麻豆约拍

Donald Macleod tracks the scandalous life of Achille-Claude Debussy

In the music of Claude Debussy there have been said to run dangerous and destructive currents. His radical works did forge a path which would redefine music in the 20th Century, but his beautiful music runs contrary to his shocking personal life. The Scottish soprano Mary Garden said of him, 鈥淚 honestly don鈥檛 know if he ever loved anybody really. He loved his music 鈥� and perhaps himself.鈥� The lies and duplicity, deception and debt left other unfortunate people in their wake, with Debussy unrepentant throughout. In the aftermath of these scandals, Debussy was disowned by his friends, and by most of Parisian society, but the notoriety he gained only seemed to heighten his appeal with audiences. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod tracks the scandalous life of Achille-Claude Debussy and tries to reconcile his appalling behaviour with his transcendent music.

Suite Bergamasque (3rd mvt, Claire de Lune)
La Mer (2nd mvt, Jeux de vagues)
Ariettes Oubliee (No 5, Green)
Images for Orchestra (No 2, Iberia)
M茅lodies de Jeunesse (No 3, Les Papillons)
Recueil Vasnier, L 53 (Romance 鈥� Silence ineffable)
Printemps (2nd mvt, Modere)
Danse bohemienne
Deux Arabesques
Rodrigue et Chimene (excerpt) (arr. Smith & orch. Denisov)
La damoiselle 茅lue (Chorus: La damoiselle 茅lue s鈥檃ppuyait)
Pr茅lude 脿 l'apr猫s-midi d'un faune
Proses Lyriques (No 3, De fleurs)
Prelude 鈥� La Fille aux cheveux de lin
3 Chansons de Bilitis
Fetes Galantes (Claire de Lune)
Trois Nocturnes
Images, L 110 (No 2, Hommage a Rameau)
Estampes (No 2, La soiree dans Grenade)
Pell茅as et M茅lisande, Act III (excerpt)
Rhapsodie for saxophone and orchestra
L鈥檌sle joyeuse
Danse Sacr茅e et Danse Profane
La Mer (3rd mvt. Dialogue of the Waves)
Children鈥檚 Corner (Cakewalk)
5 Poemes de Charles Baudelaire (No 3, Le Jet d鈥檈au)
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (Act V: Paradise)
Jeux, L 126
Sonata for flute, viola and harp, L 137 (Finale)
La chute de la maison Usher, L112 (excerpt) (completed and orchestrated by R Orledge)
Syrinx

Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Sam Phillips for 麻豆约拍 Audio Wales and West

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Claude Debussy (1862-1918) /programmes/m001ygtn

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we鈥檝e featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z