Description
The first of the two Arabesques, written around 1888 when Debussy was in his mid-twenties. An arabesque is the interlacing ornament of Islamic art, and Debussy transferred the idea of lines weaving into a pattern onto the flow of sound. Beside his later music it retains a classical balance, and it shows his manner before it had fully formed.
In E major, broken chords spread like waves with the melody drifting above them. Its signature moment is where right-hand triplets overlay duple division in the left: the outline of the beat blurs and the sound seems to hang in the air. That floating quality is the starting point of his later impressionist writing.
It is rated intermediate because the technical obstacles are limited. The task is tone and pedalling: dissolving the broken chords into resonance rather than articulating each note, and changing the pedal with every harmony so nothing blurs. Do not count the three-against-two together — feeling the hands as separate streams comes closer to the natural float the music wants.
Works titled "Arabesque," including Debussy's two impressionist pieces and a work by Schumann, all defined by graceful, flowing melodic lines.
Browse all songs in Arabesques →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
What this piece teaches
The First Arabesque, written when Debussy was in his mid-twenties. In E major, broken chords spread like waves with the melody drifting above. Where right-hand triplets overlay duple division in the left, the outline of the beat blurs and the sound seems to hang in the air. The lesson is letting broken chords melt into one sound rather than spelling out each note.
How to practise it
- Where three meets two, do not count them together; feel the hands as two separate streams. Finish each hand at 0.5x before combining them.
- There are no pedal indicators, so find where the harmony changes in the falling notes, and change the pedal there at your instrument.
- Rather than articulating each note of the broken chords, think of layering sound. Keep the touch shallow and soft.
About the Composer
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Claude Debussy was a leading figure of French musical Impressionism, whose distinctive harmonic language, drawing on whole-tone scales and church modes, along with pictorial, poetic musical imagery, had a profound influence on twentieth-century music. His piano works, including the Arabesques, the Preludes, and "Clair de Lune," remain beloved favorites. This site includes his First and Second Arabesques, a piece from Book 1 of the Preludes, and "Clair de Lune."
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