Images (piano suite)

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|filename=Debussy , Reflets dans l'eau.ogg|title=Reflets dans l'eau

|filename2=Hommage à Rameau (Tribute to Rameau), Images I.ogg|title2=Hommage à Rameau|description2=Performed by Giorgi Latso}}

• Book 1 (or "1st series") (L. 110)

1. "Reflets dans l'eau" (Reflections in the water) in D-flat major
2. "Hommage à Rameau" (Tribute to Rameau) in G-sharp minor
3. "Mouvement" (Movement) in C major

• Book 2 (or "2nd series") (L. 111)

1. "Cloches à travers les feuilles" (Bells through the leaves) in B whole-tone (the middle section is in E major)
2. "Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut" (And the moon descends on the temple that was) in E minor
3. "Poissons d'or" (Golden fish) in F-sharp major

• Images oubliées (L. 87)

1. "Lent (mélancolique et doux)" (Melancholic and sweet) in F{{music|#}} minor
2. "Souvenir du Louvre" in C{{music|#}} minor
3. "Quelques aspects de '{{ill|Nous n'irons plus au bois|fr}}' parce qu'il fait un temps insupportable" (We will no longer go to the woods because the weather is unbearable) in D minor

No. 2 is the first version of "Sarabande" from Pour le piano (L. 95, 1901); no. 3 is an early version of "Jardins sous la pluie" from Estampes (L. 100, 1903).

"Reflets dans l'eau" is one of the many pieces Debussy wrote about water;{{Cite journal |last=Park |first=Sun Hye |date=2012-09-13 |title=Elements of Impressionism evoked in Debussy and Ravel's Reflets dans l'eau and Jeux d'eau: The theme of water |url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/items/7f3595a6-1e5c-4824-be1e-2f22f133244c |language=en-US}} in particular, light reflecting off its surface. The piece creates an image of water being not quite still, then becoming rapid, then decreasing in motion again. "Reflets dans l'eau" is also an example of the new tone colours Debussy discovered for the piano in this part of his life, and it is considered to be one of his greatest works for the instrument.Lederer, Victor (2007). Debussy: The Quiet Revolutionary. New York: Amadeus Press. Techniques such as arpeggio, pedal-point, staccato, tremolo and glissando are used to depict moving water.{{cite thesis|url=https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/20546|title=Elements of Impressionism evoked in Debussy and Ravel's Reflets dans l'eau and Jeux d'eau: The theme of water|last1=Park|first1=Sun Hye|date=13 September 2012|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=27 December 2016|type=Thesis}}

"Hommage à Rameau" is more subdued. It is a sarabande honouring the memory of Jean-Philippe Rameau.

"Mouvement" is the most abstract designation of the pieces. It is a perpetuum mobile, meaning that it is built around a continuous stream of notes.{{cite web|last1=DuBose|first1=Joseph|url=http://www.classicalconnect.com/Piano_Music/Debussy/Reflets_dans_eau/9706|title=Images I – Claude Debussy|website=classicalconnect.com|access-date=27 December 2016}}

"Cloches à travers les feuilles" was inspired by the bells in the church steeple in the village of Rahon in Jura, France.{{cite web|title=Le blog de La librairie Heurtebise|url=http://librairieheurtebise.over-blog.com/article-louis-laloy-debussy-et-rahon-nostalgie-jurassienne-115994316.html|access-date=27 December 2016}} Rahon was the hometown of Louis Laloy, a close friend of Debussy and also his first biographer.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}

"Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut" (And the moon descends on the temple that was) was dedicated to Laloy.{{cite web|last1=Anderson|first1=John C|title=John Clement Anderson: Images – Série II – 2 Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut|url=http://www.last.fm/music/John+Clement+Anderson/_/Images+-+S%C3%A9rie+II+-+2+Et+la+lune+descend+sur+le+temple+qui+fut/+wiki|website=last.fm|access-date=27 December 2016}} The name of the piece, which evokes images of East Asia, was suggested by Laloy, a sinologist. The piece is evocative of Indonesian gamelan music, which famously influenced Debussy.

"Poissons d'or" was probably inspired by an image of a golden fish in Chinese lacquer artwork or embroidery, or on a Japanese print. Other sources suggest it may have been inspired by actual goldfish swimming in a bowl, though the French for goldfish is 'poisson rouge' (red fish).

Many famous pianists of the 20th century have recorded Debussy's Images, such as Walter Gieseking and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. The French musical critic Jean Roy wrote of Claudio Arrau's 1979 recording (Diapason d'Or no. 266 & 334) as being "unrivalled".{{cite web|url=http://patachonf.free.fr/musique/arrau/discographie.php?p=tout#Debussy|title=Claude Debussy (1862–1918)}}

A recording by Noriko Ogawa{{cite web|title=Noriko Ogawa: Pianist: Full Biography|url=http://www.norikoogawa.com/en/biography.html|access-date=27 December 2016}} won the Editor's Choice of Gramophone and is noted favorably by Stephen Walsh in BBC Radio 3's Building a Library series.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01qcylv|title=Building a Library: Debussy: Images – Stephen Walsh with a personal recommendation from recordings of Debussy's 2 books of Images for piano|last1=Walsh|first1=Stephen|date=25 January 2014 |author-link=Stephen Walsh (writer)|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 December 2016}} A recording by Marc-André Hamelin is noted for its "intriguing interpretive vision".{{cite web|last=Beaumont|first=Réa|title=Debussy – Images; Preludes II – Marc-André Hamelin|date=2 February 2015|url=https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/classicalabeyond/25243-debussy-images-preludes-ii-marc-andre-hamelin|work=The Whole Note|location=Toronto|access-date=27 December 2016|quote=Hamelin executes the intricate passagework with fluidity and ease, exposing an array of subtle tone colours.}}

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{{Commons category|Images by Claude Debussy|Images by Claude Debussy}}

• {{IMSLP|work=Images, 1ere série (Debussy, Claude)|cname=Images, book 1}}
• {{IMSLP|work=Images, 2ème série (Debussy, Claude)|cname=Images, book 2}}
• {{IMSLP|work=Images oubliées (Debussy, Claude)|cname=Images oubliées}}

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