Claude Debussy - Preludes Book 1 & 2

Claude Debussy's Préludes are two sets of pieces for solo piano. They are divided into two separate livres, or books, of twelve preludes each. Unlike previous cycles of twenty-four preludes, like that of Chopin, Debussy's do not follow a set pattern of key signatures, but instead move arbitrarily through the possible keys, without even using five of them. The first book was written between December 1909 and February 1910, and the second between 1911 and April 1913. Debussy never intended the pieces to be performed in a series; he thought of them as individual works. The titles were given by the composer to create images or sensory associations for the listener. Several are poetically vague: for example, the meaning of Voiles, the title of the second prelude of the first book, is ambiguous, since the noun's gender is unknown (in French, voiles can mean either "veils" or "sails" depending on gender). The titles are written at the end of each movement, allowing the performer to discover impressions for himself, without being guided by Debussy's own thoughts. This works less well now, as the Preludes have grounded themselves in popular culture. The pieces' moods vary wildly, from the "profound calm" of La cathédrale engloutie to the tumultuous, unrestrained virtuosity of Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest, and from the mysterious Brouillards, to the explosive Feux d'artifice. The most famous of the preludes are both from the first book; La fille aux cheveux de lin is a brief but harmonically complex Pre-Raphaelite expression of beauty. La cathédrale engloutie alludes to the legend of the sunken city of Ys in which the cathedral was allowed to rise once a day as a reminder of the glorious city that was lost, then become submerged again. Debussy's composition reflects this well: one can almost hear monks chanting, and the great bells tolling throughout the piece.
(Source Wikipedia)