extrait du - excerpt from Série III Vol. 1 - Score-Claude Debussy's Quatuor for two Violins Viola and Cello.

Debussy's only string quartet composed in 1893 was his first masterwork. Together with two further works from this creative period Prélude l?après-midi d?un faune and Pelléas et Mélisande the quartet established the composer's position as the rising star of the French music scene.Discrepancies existed from the initial publication in 1894 between the score corrected and seen into print by the composer and the parts not corrected by him. At a later point Debussy made a large number of corrections and alterations in a copy of the first edition; these alterations have been incorporated in this Bärenreiter Urtext edition.Thisscholarly-critical edition utilises all sources including the composer's letters which offer a valuable insight into the genesis of the composition.

Composés entre 1909 et 1912 les deux livres de Préludes pour Piano comptent parmi les œuvres tardives de Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Elles révèlent une grande diversité de styles de textures de climats et d?émotions et constituent un condensé de toutes les particularités du langage de Debussy. La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin est le huitième prélude du premier livre. Il est célèbre pour sa profondeur émotionnelle malgré sa simplicité technique et harmonique. Nul ne sait qui fut la fille aux cheveux de lin mais cette miniature merveilleusement subtile réveille notre imaginaire.

String Quartet-Debussy?s new string quartet received a very cool reception at its première in Paris in December 1893 performed by the famous Quatuor Ysaÿe. The critics were upset by its unusual harmonies and orchestral sounds and the musicianswho were later presented with it considered it ?unplayable?. Nevertheless the work was able to establish itself in the years that followed and today belongs to the core chamber music repertoire. The work was published in 1894 as?1er Quatuor?; showing that the composer was at least toying with the idea of writing another such work at this time yet he never did fulfil this promise.