After setting three of his friend Pierre LouÃ¿s's 1894 prose poems in Les Chansons de Bilitis, Debussy was asked by him to provide incidental music for a mimed recitation of another 12 poems. A single performance was given on 7 February 1901, after rehearsals of which LouÃ¿s wrote: 'I'm spending every afternoon with naked women. It's nice.' The poems were spoofs on those by Sappho, supposedly a friend of the non-existent Bilitis, and a review praised the music as 'ingeniously archaic'. Debussy's scoring evokes the imagined sound of ancient Greece: the two flutes represent the aulos, associated with satyrs and the Dionysian cult; and the two harps speak for the kythara, associated with Apollo. Interwoven with the music is the bright sound of the celesta, the metal instrument patented by Auguste Mustel in 1886 that constitutes a meeting point between the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The missing celesta part of the incidental music, no doubt taken by Debussy himself, was recreated by Arthur HoÃ©rÃ©e. In 1914 Debussy reworked passages of the music in his Ã‰pigraphes antiques for piano duet. Although the Chansons and the Epigraphes have often been recorded, they are very rarely recorded together with the incidental music, making this new album a uniquely cohesive and attractive album presenting Debussy at his most sensuous and Orientalist. There is a postlude to the album which continues it's theme with Syrinx for solo flute, Debussy's dreamy evocation of the god Pan that also had it's origins in music for the stage. Distinguished Italian musicians have joined forces to form the Magadis Ensemble. The ensemble's flexible line-up and wide repertoire focuses on vocal and instrumental chamber music by 20th- and 21st-century composers such as Debussy, Ravel, Dallapiccola and Scelsi.

Tracklist:

Chansons De Bilitis, L. 90: I. La Flûte De Pan
Chansons De Bilitis, L. 90: II. La Chevelure
Chansons De Bilitis, L. 90: III. Le Tombeau Des Naïades
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: I. Chant Pastoral
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: II. Les Comparaisons
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: III. Les Contes
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: IV. Chanson
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: V. La Partie D'osselets
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: VI. Bilitis
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: VII. Le Tombeau Sans Nom
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: VIII. Les Courtisanes Égyptiennes
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: IX. L'eau Pure Du Basin
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: X. La Danseuse Aux Crotales
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: XI. Le Souvenir De Mnasidica
Musique De Scène Pour Les Chansons De Bilits: XII. La Pluie Au Matin
Six Épigraphes Antiques, L. 131: I. Pour Invoquer Pan, Dieu Du Vent D'été
Six Épigraphes Antiques, L. 131: II. Pour Un Tombeau Sans Nom
Six Épigraphes Antiques, L. 131: III. Pour Que La Nuit Soit Propice
Six Épigraphes Antiques, L. 131: IV. Pour La Danseuse Aux Crotales
Six Épigraphes Antiques, L. 131: V. Pour L'égyptienne
Six Épigraphes Antiques, L. 131: VI. Pour Remercier La Pluie Au Matin
La Flûte De Pan

UPC: 5028421956787
Label: Brilliant Classics
Release Date: 3.15.19
Format: CD

Magadis Ensemble - Musique de Scene Pour Les Chansons de Bilitis (CD)