Claude Debussy

Four art songs, set by Claude Debussy, perfect for soprano recital

September 13, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Are you preparing for a Junior Recital, Senior Recital, or Graduate Recital? These four art songs, as set by Claude Debussy, are perfect for adding to a Soprano vocal recital program.

French composer Achille-Claude Debussy, also known as Claude-Achille Debussy or Claude Debussy was born August 22, 1862, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Seine-et-Oise. Debussy was one of the most prominent figures in Impressionist music and among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Learn more about Claude Debussy in our blog post.

Looking for even more soprano recital recommendations? Check out our collection of 24 soprano vocal recital recommendations.

Quatre chansons de jeunesse

Apparition (Apparition)
Text by Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Kaikhosru (Leon Dudley) Sorabji (1892-1988)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5968/category/364/

Clair de lune (Moonlight)
Text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Set by Gustave Charpentier (1860-1956); Claude Debussy (1862-1918), from Fêtes Galantes I, #2;
Alphons Diepenbrock (1862-1921); Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), op. 46, # 2; Jósef Szulc (1875-1956),
from Dix mélodies sur des poésies de Verlaine, op. 83
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5992/category/364/

Pantomime
Text by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Willem Pijper (1894-1947), from Fêtes galantes, #1; Kaikhosru
Sorabji (Leon Dudley) (1892-1988)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5966/category/364/

Pierrot
Text by Théodore Faullin de Banville (1823-1891)
Set by Claude Debussy (1862-1918); Francis Poulenc (1899-1963), FP. 66
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5967/category/364/

Did you know? IPA Source now contains International Phonetic Alphabet translations for all 93 solo works of Claude Debussy.

Perfect Soprano Recital Selections

August 20, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

Are you preparing for a Junior Recital, Senior Recital, or Graduate Recital? Deciding upon the perfect program of music for your performance is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. A vocalist must carefully select the right balance of music to appropriately highlight vocal skills. Curated from our database, here are 24 selections perfect to consider for inclusion in a Soprano recital.

Neue Liebe
Text by Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Set by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), op. 19, #4
https://www.ipasource.com/neue-liebe-8243.html

Ach, um deine feuchten Schwingen
Text by Marianne von Willemer (1784-1860), attributed to Goethe
Set by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847); Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), op. 4, #4;
Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828), Suleika II, (D. 717)
https://www.ipasource.com/suleika.html

Die Schwalbe fliegt (Hexenlied)
Text by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748-1776)
Set by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), And’res Maienlied: Hexenlied, op. 8, #8
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/6898/category/831/

À une fontaine (To a fountain)
Text by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Set by Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), from Quatre Chansons de Ronsard, #1
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/8853/category/1774/

À Cupidon (To Cupid)
Text Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Set Jacques Leguerney (1906-1997), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), from Quatre Chansons de Ronsard,
#2
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/8854/category/1774/

Dieu vous gard’
Text by Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585)
Set by Sas Bunge, from Deux poèmes, #1; Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), from Quatre Chansons de
Ronsard, #4
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/8856/category/1774/

Quel guardo, il cavaliere… So anch’io la virtù magica
Norina’s aria from the opera Don Pasquale (soprano)
Text by Gaetano Donizetti and Giacomo Ruffini
Set by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/190/category/424/

Ich folge dir gleichfalls
#9, aria for soprano from the Johannespassion (St. John Passion), BWV 245
Text from the Martin Luther translation of The Gospel According to St. John, chapters 18-19
Set by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
https://www.ipasource.com/ich-folge-dir-gleichfalls.html

Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Complete)
Cantata BWV 32 for soprano and bass for the 1st Sunday after Epiphany
Text by Georg Christian Lehms (1684-1717); Luke 2: 49; Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)
Set by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
https://www.ipasource.com/bwv-032-liebster-jesu-mein-verlangen-complete.html

L’idéal (The Ideal)
Text by René-François Sully-Prudhomme (1839-1907)
Set by Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5869/category/321/

Trahison (Betrayal)
Text by Edouard Guinand (1838-?)
Set by Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5875/category/321/

Rosamonde
Text by Marc Constantin (1810-1888)
Set by Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5874/category/321/

Hark! The Echoing Air
Air of the Second Woman from The Fairy Queen (soprano)
Text by Elkanah Settle (1648-1724) [Br] adapted from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William
Shakespeare (1554-1616) [Br]
Set by Henry Purcell (1658/9-1695) [Br], Z. 629 no. 48 (1692)
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/1456/category/3442/

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (The shepherd on the rock)
Text by Willhelm Müller (1794-1824) and Wilhelmina von Chézy (1783-1856)
Set by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828), D. 965
https://www.ipasource.com/der-hirt-auf-dem-felsen-7493.html

Una voce poco fa
Rosina’s aria from the opera Il barbiere di Siviglia
Text by Cesare Sterbini (1784-1831)
Set by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)
https://www.ipasource.com/una-voce-poco-fa.html

Quatre chansons de jeunesse

Vado, ma dove?
Text by Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838)
Set by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), concert aria for soprano, K. 583
https://www.ipasource.com/vado-ma-dove.html

Auf dem Strom (On the River/In the Current)
Text by Ludwig Rellstab (1799-1860)
Set by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
https://www.ipasource.com/auf-dem-strom-7557.html

Del cabello más sutil (Dos cantares populares)
Text by Anonymous
Set by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), from Canciones clásicas españolas, vol. 1, #6
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/10257/category/3366/

La mi sola, Laureola
Text by Juan Ponce (1480?)
Set by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), from Canciones clásicas españolas, vol. 1, #1
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/10252/category/3366/

Al amor
Text by Cristóbal de Castillejo (1491?-1556)
Set by Fernando J. Obradors (1897-1945), from Canciones clásicas españolas, vol. 1, #2
https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/10253/category/3366/

IPA Source now contains International Phonetic Alphabet translations for all 93 solo works of Debussy

April 6, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff Leave a Comment

IPA Source Founder & Principal Author, Bard Suverkrop, has been busy. IPA Source now contains International Phonetic Alphabet translations for all 93 solo works of Claude Debussy. Just added to our database:

Chanson triste (text by Maurice Bouchor)
Listen to Ninon Vallin:

Romance (Les baisers d’amour) (text by Maurice Bouchor)
Listen to Gillian Keith, soprano; Simon Lepper, piano:

L’archet (text by Charles Cros)
Listen to Veronique Dietschy:

Les Elfes (text by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle)
Listen to Margo Rens, soprano; Maarten Hillenius: piano:

Les baisers (text by Théodore Faullin de Banville)
Listen to Liliana Faraon:

View all IPA translations for Claude Debussy in our collection here: https://www.ipasource.com/composer/d/debussy-claude-1862-1918.html

Learn more about Claude Debussy in our blog post here.

Featured composer: Claude Debussy

February 16, 2018 By Nora Miller Rubinoff 2 Comments

Debussy’s music was noted for its frequent use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism. The Symbolism movement, popular in France at the time, inspired his composing and his cultural participation.

He began piano lessons at the age of 7 and at 10 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he was a student for 11 years. He was an extraordinary pianist and could have had a professional career as such. He performed much of the literature of Beethoven, Schumann, Weber, and Chopin.

During the summers of 1880, 1881, and 1882, Debussy traveled with Tchaikovsky’s patroness, Nadezhda von Meck. In 1880, she sent Debussy’s Danse bohémienne to Tchaikovsky. “It is a very pretty piece, but it is much too short,” he wrote. “Not a single idea is expressed fully, the form is terribly shriveled, and it lacks unity,” said Tchaikovsky. The manuscript remained in the von Meck family and was eventually sold to B. Schott’s Sohne in Mainz and published in 1932.

A few of Debussy’s early works on IPA Source

Fleur des blés (1880)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5991/category/364

Rêverie (1880)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5987/category/364

Fantoches (1882)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/5956/category/364

Mandoline (1882)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11917/category/364

Chanson espagnole (1883)
IPA Text: https://www.ipasource.com/catalog/product/view/id/11926/category/364

Debussy won the Prix de Rome for composition with his piece L’enfant prodigue. His award was a scholarship to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in the Villa Medici where he completed a four-year residence beginning in 1885. He was unhappy at the academy and often was unable to compose. One collection of art songs on IPA Source from this time period is Ariettes oubliées:

Debussy was inspired by and admired Franz Liszt’s keyboard skill. Debussy’s work was also influenced heavily by Jules Massenet. In the late 1880’s Debussy was exposed to Richard Wagner’s work, which had a lasting impact on his own compositions. As Debussy’s musical language evolved, his work was much more reflective of the Symbolist Movement of the time. By the time his opera Pelléas et Mélisande premiered in 1902, after ten years of work, it was very different from any Wagnerian opera. It was to be his only completed opera.

A few more of Debussy’s compositions on IPA Source

Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire (1887–1889)

Listen to Barbara Hendricks, soprano; Michel Béroff, piano: https://youtu.be/UxciBOjcWsQ

Proses Lyriques (1892-1893)

Le promenoir des deux amants (1904-1910)

Debussy had a number of affairs, including one with Emma Bardac while he was married to Rosalie Texier. The situation was so controversial and they experienced so much rancor that Debussy and Bardac fled France for England. Bardac and Debussy had one daughter, Claude-Emma.

Partly due to his failing health, Debussy left several operatic projects unfinished, including two based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe: The Devil in the Belfry and The Fall of the House of Usher. He was also considering an opera based on Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

Debussy was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. Debussy died of cancer on March 25, 1918.

View our entire collection of Claude Debussy texts: https://www.ipasource.com/composer/d/debussy-claude-1862-1918.html

Claude Debussy

Quatre chansons de jeunesse

Quatre chansons de jeunesse

More on recital prep:

A few of Debussy’s early works on IPA Source

A few more of Debussy’s compositions on IPA Source