Pagodes

E899634

Pagodes is the first piece of Claude Debussy’s piano suite *Estampes*, noted for its evocation of Javanese gamelan music through innovative harmonies and pentatonic sonorities.

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Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf character piece
piano piece
solo piano work
associatedWith Impressionism in music
catalogueNumber L. 100 (as part of Estampes, L. 100)
composer Claude Debussy NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin France
dedicatedTo no specific dedicatee
followedByInSuite Jardins sous la pluie NERFINISHED
La soirée dans Grenade NERFINISHED
followsInSuite none (opening piece)
form loosely ternary form
genre Impressionist music
includedIn standard Debussy piano repertoire
influencedBy Javanese gamelan music
inMusicologicalDiscussion example of Western evocation of non-Western music
study in timbre and resonance on the piano
inspiredBy Javanese gamelan heard at the 1889 Paris Exposition
instrumentation solo piano
keyCharacteristic ambiguous tonality
languageOfTitle French
movementNumber 1
notedFor evocation of gamelan sonorities
innovative harmonies
pentatonic sonorities
partOf Estampes NERFINISHED
performancePractice delicate dynamic shading
use of subtle pedaling
positionInWork first piece of Estampes
precededByInSuite none (opening piece)
premieredAsPartOf Estampes premiere
publicationYear 1903
publisher Durand NERFINISHED
recordedBy Angela Hewitt NERFINISHED
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli NERFINISHED
Claudio Arrau NERFINISHED
Krystian Zimerman NERFINISHED
Walter Gieseking NERFINISHED
stylePeriod early 20th-century music
late Romantic
titleMeaning Pagodas
typicalDuration approximately 5 minutes
usesRhythmicFeature gamelan-like layering of rhythms
ostinato patterns
usesScaleType pentatonic scale
usesTexture bell-like sonorities
layered textures

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Estampes movement Pagodes