, was able to showcase
also in their respective musical Spanish folklore in such a
gestalts. Nowhere are the masterful way?” marveled ace
differences more striking than in Spanish composer Manuel de
their approaches to the orchestra. Falla. “Many Spanish composers
Ravel typically reworked are unable to surpass Debussy.
his piano pieces into sonic They will be green with envy!”
showpieces for virtuoso ensembles
while Debussy, on the other
hand, conceived specifically for
the orchestra with chamber-like © 2024 Scott Fogelsong
textures that often highlight solo
instruments. As a symphony
player once remarked, in a
Debussy piece everybody gets
a solo, however brief.

Ibéria met with only middling
success at the beginning. Critics
scoffed that Debussy, having
evolved from enfant terrible to
established master, was now
writing nothing but imitations of
his imitators. That was not only
unfair but inaccurate: Debussy
was many things, but he was
never an imitator. Fortunately
others immediately recognized
that Iberia’s vivid pungency,
sensuality, melancholy and
radiance represented Debussy
in the bloom of his full maturity,

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