In celebration of the composer Claude Debussy’s 150th birthday, Steven Porter, critically acclaimed pianist and Adjunct Instructor in Music, performed Debussy’s 24 preludes for an intimate audience of students, faculty and friends last Saturday.
One written in 1910 and the other in 1913, Debussy’s two books of Preludes represent a broad spectrum of the composer’s musical intrigues. Debussy intended for each prelude to depict a specific and distinct image in the listener’s mind, typical of his impressionistic style.
From the portrayal of ruffling sails on an ocean to an interpretation of the proud fireworks that light up the sky on French Independence Day through music, Porter’s dynamics and technical finesse kept audience members spellbound as he drew them from one vivid scene to the next. Porter performed all 24 preludes in the order in which they were published.
After opening with two slow pieces, Porter played the dramatic “Le Vent Dans la Plaine,” The Wind on the Plain. As Debussy intended to invoke a colorful description of wind howling over plains, “Le Vent Dans la Plaine” was at times slightly dissonant, creating tension that was resolved with tumbling bright chords.
Porter also played “La Cathédrale Engloutie,” The Sunken Cathedral, which is one Debussy’s most famous preludes. Named after a mythical cathedral that rises out of the sea on mornings when the water is clear, Porter’s “La Cathédrale Engloutie” entranced the audience with series of majestic, rhythmic chords, reminiscent of tolling bells.
“La Cathédrale Engloutie” was followed by “La danse de Puck,” Puck’s Dance, a reference to the mischievous fairy in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” La danse was lively, quick and chaotic, interspersed with trills and staccato notes.
Porter later played “La Terrasse des Audiences du Clair de Lune,” The Terrace for Moonlight Audiences. In order to portray the feeling that Debussy intended, Porter filled the piece with a mix of mysterious chords and a simple melody that conveyed a dream-like night.
“I really liked the short pieces, they brought a variety of styles into one performance. It brought a lot of texture,” said Sierra Jamir ’14.
Lastly, Porter performed Debussy’s final prelude, “Feux d’artifices,” Fireworks. Filled with complicated, tumbling notes that required much technical skill, the notes built up to create a colorful image of a fire-filled sky.
Porter performed “Feux d’artifices” with complicated and jaunty notes, mirroring Debussy’s original intent to portray the French Revolution’s fireworks through music.
Porter’s dynamic rendition ended an evening of vivid musical imagery that is so characteristic of Debussy’s style.
“Fireworks is a lot of fun to play. It’s pretty much the hardest one and the most exciting one. Sunken Cathedral is very, very beautiful. [Terrace for Moonlight Audiences is] very strange and exotic and ritualistic and beautiful. Those are my favorites, I suppose,” said Porter.
“I liked The Hills of Anacapri. It was really slow, but kind of sad and it had these two high notes that sounded really pretty,” said Thomi Pamplin ’14.
Porter began preparing for Debussy’s 24 preludes in October. Although he had performed some of the preludes previously, memorizing and interpreting both books was still a challenge.
“I played Book I five or six years ago, and then I put it away and I hadn’t played it. Then I played half of Book II once but I hadn’t learned the final six and I’d never played them all together. So [the concert] basically entailed practicing my butt off,” Porter said, laughing.
Porter was invited to perform the same repertoire of Debussy’s pieces in Paris, France, this coming summer.
“I’ve played Debussy since I was a little kid. I’ve always liked Debussy. I’ve played a lot of his preludes [over] the years and this year I decided to finish learning all 24 because this year is Debussy’s 150th birthday. I also was lucky enough to get invited to go to Paris this summer, where Debussy was from,” said Porter.