Suite bergamasque#"Clair de lune"

Debussy was initially unwilling to use these relatively early piano compositions because they were not in his mature style, but in 1905 he accepted the offer of a publisher who thought they would be successful, given the fame Debussy had gained in the intervening fifteen years. While it is not known how much of the Suite was written in 1890 and how much was written in 1905, it is clear that Debussy changed the names of at least two of the pieces. Passepied had first been composed under the title Pavane, while Clair de lune was originally entitled Promenade sentimentale. These names come from poems by Paul Verlaine. The title of the third movement of Suite bergamasque is taken from Verlaine's poem "Clair de lune", which refers to bergamasks in the opening stanza:

{{Verse translation |lang=fr |italicsoff=y

|1={{Langx|fr|Votre âme est un paysage choisi

Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques

Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi

Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.|label=none}}

|2=Your soul is like a landscape fantasy,

Where masks and bergamasks, in charming wise,

Strum lutes and dance, just a bit sad to be

Hidden beneath their fanciful disguise.{{Cite web |url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/853446.html |title=Excerpt, One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine, a bilingual edition, translated by Norman R. Shapiro (1998) |publisher=University of Chicago Press |access-date=8 July 2017}}

}}

Suite bergamasque consists of four movements:{{Cite book|last=Debussy|first=Claude|title=Debussy: Favorite Piano Works|publisher=G. Schirmer|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4234-2741-4|location=New York, NY|pages=185–211}}

1. Prélude (Moderato tempo rubato, F major, {{music|time|4|4}})
2. Menuet (Andante, A minor, {{music|time|3|4}})
3. Clair de lune (Andante très expressif, D-flat major, {{music|time|9|8}})
4. Passepied (Allegretto ma non troppo, F-sharp minor, {{music|time|4|4}})

The first piece in the suite is in the key of F major and marked moderato tempo rubato. Its legato phrases give it a smooth, flowing feel.{{Cite web|title=Suite bergamasque {{!}} work by Debussy|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Suite-bergamasque|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=18 May 2020}}

The second movement is in A minor. Rather than mimicking the articulations of a baroque minuet from the start, Debussy eschews the accent on the downbeat of the first measures. The light, fluttery embellishments Debussy writes throughout the movement give it the character of an arabesque.

{{anchor|3._Clair_de_lune}}

{{Image frame|content=

\language "english"

\midi { \tempo 4.=50 }

\new PianoStaff <<

\omit Score.TimeSignature

\new Staff = "top" \fixed c' {

\key df \major

\voiceOne

2.( \voices "",2 << { cf'4 df'8) } \\ af4. >> |

2.( \voices "",2 << { cf'4 af8) } \\ af4. >> |

}

\new Dynamics { \time 9/8 \tempo "un poco mosso" s8\pp }

\new Staff = "bottom" {

\clef bass

\key df \major

<<

{

df,16( af, df f \change Staff = "top" \voiceTwo af df') \change Staff = "bottom" \voiceOne

f,( c f \change Staff = "top" \voiceTwo af c' f') \change Staff = "bottom" \voiceOne

af,( ff af \change Staff = "top" \voiceTwo cf' ff' af') \change Staff = "bottom" \voiceOne |

df,16( af, df f \change Staff = "top" \voiceTwo af df') \change Staff = "bottom" \voiceOne

f,( c f \change Staff = "top" \voiceTwo af c' f') \change Staff = "bottom" \voiceOne

af,( ff af \change Staff = "top" \voiceTwo cf' af' ff') \change Staff = "bottom" \voiceOne |

}

\\

{ df,4. f, af, | df, f, af, | }

>>

}

>>

|caption=Beginning of the middle section of the movement}}

{{Listen|type=music|image=none|help=no|filename=Clair de lune (Claude Debussy) Suite bergamasque.ogg|title="Clair de lune"|description=Performed by Laurens Goedhart in 2011 (5:04)}}

The third movement is in D{{music|flat}} major. It is written in compound triple meter ({{music|time|9|8}}) and marked andante très expressif. Its title, which means "moonlight" in French, is taken from Verlaine's poem "Clair de lune". It is not to be confused with the two settings of the poem composed by Debussy for voice and piano accompaniment.

The final movement is in F{{music|sharp}} minor, marked allegretto ma non troppo. A passepied is a type of dance that originated in Brittany. This movement is fast and light, with the left hand playing an almost continuous quaver or eighth-note accompaniment. The movement includes the use of 3 against 4 polyrhythm.

Suite bergamasque has been orchestrated and arranged by many people, both for concert performance and for use in other media.

In particular, Clair de lune has been arranged for a wide variety of instrumental combinations, including notable orchestrations by André Caplet, Leopold Stokowski, and Lucien Cailliet.{{Cite book|last=Daniels|first=David|title=Orchestral Music: A Handbook|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=2005|isbn=9780810856745|pages=108}}

Clair de lune was originally intended to be included as a fully orchestrated piece in the 1940 Walt Disney animated film Fantasia. However, due to runtime issues, it was eventually not included in the final cut of the film.{{Cite web|title=Lost Disney Sequence Shown at Hollywood Bowl 'Fantasia' Concert|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/lost-disney-sequence-shown-at-227405|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=24 August 2011|language=en|access-date=26 May 2020}} Instead, the footage for its intended segment (featuring herons in the Florida Everglades at night) was recycled for the "Blue Bayou" segment of the subsequent film Make Mine Music.{{Cite web|title=Did You Know? Strike a Chord With 9 Notes From Make Mine Music|url=https://d23.com/did-you-know-strike-a-chord-with-9-notes-from-make-mine-music/|last=Ehrbar|first=Greg|date=20 April 2016|website=D23|language=en-US|access-date=26 May 2020}} However, the "Clair de lune" segment was later restored after a workprint of it was rediscovered in 1992, complete with an original score by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It is included as a bonus feature in some later releases of Fantasia.{{Cite web|title=Triple Dose for 'Fantasia' Fans|last=King|first=Susan|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-16-ca-52534-story.html|date=16 November 2000|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=3 December 2020}}

Passepied was arranged by the Punch Brothers for bluegrass instrumentation for their album The Phosphorescent Blues.{{Cite web|title=Punch Brothers: The Phosphorescent Blues|url=https://www.popmatters.com/190166-punch-brothers-the-phosphorescent-blues-2495564400.html|date=5 February 2015|website=PopMatters|language=en|access-date=3 May 2020}}

A synthesizer version was produced by the Japanese electronic music pioneer Isao Tomita for his 1974 album Snowflakes Are Dancing, consisting of arrangements and renditions of compositions by Debussy, including Passepied. It was used at the Closing Ceremony at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo on 8 August 2021, as a nod to Paris as the next host city, while children prayed for peace and as the Olympic Flame was extinguished.{{cite news |last1=Tirebuck |first1=Ben |title=World Sport: Tokyo 2020 Olympics emerges as a winner |url=https://www.thephuketnews.com/tokyo-2020-olympics-emerges-as-a-winner-81015.php |access-date=19 November 2021 |work=The Phuket News Com |date=11 August 2021 |language=en}}

A cover version of Clair de lune with lyrics written by Rafael Jaime and titled I Am Born Again is prominently featured in the 2024 Mexican independent short film Mi Hermano Lobo (My Brother Wolf).{{cite web |last=Medina |first=Malú |title=Mi hermano lobo: Un documental sobre la obtención de la libertad |url=https://www.lajornadamorelos.mx/sociedad/mi-hermano-lobo-un-documental-sobre-la-obtencion-de-la-libertad/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHDKNdleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZTSz2suUQZ9bkhvnJ6DddB9UAmvvc3hhITM7QTkdRkdqiJw7Usu9ekvXQ_aem_rIfsVYmX_MTte5jr1XFL6A |website=La Jornada Morelos |access-date=December 8, 2024 |date=December 8, 2024}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/rafael.jaime.7549/posts/pfbid0PCQRkpiMHQhmLs9QcgwTEiecxcx27tMHVUws3MazaqN8W8hZd9wNVVBYDhQTftQ9l|title=Mi Hermano Lobo (Cortometraje)|website=Facebook|date=December 4, 2024|access-date=December 5, 2024}} The song is performed off-screen by 8-year-old Jorge Luis Jiménez Avilés in the lead role of Rafael.{{cite web |last=Zorrilla-Abascal |first=María Luisa|title=My Brother Wolf: A Jungle Journey Through Acceptance and Freedom|url=https://miniboxoffice.com/childrens-nature-wildlife-film-festival/spotlight-cinema-detail.php?id=OTU= |website=Children's, Science, Nature & Wildlife Film Fest-25 |access-date=March 6, 2025 |date=March 6, 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUPXHzcA62bSq5atei7wcJrl5n854nuR8|title=Añoranza, Libertad y Sanación: La Realización de 'Mi Hermano Lobo' (Documental) - Versión Extendida|website=YouTube|date=December 3, 2024|access-date=December 11, 2024}}{{Cite AV media| title = Parte 7: Melodías que Traen Esperanza: Las Canciones y la Partitura| access-date = 2024-12-11| date = 2024-12-03| time = 0:46| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBFjCd_YegA&list=PLUPXHzcA62bSq5atei7wcJrl5n854nuR8&index=8}}{{Cite AV media| title = Mi Hermano Lobo (2024) - Cortometraje Completo (Subtitulado)| access-date = 2024-12-06| date = 2024-12-03| time = 12:40| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib3D3PRcMrY}}

• {{IMSLP|work=Suite bergamasque (Debussy, Claude)|cname=Suite bergamasque}}
• {{Mutopia|1778|Suite bergamasque: "Clair de Lune"}}
• [https://wikisource.org/wiki/Clair_de_Lune_from_%22Suite_Bergamasque%22_(Debussy) Suite bergamasque: "Clair de Lune"] at [https://wikisource.org/ www.wikisource.org]
• [https://cantorion.org/pieces/498/Suite-Bergamasque Suite bergamasque] at Cantorion.org

{{Claude Debussy}}{{Portalbar|Classical Music}}{{authority control}}

Category:Suites by Claude Debussy

Category:Solo piano compositions by Claude Debussy

Category:1905 compositions

Category:Orchestral suites