A wild, wind-swept drive to Charlotte March 2 found me fighting pounding rain and black clouds trailing omnious fingers. I was a month earlier than expected, when a last minute cancellation brought a call the day before, asking if I could trade places with the March 2 presenter, rather than coming March 30, as planned. Since I had just been in Charlotte the week before, and stopped by Miller Pianos to try out the piano, I decided I was ready...so go for it. I last played for the Charlotte Piano Forum about 40 years ago!...right after I came to USC. At that time we were a very small music departmant, with a low profile. What a surprise to find our USC School of Music is a recognized force; many people told me of family members or friends who have attended USC, and several had students there at present. The best thing was the respect for our piano program, and several teachers told me they had students planning to audition for scholarships. So I felt at home, and could communicate easily with the group assembled to hear Debussy's "La Mer".
Audiences are surprised with this Lucien Garban arrangement of the orchestral score. As I may have mentioned before, Garban was an editor for Durand and Sons, the Paris publishing house for Debussy and Ravel, and a host of other famous French composers. He was a close friend of Ravel, and there is a letter from Ravel to Garban in my Collection of French Music in the USC Music Library. He made this arrangement in 1938, and I had never heard it performed publicly when I started learning it about one year ago. I am sorry now I didn't learn it years ago, as i could have enjoyed introducing it over the years.
Judging from the comments I received, i think many teachers are somewhat uncomfortable with teaching Debussy as he does not give any pedal indications, and certainly no fingerings. It's all up to "the ear" and one's sense of style. I promised to return and give a class on these points, with approachable literature for intermediate students. It is so interesting to me how Germanic our approach to muisc remains in the USA, but that was the early prevailing influence.
The Charlotte Symphony will perform "La Mer" this coming season in honor of the 150th Anniversary of his birth.
