"LA MER"

JOHN KENNETH ADAMS performs "La Mer" by Claude Debussy

September 20, Charleston Southern University Band Hall, 7:30 PM FREE

September 25, September Concerts, USC Columbia, 3 PM Tickets required

December 11, Heritage at Lowman, 3PM FREE

March 30, 2012 Charlotte, NC Piano Teachers Forum (more info to follow)

(additional dates in progress)


Quite a few months preparation has gone into getting this score ready for performance. "La Mer" by Claude Debussy was first performed in 1905 in Paris, and was not an unqualified success, perhaps due to the advanced nature of its form and harmonic complexities, but also dragged down by Debussy's bad publicity for leaving his wife for another woman. That is a story within a story, but the work slowly made its way, and now is considered a landmark in 20th Century music.

The transcription is by Lucien Garban, an editor at Durand in Paris, and close friend of Murice Ravel. This transcription dates to 1938. Surely it is a daunting task to try to squeeze onto the keyboard the sweep and power of an orchestra, and Garban has not tired to do this in any overt way. Instead, he concentrates on the melodic and harmonic inventiveness, and in so doing, shows us the framework and the inventive ideas is a startling clarity of expression.

In preparing this score, I have concentrated on the sonority of the piano, and treated the score as an extension of his piano repertoire. When I performed all of Debussy's piano music in the 1980's I often looked at orchestral scores, and also that of "Pelleas and Melisande", his opera produced at the same time as "La Mer".
The fact that Debussy found the piano his muse in creating the bulk of his compositions makes this a logical path to follow.

I often think, after rehearsing this score, how very beautiful it is in this transcription. The Art of the Transcription has a long, distinquished history, and I hope to add to that with these upcoming performances.