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Préludes

Préludes Book 1 No.4: Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir

Claude Debussy (1910)

DifficultyAdvanced
Duration2:10
Notes1,143
OpusL.117

Description

The fourth prelude from Book 1, titled after a line from Baudelaire's poem Harmonie du soir, was composed in 1910. Delicate harmonies and blurred outlines evoke sounds and scents drifting through the evening air. Controlling its hazy, ambiguous sonorities with precision makes it a piece suited to advanced players.

A set of 24 preludes Debussy composed between 1909 and 1913, considered among the finest achievements of Impressionist piano music.

Sheet Music

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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project

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."

View all works by Debussy
Préludes Book 1 No.4: Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir - Claude Debussy | Visual Piano