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Debussy's Cello Sonata

Donald Macleod focuses on the period when, suffering physical illness, Debussy composed his Cello Sonata while staying at the villa Mon Coin.

He had a profound impact upon music and musicians in his day, and created new genres for the piano and orchestra, this week Donald Macleod explores Claude Debussy through his chamber music.

With the outset of World War One, the Daily Telegraph invited composers to contribute works towards the King Albert's Album, which would be a tribute to the Belgium monarch and his soldiers. Debussy responded with a melancholy work which references the Belgium national anthem, his Berceuse hèroïque for orchestra. Early on in the war, he also started to compose a set of Twelve Etudes for the piano, which he told his publisher would be a secret homage to those Frenchmen lost on the battlefields.

Debussy had been suffering physically for some time during this period and it was in 1915 that he was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent a risky operation; there were no antibiotics available, and afterwards, the pain was kept at bay with morphine. That same year, though, Debussy composed his Sonata for cello and piano, whilst he stayed at the villa Mon Coin.

1 hour

Music Played

  • Claude Debussy

    3 Poemes de Mallarme for voice and piano

    Performer: Noel Lee. Singer: Anne-Marie Rodde.
    • ETCETERA.
  • Claude Debussy

    3 Poemes de Mallarme for voice and piano

    Performer: Noel Lee. Singer: Anne-Marie Rodde.
    • ETCETERA.
  • Claude Debussy

    Syrinx for flute solo

    Performer: Richard McNicol.
    • Chandos:.
  • Claude Debussy

    Syrinx for flute solo

    Performer: Richard McNicol.
    • Chandos:.
  • Claude Debussy

    Sonata in D minor for cello and piano

    Performer: Stephen Orton. Performer: Ian Brown.
    • Chandos:.
  • Claude Debussy

    Sonata in D minor for cello and piano

    Performer: Stephen Orton. Performer: Ian Brown.
    • Chandos:.
  • Claude Debussy

    12 Studies for piano

    Performer: Maurizio Pollini.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
  • Claude Debussy

    12 Studies for piano

    Performer: Maurizio Pollini.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
  • Claude Debussy

    Berceuse heroique, arr. for orchestra [orig. for piano]

    Conductor: Alexander Rahbari. Orchestra: Brussels Belgian Radio and TV Phil Orch.
    • Naxos:.
  • Claude Debussy

    Berceuse heroique, arr. for orchestra [orig. for piano]

    Conductor: Alexander Rahbari. Orchestra: Brussels Belgian Radio and TV Phil Orch.
    • Naxos:.

Broadcasts

  • Thu 16 Oct 2014 12:00
  • Thu 16 Oct 2014 18:45

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