Request: someone who has played l'Isle Joyeuse.

[nanabush]

I mentioned this piece about 2 minutes ago in a previous thread.

I'm just starting to work on this piece; I had looked it up about 5 years ago, and it was a bit beyond me.  I'm a bit relieved that now there is nothing overly difficult in the notes themselves.  I just want to know if any of you can steer me to some good resources for info on the piece.  Or, for whoever has played this, just some general insight/comments/reactions to the piece would be great!

I just want an idea of what some peoples' favourite parts of the piece are/were, some striking points in it, or some images you got while playing it.  I'm kind of obsessing with this piece, because it had been about 2 years since I had heard a recording, then out of the blue I asked my prof if I could either play this OR Images 1, and he suggested this because a lot of students play fragments from the images, but no one ever plays this.

I'm working at some other stuff, but I'm having a pretty easy time finding lots of threads/books/sites with information on them.  I just want some opinions from forum members about the piece.  Anything!  This isn't a request on 'what is the hardest part', but more of just a prompt to get some people to talk about the piece.

Thanks!

[camille101]

I played L'Isle Joyeuse around 5 years ago.  It remains one of my favourite pieces.
It incorporates many aspects common to Debussy's music, including extensive use of the whole tone, lydian and diatonic modes.  The modes combine to form a unified piece with many textures and harmonies that make it difficult to interpret.  L'Isle Joyeuse is translated as "the happy island/isle", however, the conventional French spelling is "L'ile".  The use of the 's' to form l'isle shows Debussy's affinity for English, also shown in the English titles of the Children's Corner, and supports the theory that the piece was written in Jersey, England.
The intricate melody is bright and flowing, highly ornamented with extensive use of semiquaver triplets.  The lydian chordal theme (the C section, repeated at the end of the piece in diatonic mode) should be warm and affectionate, allowing contrast between the previous 'flowing' section, and the return of the intricate idea in the demisemiquavers should be cascading.  This is followed by an extended whole-tone mode section, the hardest part of the piece, containing repeated notes and arpeggios in demisemiquaver patterns.  The main difficulty here was not so much as the technique required for it, but the flowing character to remain.
The coda is a variation of the lydian chordal theme in diatonic mode, ending with the "quasi-cadenza" of the beginning, alternating tremolo chords and a bang.
A very challenging piece, different in character to Ravel's Jeux D'eau, slightly less difficult technically but no less difficult interpretively.  Try to focus on a warm feeling; love, childhood, friendship, even a hug from a pet, and, when good enough, this piece will express these feelings more than any painting or poem.
Hope this helps, and good luck with the piece.
Camille.

[werq34ac]

Camille's interpretation is too sweet.

The piece was inspired by a painting showing an island were gentlemen and ladies were anticipating an orgy. You don't necessarily have to take this interpretation, but just telling you that that was Debussy's inspiration.

The beginning, You can see it as a bird calling out a question, or anticipation as these gentlepeople are on boats on the way to the island. Or you can make something up on your own.

The main theme is a dance, a tarantella to be exact. Just something to keep in mind.

All in all, whatever interpretation you use, it's important to be evocative. As long as you are evocative it should be a successful performance.



But also, keep in mind that order of importance is incredibly important in French music. Differentiate your voices. That will help with the evocative part