- PB - EVENING IN GRANADA CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918) CLAUDE DEBUSSY 1 La soirée dans Grenade L.100 No.2 (St. Germain-en-Laye, 1872 – Paris, 1918) Orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski

1 La soirée dans Grenade L.100 No.2 (orch. Stokowski) [6.28] Claude Debussy was the father of La soirée dans Grenade (“Evening in Granada”) 2 Clair de Lune L.75 No.3 (orch. Caplet) [5.01] “Impressionism” in music. Inspired by such – the second of the tripartite piano set Estampes French painters as Monet, Renoir and Degas, (meaning “Prints” or “Engravings”) – was 3 Pagodes L.100 No.1 (orch. Grainger) [5.25] and poets of the “Symbolist” school, including published in 1903. Like other French composers, 4 La fille aux cheveux de lin L.125 No.8 (orch. Gleichmann) [3.10] Mallarmé, Verlaine and Baudelaire, he produced such as Chabrier with España, Ravel with compositions which sought to suggest – rather Rapsodie Espagnole and Boléro and Lalo with Nocturnes L.91 Women’s Voices of the Philharmonia Chorus than to display – the fleeting aspects of colour his Symphonie Espagnole, Debussy had more 5 I. Nuages [8.08] and light on imaginary scenes and subjects. than a passing feeling for the romance of Spain 6 II. Fêtes [6.12] With vibrant timbres and half-lit dream-worlds, despite visiting the country only once, to see a 7 III. Sirènes [10.18] his music was at the opposite extreme to the bullfight in San Sebastian. His superb evocation grandiose orgies of sound so beloved by Wagner of a sensuous, half-lit twilight in Granada is a 8 Première rapsodie L.124b [8.42] and Richard Strauss. Such were the evocative languid serenade, pulsing with the veiled rhythm James Campbell clarinet qualities of Debussy’s piano compositions – of a slow habañera. Conductor Leopold Stokowski Petite Suite L.71 (orch. Büsser) their nuances, moods, and even their exotic introduced his colourful orchestration of La soirée 9 En bateau [3.39] titles – that many musicians felt compelled to dans Grenade (Debussy’s original title) with the 0 Cortège [2.57] transcribe them for orchestra in the same way Philadelphia Orchestra on 27 November 1940 q Menuet [2.52] as Debussy himself had orchestrated two of in a “Concert for Youth” which began with the w Ballet [3.05] Satie’s piano Gymnopédies. The present selection maestro’s own transcription of Bach’s Toccata therefore includes several such arrangements and Fugue in D minor and concluded with Boléro. Total timings: [66.49] of Debussy’s most atmospheric pieces, framing the composer’s purely orchestral Nocturnes. PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA GEOFFREY SIMON CONDUCTOR

calasignum.com - 3 - 2 Clair de Lune L.75 No.3 to foment for several years and in due course he Nocturnes L.91 Debussy himself provided his own commentary, Orchestrated by André Caplet put his musical thoughts on paper, with Pagodes 5 I. Nuage writing: “The title Nocturnes is to be interpreted becoming the first of the three Estampes of 1903. 6 II. Fêtes in a general and, more particularly, in a In the days of 78rpm records, Clair de Lune Grainger’s extraordinary 1928 arrangement – 7 III. Sirènes decorative sense. Therefore, it is not meant was recorded in almost as many orchestral for thirteen percussionists, four grand pianos, to designate the usual form of nocturne, but versions as in the piano original, something celesta, dulcitone and a harmonium – sets Nocturnes – another of Debussy’s three- rather all the impressions and the special which undoubtedly helped to make it Debussy’s, out to evoke with western instruments the movement works – dates from between 1897 effects of light that the word suggests. if not the world’s, most popular ‘miniature’. haunting sounds of the gamelan which had so and 1889. It epitomises his fascination with the Indeed, this music almost made it into Walt captivated the composer many years earlier. “feelings and impressions” in the art movements “Nuages renders the immutable aspect of the sky Disney’s Fantasia, where a pair of swooping of his time, whether in poetic literature or the and the solemn motion of the clouds, fading away white cranes, gently circling round a moonlit 4 La fille aux cheveux de linL.125 No.8 great French impressionist painters. Initially, in grey tones, slightly tinged with white. Fêtes blue lagoon, would – had the sequence not been Orchestrated by William Gleichmann Debussy had the idea of writing three pieces gives us the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the omitted – have provided the cartoon movie’s for solo violin and orchestra but it was the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light. There most romantic visual images. It is André Caplet’s La fille aux cheveux de lin (“The Girl with series of oil paintings entitled Nocturnes by the is also the episode of the procession (a dazzling transcription which here provides this much-loved the Flaxen Hair”) is another short piece from American artist, James Whistler, which provided fantastic vision) which passes through the festive piano piece with delicate orchestral colourings. Debussy’s First Book of Twelve Preludes for the direct inspiration for this purely orchestral scene and becomes merged with it. But the Piano (the same volume which contains The triptych, first heard in complete form in 1901. background remains persistently the same: the 3 Pagodes L.100 No.1 Engulfed Cathedral). This “portrait of a maiden festival with its blending of music and luminous Orchestrated by Percy Grainger in diaphanous lines” was originally inspired by The music suggests the passing overhead of dust participating in the rhythm. Sirènes – the a poem of Leconte de Lisle which commenced: mysterious cloud formations in the first piece, sea and its innumerable rhythms; then amid the In the autumn of 1905, Percy Grainger gave the “Who, seated on the flowering lucerne, sings a kind of brilliant nocturnal festival in the billows silvered by the moon, the mysterious song first British performance of Debussy’sPagodes in the fresh morning air? It is the girl with second, and in the final section the distant of the sirens is heard; it laughs and passes.” in a piano recital at the Bechstein Hall in London. the flaxen hair, the beautiful girl with cherry voices of the sea nymphs of ancient mythology The music’s inspiration lay in the sounds of a lips...” In orchestral form, the simplicity of this (represented by a wordless female chorus) luring Javanese gamelan orchestra which Debussy had music takes on a particularly touching quality, sailors to their doom with voluptuous songs. heard in Paris at the Universal Exhibition of 1889. and is again in Debussy’s “pastoral” mood. The impressions created in his mind were allowed

- 4 - - 5 - 8 Première rapsodie L.124b Petite Suite L.71 Keyboards and Percussion for Pagodes: For Clarinet and Orchestra Orchestrated by Henri Büsser Piers Lane, John Lavender, Ian Munro pianos 9 En bateau Penelope Thwaites dulcitone Although he called it his “First Rhapsody”, 0 Cortège Leslie Pearson harmonium Debussy didn’t write a second such composition q Menuet Michael Round celesta in this form. This particular example of a w Ballet David Corkhill, Christopher Terian, work for solo clarinet was devised as a test Heather Steadman mallets inside piano piece for the Paris Conservatoire in 1910 This four-movement suite for piano duet was Kevin Hathway xylophone and was one of a pair, the other being the written in 1889 and orchestrated by Debussy’s Eric Allen glockenspiel Petite Pièce for clarinet and piano. friend Henri Büsser in 1907. Like Debussy, Peter Fry, Charles Fullbrooke, Büsser studied at the Paris Conservatoire, was Gerald Kirby wooden marimbas Originally, the Rapsodie was also for a winner of the Prix de Rome, and in addition to Andrew Barclay, Peter Beaumont, clarinet and piano, but Debussy himself composing and conducting also orchestrated Jackie Kendle metal marimbas subsequently orchestrated the accompaniment Debussy’s Printemps. In the first piece, Debussy David Hockings, David Stirling tubular chimes and remarked that “it’s one of the easiest returns once more to music with water in the pieces on the ear I’ve ever written.” background, depicting a small boat gliding along in the moonlight. The light-hearted Cortège was perhaps inspired by a poem of Verlaine, wherein a pet monkey in a brocaded jacket trots in front of his mistress whilst she daintily flutters a delicate handkerchief. The Menuet was Debussy’s 1880s idea of an old classical dance, while the bright-toned finale brings to mind the ballet music of such masters of the genre as Delibes and Saint-Saëns.

© Edward Johnson

- 6 - - 7 - GEOFFREY SIMON Te Deum for the King and Queen of Spain, and with the Sacramento Symphony he created Australian conductor Geoffrey Simon is the World View series of concerts, attracting resident in London and has appeared there audiences from twenty non-European cultures. with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Geoffrey Simon is Music Director Emeritus of the Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Northwest Mahler Orchestra in Seattle, with which London Chamber Orchestra, London Mozart he has conducted the Mahler symphonic cycle and Players and English Chamber Orchestra. Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony. He is Consultant for Classical Special Projects for Arts Global (a Internationally, he has appeared with the foundation for emerging artists, London, Montreux Adelaide, Atlanta, Bournemouth, Canberra, and New York) and has served as a jury member City of Birmingham, Fort Worth, Melbourne, for Young Concert Artists, PianoTexas, Australian Milwaukee, Queensland, Sapporo, Shanghai, Cello Awards and Royal Over-Seas League. St Louis, Sydney, Tasmanian, Vermont and West Australian Symphony Orchestras, the Israel, Geoffrey Simon was a student of Herbert von Moscow, Munich and New Japan Philharmonic Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Hans Swarowsky and Igor Orchestras, the American Symphony, the Markevich, and a major prize-winner at the first Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, the Tokyo John Player International Conductors’ Award. He Metropolitan Symphony and the Australian Opera. has made forty six recordings for a number of labels, combining discoveries with familiar works His music directorships have included the Albany by Tchaikovsky, Respighi, Borodin, Mussorgsky, Symphony Orchestra (New York), the Australian Smetana, Bloch, Grainger, Debussy, Ravel, Saint- Sinfonia (London), the Bloomington Symphony Saëns and Les Six. Amongst the contemporary Orchestra (Indiana), the Orquestra Simfònica composers he has recorded are Barry Conyngham, de Balears “Ciutat de Palma” (Majorca) and John Downey, Paul Patterson and Zhou Long. the Sacramento Symphony (California). With the For Cala Signum, Geoffrey Simon has brought Palma Orchestra he conducted Paul Patterson’s together large ensembles of single instruments

- 8 - - 9 - – violins, violas, cellos, double basses, horns, The Philharmonia is resident orchestra at Bedford The Philharmonia records and releases music Finnish conductor and composer Esa-Pekka trumpets, trombones and harps – drawn from Corn Exchange, De Montfort Hall in Leicester, The across multiple channels and media. An Salonen has been Principal Conductor & London’s leading solo, orchestral and chamber Marlowe in Canterbury, The Anvil in Basingstoke, app for iPad, The Orchestra, has sold tens of Artistic Advisor since 2008. Jakub Hrůša and musicians. Known as The London Sound Series, the Three Choirs Festival in the West of England, thousands of copies; Hollywood composers Santtu-Matias Rouvali are Principal Guest the recordings have attracted interest amongst and Garsington Opera. At the heart of these choose to record their scores for films, video Conductors. Christoph von Dohnányi is Honorary instrumentalists worldwide. Geoffrey Simon’s residencies is an education programme that games and television series with the Orchestra; Conductor for Life and Vladimir Ashkenazy is virtuoso 20-cello ensemble, The London Cello empowers people in every community to engage the Philharmonia is Classic FM’s ‘Orchestra Conductor Laureate. Composer Unsuk Chin is Orchestra, has performed for H.M. The Queen with, and participate in, orchestral music. on Tour’ and broadcasts extensively on BBC Artistic Director of the Music of Today series. and H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh, and appeared Radio 3; with Signum Records the Philharmonia in New York, Switzerland and South Korea. Internationally, the Philharmonia is active releases live recordings of signature concerts. across Europe, Asia and the USA. In 2018/19, PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA the Orchestra performed extensively in Europe and undertook three major international Recorded in St. Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead, London from 2nd to 6th January 1990 Founded in 1945, the Philharmonia is a world- tours, to China and South Korea (October Producer – Tim Handley class symphony orchestra for the 21st century. 2018); to Cartagena in Colombia, in a joint Engineer – Nicholas Parker Editing – AudioEdit Ltd., London The Orchestra’s home is Southbank Centre’s Royal digital installation-live concert tour (January Remastering – Phil Rowlands Festival Hall, in the heart of London, where the 2019); and to the USA (March 2019). Publishers: Philharmonia has been resident since 1995 and Evening in Granada (arr. Stokowski) – Cala Music Publishing presents a season of around 50 performances The Philharmonia’s international reputation in Pagodes (arr. Grainger) – Bardic Edition The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (arr. Gleichmann) – Lemoine each year. Under Principal Conductor & Artistic part derives from its extraordinary recording Nocturnes – Joubert Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Philharmonia legacy, which in the last 10 years has been built Petite Suite (arr. Büsser) – Durand. has created a series of critically-acclaimed, on by its pioneering work with digital technology, P 1991 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Cala Records, under exclusive license to Signum Records visionary projects, distinctive for both their most recently blazing a trail for classical music in © 2019 The copyright in this CD booklet, notes and design is owned by Cala Signum. artistic scope and supporting live and digital Virtual Reality. VR experiences featuring music by Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording of Cala Signum Compact Discs constitutes an infringement of copyright and will render the infringer liable to an action content. Recent series include Stravinsky: Myths Sibelius, Mahler and Beethoven, placing the viewer by law. Licences for public performances or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this booklet may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Cala Signum Ltd. & Rituals (2016), which won a South Bank Sky at the heart of the orchestra, have been presented Arts Award. In 2019, Salonen presented the at Southbank Centre and internationally. Cala Signum, Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road, Perivale, Middlesex, UB6 7LQ, UK. +44 (0) 20 8997 4000 E-mail: [email protected] series Weimar Berlin: Bittersweet Metropolis. calasignum.com

- 10 - - 11 - ALSO AVAILABLE on CALA Signum

Debussy: Engulfed Cathedral Saint-Saëns: Africa Philharmonia Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra Geoffrey Simon conductor Geoffrey Simon conductor SIGCD2092 SIGCD2162

“Geoffrey Simon has assembled two brilliantly successful discs of “The performances are warmly affectionate, beautifully played Debussy’s piano music dressed in orchestral garb.” and flattered by the rich-textured sound.” Classic FM Magazine Gramophone

Available through most record stores and at calasignum.com. For more information call +44 (0) 20 8997 4000

- 12 - - 12 - CTP Template: CD_INL1 COLOURS Compact Disc Back Inlay CYAN Customer SignumClassics-Cala MAGENTA YELLOW Catalogue No.SIGCD2093 BLACK Job Title: Evening In Granada Cala Signum

SIGCD2093

EVENING IN GRANADA DEBUSSY: EVENING IN GRANADA PHILHARMONIA / SIMON CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)

1 La soirée dans Grenade L.100 No.2 (orch. Stokowski) [6.28] 2 Clair de Lune L.75 No.3 (orch. Caplet) [5.01] 3 Pagodes L.100 No.1 (orch. Grainger) [5.25]

4 La fille aux cheveux de linL.125 No.8 (orch. Gleichmann) [3.10]

5-7 Nocturnes L.91 [24.44]

8 Première rapsodie L.124b [8.42]

9-w Petite Suite L.71 (orch. Büsser) [12.45] Total timings: [66.49]

PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA GEOFFREY SIMON CONDUCTOR DEBUSSY: EVENING IN GRANADA PHILHARMONIA / SIMON

LC15723

Cala Signum, Suite 14, 21 Wadsworth Road SIGCD2093 Perivale, Middlesex UB6 7LQ, UK. P 1991 Cala Records Ltd. DDD SIGCD2093 © 2019 Cala Signum Ltd. calasignum.com 24 bit digital recording 6 35212 20932 5 Cala Signum