Debussy - Works for Violin and Piano - Violin and Piano

Violin and Piano

• Publisher: Bärenreiter
• Composer: Claude Debussy
• Editor: Douglas Woodfull-Harris
• Format: Softcover
• Length: 48 p.

Claude Debussy had difficulties finishing his last major work, the Sonata for Violin and Piano. This can be seen in the many drafts which have been handed down and the fact that the cycle for which it was conceived was left unfinished. The melancholy work originated under the impact of the First World War.

The first edition, published during the final year of Debussy’s life, contains many rhythmic errors. The non-autograph metronome marks and the discrepancies between the separate violin part and the violin part in small print in the piano score are two problems that have affected the work’s later reception. Both are examined here in a fresh light.

In addition to the Sonata, this edition contains arrangements of La fille aux cheveux de lin, Il pleure dans mon coeur and Minstrels by the American violinist Arthur Hartmann. It was Hartmann who inspired Debussy to make his own arrangement of the well-known piano piece Minstrels, also included in our edition.