Debussy - Reflets dans l'eau from Images I - Enzo (work in progress)

[emill]

audio posted May 15, 2011
Here is another piece, this time by Debussy which Enzo is working on for his
late June recital.  We will be most grateful for any comment or inputs. THANKS!!


video recorded May 22, 2011

[iratior]

Reflets dans l'eau is one of those pieces that make one marvel at the culture that was France at the turn of the twentieth century.  At the same time that Debussy was making this contribution -- I have studied it -- to music, Henri Lebesgue was developing the mathematics that is advertised in college catalogues to this day as Lebesgue integration -- which I've also studied.  My concern is that the tempo of the piece-- it does say Andantino, not Adagio --be kept appropriate, although since the directions call for temp rubato I suppose there is plenty of wiggle room.  If Enzo's instructor is satisfied with the pace, I defer to his or her judgment.  I would do the thirty-second and sixty-forth notes considerably much faster.  At measure 24 or thereabouts, be sure to hold down the sound of the A-flat below low C.  Where the key signature changes to E-flat major, be sure the right hand sound D's and not D-flats.  Otherwise excellent;  I wish Enzo luck and hope he gets to study Lebesgue integration too.

[emill]

Hi!! 

Thanks so much for the specific comments.  I have printed your suggestions
and I am sure it will be topics for discussion between Enzo and his teacher.
His teacher really goes to some extent to explain why the suggestion is to
be adopted or not ... to the satisfaction of Enzo.  This kid of mine in half
of the cases suggests his own interpretation to his teacher and his teacher
takes the effort to explain the whys ... the cons ... and the good.

THANKS A ZILLION!!!!!!!  

[rachfan]

Hi emill,

I believe Enzo has done fine work in preparing "Reflets" and it shows in his playing which sparkles.  If I may, I'd like to give a few thoughts here.  

In the opening measure, Enzo should have the pedal already depressed before playing the the first chord in the bass.  That will make it sound even more atmospheric.  The figuration in the RH is pandiatonic and represents the concentric circles as the ripples in the water move outward toward the edge of the pond. He attains that effect very well.  Regarding the LH notes marked tenuto--despite those markings, Debussy did not want the notes held to full value as customarily done in tenuto; actually he wanted a bell-like effect.  Enzo might want to experiment more with that.  In the third line there is portato touch, and elsewhere in the piece, and I think that Enzo gets it just right within the context of the music.

On page 2, line 2 in the quasi cadenza of the parallel 9th figures, he's pedaled each group separately to preserve clarity.  Good.  And in the following lines he achieves the rippling effect very well.

At the bottom at the Mesure, the evenness of execution is wonderful.

Page 3, fourth line: At the piu p, Enzo takes a very long pause there after the B flat in the RH. My sense is that where there is no fermata or double bar lines in the score, it seems very excessive--that is, taking way too much of a liberty there.  The B flat is supposed to voice lead down into the LH A flat in the next measure, at the au Mouvt.  If Enzo insists on any pause at all there, I would suggest that he make it very brief and subtle.

At the bottom of page 3 at the au Mouvt., an interesting point: Some pianists fail to detect that the RH figuration there is actually broken chords based on the chords at the beginning of the piece. 

On page 4 at the transitional en animant, Enzo brings out the bass octaves as melody above the busy RH filligree nicely--not as easy to do as it sounds!  Nice!

Over on page 5, second and third measures, he achieves the "wave of tone" that Debussy really wanted there in the 64th notes.   In the au movement section, third and fourth measures, there can be one long pedal there through both measures.  Down nearing the bottom of the page with the 64ths change to 32nds, the two measures before the last measure can be played more allargando beginning in the initial measure and expanding through the following measure and culminating at the f in the last measure of the page..

Page 6 at the top, he makes the RH chords and octaves declamatory, which is most effective there.  Three lines down at the rit., there is a long pedal that starts there and carries all the way through the next two measures and is released at the au Mouvt. If he's not using it, he should try it.  Walter Gieseking did it that way.  Enzo plays the au Mouvt. delicately and in a glittering way.  Excellent.

Last page has more to do with the play of light on the water.  Enzo does have a fine purity of sound there, a luminosity.  In line 3 at the Rit. there are the muted horn calls in the RH.  The best way to handle that spot is thuis: In the first measure of the call, allow the notes to blur a little; then in the following measure, the second horn call, use no damper pedal at all--only the soft pedal.  That changes the timbre there and makes it more interesting.

At the Lent (the coda), I was glad to hear Enzo playing all the broken octaves from the top down.  These are drops on water falling onto the pond from tree branches above.  Water can only go downward with gravity.  So it only makes sense to play these broken octaves all downward as he has done here so well.

I believe at this point, Enzo just needs to refine his own nuances to get them exactly as he wants them. In the impressionistic style, "Reflets" is a landmark in the literature of the piano. So any pianist who undertakes this piece assumes a huge responsibility.  Enzo has certainly stepped up to the challenge. Excellent work! Once he has a recording with all his refinements that he and his teacher want to achieve, I hope he'll post it again here.

Keep up the good work!

David

[emill]

(this video was taken a few days before rachfan's detailed observations)

TO: rachfan

Dear David,

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE DETAILED OBSERVATIONS .......
how i wish i could respond to the technical aspects or the piano aspects of
your comments ... but can't for lack of any academic background on playing
the piano.  But I can sense that you once played the piece because of your
insightful specifics and the lengthy response.  MANY ,,, a zillion thanks!!

As usual, I printed your comments and gave them to Enzo who went through
it as if life depended on it, scanning through the piece while reading your
comments.  How I wish he communicates some of his thoughts to me  ,
but it seems he has a world of his own and as observed by the experts
the teen years can be very difficult for some.  He usually brings up observations
given here in PS with his teacher on their next session.

Again, so MANY THANKS to you David for the generous effort to share your
expertise.

Stephen (Emill)   
 

[rachfan]

Hi Stephen,

Yes, a few years ago I studied "Reflets" on my own and learned a lot in the process. I didn't get the piece up to my own usual standard, so did not record it.  But I do love the piece.  I was glad to give Enzo some assurances and suggestions too.  He'll be able to explore those more with his teacher, I'm sure.  To an extent I think all serious pianists, regardless of age, are often in their "own world", myself included.   The study of piano by its very nature tends to be a solitary pursuit.  But that's OK.  Enzo expresses himself through his music which brings pleasure to many others.

David