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ClaudeDEBUSSY

Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra Deux Danses • Rhapsodies for Clarinet and SaxophoneJean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano • Emmanuel Ceysson, Harp

Alexandre Doisy, Saxophone • Paul Meyer, ClarinetOrchestre National de Lyon • Jun Märkl

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Orchestre National de LyonOffspring of the Société des Grands Concerts de Lyon, founded in 1905, the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) became apermanent orchestra with 102 musicians in 1969, with Louis Frémaux as its first musical director (1969-1971). From thenon the orchestra was run and supported financially by the City of Lyon, which in 1975 provided it with a concert hall, theLyon Auditorium. Since the Opéra de Lyon Orchestra was founded in 1983, the ONL has devoted itself to symphonicrepertoire. Taking over from Louis Frémaux in 1971, Serge Baudo was in charge of the orchestra until 1986 and made it amusical force to be reckoned with far beyond its home region. Under the leadership of Emmanuel Krivine (1987-2000) andDavid Robertson (2000-2004), the ONL continued to increase in artistic stature and to receive international critical acclaim.Jun Märkl took over from him in September 2005 as musical director of the ONL. Leonard Slatkin was recently namedmusical director, beginning with the 2011-2012 season.

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Emmanuel CeyssonWinner of the prestigious 2009 ARD Music Competition in Munich and Principal harpist of theParis Opéra, Emmanuel Ceysson won the Gold Medal of the United States International HarpCompetition in Bloomington, Indiana in 2004, going on to win first prize at the Young ConcertArtists International Auditions in 2006 when he was honoured by several important musicfoundations. He has played in venues such as Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and the Lincoln Center inNew York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Wigmore Hall in London, and hasalso performed on BBC Radio 3. European engagements include the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise,the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad, the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern and the CartagenaMusic Festival. He has performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, MunichRadio Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Bogotá Symphony,Montenegro Symphony, Macedonian Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and theOrchestra of St Luke’s.

Paul MeyerPaul Meyer was born in Mulhouse, France, in 1965. Following his début performance at the ageof thirteen with the Orchestre Symphonique du Rhin, he went on to study at the Paris Conservatoireand at the Basler Musikhochschule. Winner of the French Young Musicians Competition in 1982and of the prestigious USA Young Concert Artists Auditions in 1984, he went on to give débutconcerts in New York and consequently met and became friends with the legendary BennyGoodman, whose influence and friendship played an important part in his career and life. As aclarinettist he has appeared with major orchestras in Europe, the United States, the Far East andAustralia and now enjoys an extensive parallel career also as a conductor. Paul Meyer has recordedpieces by Mozart, Weber, Copland, Busoni, Krommer, Pleyel, Brahms, Schumann, Bernstein,Arnold, Piazzolla and Poulenc for Denon, CBS, Erato, Sony, EMI, BMG and DGG.

Alexandre DoisyBorn in 1980, the saxophonist Alexandre Doisy studied at the Paris Conservatoire NationalSupérieur and triumphed in three major international competitions, including the 2001 ARD inMunich, which marked the beginning of his international career. He has appeared as a soloist withleading orchestras throughout Europe and in chamber music, including audiovisual productionsfor Japanese television. He is a professor at the Toulon Conservatoire. He gives courses ininterpretation in Europe and in Asia.

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Jun MärklJun Märkl is Principal Conductor/Artistic Advisor of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, andwas Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon from 2005 to 2011. He has appearedas a guest conductor with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Netherlands RadioPhilharmonic, City of Birmingham, and the Munich, Oslo and Helsinki Philharmonics amongothers, and at the MET, Covent Garden, Vienna State and Dresden Semper Operas. He alsoenjoys a close relationship with the NHK Symphony with which he conducted the firstJapanese Ring cycle in Tokyo. Born in Munich, Märkl studied initially with Sergiu Celibidacheand Gustav Meier, then at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. His firstmusic directorships were at the Staatstheater in Saarbrücken and at the MannheimNationaltheater. He went on to become Permanent Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera inMunich, a position he held until 2006. Jun Märkl is represented by Susie McLeod atIntermusica: smcleod@intermusica.co.uk

Jean-Yves ThibaudetJean-Yves Thibaudet has the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities with dazzlingtechnical prowess. After more than thirty years of performing around the world, and over fortyrecorded albums, Thibaudet is one of today’s most sought after soloists. On 18th June, 2010, theHollywood Bowl honoured Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hallof Fame. He is a recording artist for Decca, which has released over forty of his albums, earningthe Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, a Gramophone Award,two Echo Awards, and the Edison Prize. In spring 2010 Thibaudet released his latest recordingof music by Gershwin, featuring “big jazz band” orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue, Variationson ‘I Got Rhythm’, and Concerto in F live with the Baltimore Symphony and its music director,Marin Alsop. 

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each chromatic note. The two pieces soon became standardworks for the conventional harp, on which they are nownormally played. Modal writing suggests something of theancient world in the Danse sacrée and both dances havemore than a hint of Satie about them, recalling the latter’sGymnopédies, with the Danse profane in particular callingfor a degree of virtuosity.

It was with considerable reluctance that Debussyundertook a commission to write a work for the saxophone.The American player of the instrument, Mrs Richard J.Hall, was nothing if not persistent. She commissioned thework in 1895, but Debussy worked on it intermittentlybetween 1903 and 1905 and returned to it once more in1911. The orchestration, sketched by Debussy in theversion eventually given to Mrs Hall by Debussy’s widow,was completed by Roger-Ducasse in 1919. Mrs Hall hadtaken up the saxophone for her health and commissionedvarious works from French composers to provide herselfwith a repertoire. In 1904 she played in Paris the Choralvarié that Vincent d’Indy had written for her, and Debussyclaimed that it was quite ridiculous to see a lady in a pinkfrock playing such a clumsy instrument. In a letter a yearearlier to his friend, the writer Pierre Louÿs, he excuses hisdelay in writing by his preoccupation with a work hedecribes as a Fantaisie, for which he had been paid over ayear before, the fee long since eaten up. ‘For some days’,he writes, ‘… I am the-man-who-is-working-on-a-fantasy-

for-alto-saxophone-in-E-flat – try and say that withouttaking a breath’. ‘The Saxophone’, he continues, ‘is a reedanimal of whose habits I know little: does it favour theromantic sweetness of the clarinet or the slightly coarseirony of the sarrusophone, a double bassoon…?’ Debussyhad contemplated the title Rapsodie orientale and the workhas also been known as Rapsodie mauresque or Rapsodiearabe, as suggested by its melodic contours and the writingfor the saxophone. Whatever Debussy’s reluctance to writeto order, the Rapsodie bears the unmistakable mark of thecomposer at the height of his evocative powers.

The Première Rapsodie pour orchestre avec clarinetteprincipale was published in 1910 in its first version, forclarinet and piano, and in the orchestral version thefollowing year. The work was intended for use in a Con-servatoire competition, together with a short test of sight-reading. It was dedicated to Prosper Mimart, the professorfor whose class it was designed, and it was Mimart whogave the first performance of the original version in January1911 for the Société Musicale Indépendante. Debussy waspleased with the work, if not with most of the Conservatoirecompetitors. Marked at the beginning Rêveusement lent,the Rapsodie offers the contrasts of tempo and moodnecessary in a competition piece, but it is the feeling of theopening, dreaming, that predominates.

Keith Anderson

8.572675 2

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)Orchestral Works Vol. 7

Debussy was born in 1862 in St-Germain-en-Laye, the sonof a shop-keeper who was later to turn his hand to otheractivities, with varying success. He started piano lessons atthe age of seven and continued two years later, improbablyenough, with Verlaine’s mother-in-law, allegedly a pupil ofChopin. In 1872 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, wherehe abandoned the plan of becoming a virtuoso pianist,turning his principal attention to composition. In 1880, atthe age of eighteen, he was employed by Tchaikovsky’spatroness Nadezhda von Meck as tutor to her children andhouse-musician. On his return to the Conservatoire heentered the class of Bizet’s friend Ernest Guiraud and in1883 won the second Prix de Rome. In 1884 he took thefirst prize and the following year reluctantly took upobligatory residence, according to the terms of the award,at the Villa Medici in Rome, where he met Liszt. By 1887he was back in Paris, winning his first significant successin 1900 with Nocturnes and going on, two years later, to asuccès de scandale with his opera Pelléas et Mélisande, awork that established his position as a composer ofimportance.

Debussy’s personal life brought some unhappiness in hisfirst marriage in 1899 to a mannequin, Lily Texier, after aliaison of some seven years with Gabrielle Dupont and abrief engagement in 1894 to the singer Thérèse Roger. Hisassociation from 1903 with Emma Bardac, the wife of abanker and a singer of some ability, led eventually to theirmarriage in 1908, after the birth of their daughter threeyears earlier. In 1904 he had abandoned his wife, movinginto an apartment with Emma Bardac, and the subsequentattempt at suicide by the former, who had shared with himmany of the difficulties of his early career, alienated anumber of his friends. His final years were darkened bythe war and by cancer, the cause of his death in March1918, when he left unfinished a planned series of chambermusic works, only three of which had been completed.

Debussy’s Fantaisie for piano and orchestra, dedicatedto his friend, the pianist and composer René Chansarel,was written in 1889-90. Debussy failed to provide theexpected overture to a formal Prix de Rome concert in Paris

and did not include the Fantaisie among the workssubmitted as envois, according to the rules of thecompetition. Arrangements were made, however, for theFantaisie to be performed at a concert of the SociétéNationale de Musique, with René Chansarel as the soloist.The conductor Vincent d’Indy, whose own Symphoniecévénole may have had some influence over Debussy’scomposition, found that there was not enough time torehearse and perform the Fantaisie, and proposed,therefore, to include only the first movement. Debussy’sreaction was to remove the parts of the work from theorchestra’s music-stands, explaining, in a note to d’Indythat he would rather have a passable performance of thewhole work than a fine performance of the first movementonly. Debussy continued to make changes in the Fantaisie,but it was only published in 1920, after his death, althoughin a version that did not reflect these changes, particularlyin orchestration. It was the unrevised version that was firstheard in simultaneous premières on 20th November 1920with Alfred Cortot in London and Marguerite Long inFrance. A revised version, taking account of changes madeby the composer, was published in 1968 and is the versionheard here. The work reflects something of the influence ofCésar Franck’s Symphonic Variations and some havedetected the influence of gamelan music that Debussy hadheard in 1889 at the Paris World Exhibition. Like Franck’swork, the Fantaisie is cyclic, with a sonata-form firstmovement introduced by an orchestral Andante ma nontroppo before the entry of the piano, which remains closelyintegrated with the orchestral texture. The energetic finalefollows the slow movement without a break.

Debussy wrote his Danse sacrée et danse profane forchromatic harp and strings in 1904 in response to acommission from Pleyel for works to be used in prizecompetitions at the Brussels Conservatoire, where thechromatic harp was taught, a technical development of theinstrument in which the Pleyel company had an interest.The newly devised instrument for which the Danses wereoriginally written differs from the usual concert instrumentby its lack of pedals and inclusion of a separate string for

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Jun MärklJun Märkl is Principal Conductor/Artistic Advisor of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, andwas Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon from 2005 to 2011. He has appearedas a guest conductor with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Netherlands RadioPhilharmonic, City of Birmingham, and the Munich, Oslo and Helsinki Philharmonics amongothers, and at the MET, Covent Garden, Vienna State and Dresden Semper Operas. He alsoenjoys a close relationship with the NHK Symphony with which he conducted the firstJapanese Ring cycle in Tokyo. Born in Munich, Märkl studied initially with Sergiu Celibidacheand Gustav Meier, then at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. His firstmusic directorships were at the Staatstheater in Saarbrücken and at the MannheimNationaltheater. He went on to become Permanent Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera inMunich, a position he held until 2006. Jun Märkl is represented by Susie McLeod atIntermusica: smcleod@intermusica.co.uk

Jean-Yves ThibaudetJean-Yves Thibaudet has the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities with dazzlingtechnical prowess. After more than thirty years of performing around the world, and over fortyrecorded albums, Thibaudet is one of today’s most sought after soloists. On 18th June, 2010, theHollywood Bowl honoured Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hallof Fame. He is a recording artist for Decca, which has released over forty of his albums, earningthe Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, a Gramophone Award,two Echo Awards, and the Edison Prize. In spring 2010 Thibaudet released his latest recordingof music by Gershwin, featuring “big jazz band” orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue, Variationson ‘I Got Rhythm’, and Concerto in F live with the Baltimore Symphony and its music director,Marin Alsop. 

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each chromatic note. The two pieces soon became standardworks for the conventional harp, on which they are nownormally played. Modal writing suggests something of theancient world in the Danse sacrée and both dances havemore than a hint of Satie about them, recalling the latter’sGymnopédies, with the Danse profane in particular callingfor a degree of virtuosity.

It was with considerable reluctance that Debussyundertook a commission to write a work for the saxophone.The American player of the instrument, Mrs Richard J.Hall, was nothing if not persistent. She commissioned thework in 1895, but Debussy worked on it intermittentlybetween 1903 and 1905 and returned to it once more in1911. The orchestration, sketched by Debussy in theversion eventually given to Mrs Hall by Debussy’s widow,was completed by Roger-Ducasse in 1919. Mrs Hall hadtaken up the saxophone for her health and commissionedvarious works from French composers to provide herselfwith a repertoire. In 1904 she played in Paris the Choralvarié that Vincent d’Indy had written for her, and Debussyclaimed that it was quite ridiculous to see a lady in a pinkfrock playing such a clumsy instrument. In a letter a yearearlier to his friend, the writer Pierre Louÿs, he excuses hisdelay in writing by his preoccupation with a work hedecribes as a Fantaisie, for which he had been paid over ayear before, the fee long since eaten up. ‘For some days’,he writes, ‘… I am the-man-who-is-working-on-a-fantasy-

for-alto-saxophone-in-E-flat – try and say that withouttaking a breath’. ‘The Saxophone’, he continues, ‘is a reedanimal of whose habits I know little: does it favour theromantic sweetness of the clarinet or the slightly coarseirony of the sarrusophone, a double bassoon…?’ Debussyhad contemplated the title Rapsodie orientale and the workhas also been known as Rapsodie mauresque or Rapsodiearabe, as suggested by its melodic contours and the writingfor the saxophone. Whatever Debussy’s reluctance to writeto order, the Rapsodie bears the unmistakable mark of thecomposer at the height of his evocative powers.

The Première Rapsodie pour orchestre avec clarinetteprincipale was published in 1910 in its first version, forclarinet and piano, and in the orchestral version thefollowing year. The work was intended for use in a Con-servatoire competition, together with a short test of sight-reading. It was dedicated to Prosper Mimart, the professorfor whose class it was designed, and it was Mimart whogave the first performance of the original version in January1911 for the Société Musicale Indépendante. Debussy waspleased with the work, if not with most of the Conservatoirecompetitors. Marked at the beginning Rêveusement lent,the Rapsodie offers the contrasts of tempo and moodnecessary in a competition piece, but it is the feeling of theopening, dreaming, that predominates.

Keith Anderson

8.572675 2

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)Orchestral Works Vol. 7

Debussy was born in 1862 in St-Germain-en-Laye, the sonof a shop-keeper who was later to turn his hand to otheractivities, with varying success. He started piano lessons atthe age of seven and continued two years later, improbablyenough, with Verlaine’s mother-in-law, allegedly a pupil ofChopin. In 1872 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, wherehe abandoned the plan of becoming a virtuoso pianist,turning his principal attention to composition. In 1880, atthe age of eighteen, he was employed by Tchaikovsky’spatroness Nadezhda von Meck as tutor to her children andhouse-musician. On his return to the Conservatoire heentered the class of Bizet’s friend Ernest Guiraud and in1883 won the second Prix de Rome. In 1884 he took thefirst prize and the following year reluctantly took upobligatory residence, according to the terms of the award,at the Villa Medici in Rome, where he met Liszt. By 1887he was back in Paris, winning his first significant successin 1900 with Nocturnes and going on, two years later, to asuccès de scandale with his opera Pelléas et Mélisande, awork that established his position as a composer ofimportance.

Debussy’s personal life brought some unhappiness in hisfirst marriage in 1899 to a mannequin, Lily Texier, after aliaison of some seven years with Gabrielle Dupont and abrief engagement in 1894 to the singer Thérèse Roger. Hisassociation from 1903 with Emma Bardac, the wife of abanker and a singer of some ability, led eventually to theirmarriage in 1908, after the birth of their daughter threeyears earlier. In 1904 he had abandoned his wife, movinginto an apartment with Emma Bardac, and the subsequentattempt at suicide by the former, who had shared with himmany of the difficulties of his early career, alienated anumber of his friends. His final years were darkened bythe war and by cancer, the cause of his death in March1918, when he left unfinished a planned series of chambermusic works, only three of which had been completed.

Debussy’s Fantaisie for piano and orchestra, dedicatedto his friend, the pianist and composer René Chansarel,was written in 1889-90. Debussy failed to provide theexpected overture to a formal Prix de Rome concert in Paris

and did not include the Fantaisie among the workssubmitted as envois, according to the rules of thecompetition. Arrangements were made, however, for theFantaisie to be performed at a concert of the SociétéNationale de Musique, with René Chansarel as the soloist.The conductor Vincent d’Indy, whose own Symphoniecévénole may have had some influence over Debussy’scomposition, found that there was not enough time torehearse and perform the Fantaisie, and proposed,therefore, to include only the first movement. Debussy’sreaction was to remove the parts of the work from theorchestra’s music-stands, explaining, in a note to d’Indythat he would rather have a passable performance of thewhole work than a fine performance of the first movementonly. Debussy continued to make changes in the Fantaisie,but it was only published in 1920, after his death, althoughin a version that did not reflect these changes, particularlyin orchestration. It was the unrevised version that was firstheard in simultaneous premières on 20th November 1920with Alfred Cortot in London and Marguerite Long inFrance. A revised version, taking account of changes madeby the composer, was published in 1968 and is the versionheard here. The work reflects something of the influence ofCésar Franck’s Symphonic Variations and some havedetected the influence of gamelan music that Debussy hadheard in 1889 at the Paris World Exhibition. Like Franck’swork, the Fantaisie is cyclic, with a sonata-form firstmovement introduced by an orchestral Andante ma nontroppo before the entry of the piano, which remains closelyintegrated with the orchestral texture. The energetic finalefollows the slow movement without a break.

Debussy wrote his Danse sacrée et danse profane forchromatic harp and strings in 1904 in response to acommission from Pleyel for works to be used in prizecompetitions at the Brussels Conservatoire, where thechromatic harp was taught, a technical development of theinstrument in which the Pleyel company had an interest.The newly devised instrument for which the Danses wereoriginally written differs from the usual concert instrumentby its lack of pedals and inclusion of a separate string for

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aJun MärklJun Märkl is Principal Conductor/Artistic Advisor of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, andwas Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon from 2005 to 2011. He has appearedas a guest conductor with the orchestras of Philadelphia, Cleveland, Netherlands RadioPhilharmonic, City of Birmingham, and the Munich, Oslo and Helsinki Philharmonics amongothers, and at the MET, Covent Garden, Vienna State and Dresden Semper Operas. He alsoenjoys a close relationship with the NHK Symphony with which he conducted the firstJapanese Ring cycle in Tokyo. Born in Munich, Märkl studied initially with Sergiu Celibidacheand Gustav Meier, then at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. His firstmusic directorships were at the Staatstheater in Saarbrücken and at the MannheimNationaltheater. He went on to become Permanent Conductor of the Bavarian State Opera inMunich, a position he held until 2006. Jun Märkl is represented by Susie McLeod atIntermusica: smcleod@intermusica.co.uk

Jean-Yves ThibaudetJean-Yves Thibaudet has the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities with dazzlingtechnical prowess. After more than thirty years of performing around the world, and over fortyrecorded albums, Thibaudet is one of today’s most sought after soloists. On 18th June, 2010, theHollywood Bowl honoured Thibaudet for his musical achievements by inducting him into its Hallof Fame. He is a recording artist for Decca, which has released over forty of his albums, earningthe Schallplattenpreis, the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, a Gramophone Award,two Echo Awards, and the Edison Prize. In spring 2010 Thibaudet released his latest recordingof music by Gershwin, featuring “big jazz band” orchestrations of Rhapsody in Blue, Variationson ‘I Got Rhythm’, and Concerto in F live with the Baltimore Symphony and its music director,Marin Alsop. 

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each chromatic note. The two pieces soon became standardworks for the conventional harp, on which they are nownormally played. Modal writing suggests something of theancient world in the Danse sacrée and both dances havemore than a hint of Satie about them, recalling the latter’sGymnopédies, with the Danse profane in particular callingfor a degree of virtuosity.

It was with considerable reluctance that Debussyundertook a commission to write a work for the saxophone.The American player of the instrument, Mrs Richard J.Hall, was nothing if not persistent. She commissioned thework in 1895, but Debussy worked on it intermittentlybetween 1903 and 1905 and returned to it once more in1911. The orchestration, sketched by Debussy in theversion eventually given to Mrs Hall by Debussy’s widow,was completed by Roger-Ducasse in 1919. Mrs Hall hadtaken up the saxophone for her health and commissionedvarious works from French composers to provide herselfwith a repertoire. In 1904 she played in Paris the Choralvarié that Vincent d’Indy had written for her, and Debussyclaimed that it was quite ridiculous to see a lady in a pinkfrock playing such a clumsy instrument. In a letter a yearearlier to his friend, the writer Pierre Louÿs, he excuses hisdelay in writing by his preoccupation with a work hedecribes as a Fantaisie, for which he had been paid over ayear before, the fee long since eaten up. ‘For some days’,he writes, ‘… I am the-man-who-is-working-on-a-fantasy-

for-alto-saxophone-in-E-flat – try and say that withouttaking a breath’. ‘The Saxophone’, he continues, ‘is a reedanimal of whose habits I know little: does it favour theromantic sweetness of the clarinet or the slightly coarseirony of the sarrusophone, a double bassoon…?’ Debussyhad contemplated the title Rapsodie orientale and the workhas also been known as Rapsodie mauresque or Rapsodiearabe, as suggested by its melodic contours and the writingfor the saxophone. Whatever Debussy’s reluctance to writeto order, the Rapsodie bears the unmistakable mark of thecomposer at the height of his evocative powers.

The Première Rapsodie pour orchestre avec clarinetteprincipale was published in 1910 in its first version, forclarinet and piano, and in the orchestral version thefollowing year. The work was intended for use in a Con-servatoire competition, together with a short test of sight-reading. It was dedicated to Prosper Mimart, the professorfor whose class it was designed, and it was Mimart whogave the first performance of the original version in January1911 for the Société Musicale Indépendante. Debussy waspleased with the work, if not with most of the Conservatoirecompetitors. Marked at the beginning Rêveusement lent,the Rapsodie offers the contrasts of tempo and moodnecessary in a competition piece, but it is the feeling of theopening, dreaming, that predominates.

Keith Anderson

8.572675 2

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)Orchestral Works Vol. 7

Debussy was born in 1862 in St-Germain-en-Laye, the sonof a shop-keeper who was later to turn his hand to otheractivities, with varying success. He started piano lessons atthe age of seven and continued two years later, improbablyenough, with Verlaine’s mother-in-law, allegedly a pupil ofChopin. In 1872 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, wherehe abandoned the plan of becoming a virtuoso pianist,turning his principal attention to composition. In 1880, atthe age of eighteen, he was employed by Tchaikovsky’spatroness Nadezhda von Meck as tutor to her children andhouse-musician. On his return to the Conservatoire heentered the class of Bizet’s friend Ernest Guiraud and in1883 won the second Prix de Rome. In 1884 he took thefirst prize and the following year reluctantly took upobligatory residence, according to the terms of the award,at the Villa Medici in Rome, where he met Liszt. By 1887he was back in Paris, winning his first significant successin 1900 with Nocturnes and going on, two years later, to asuccès de scandale with his opera Pelléas et Mélisande, awork that established his position as a composer ofimportance.

Debussy’s personal life brought some unhappiness in hisfirst marriage in 1899 to a mannequin, Lily Texier, after aliaison of some seven years with Gabrielle Dupont and abrief engagement in 1894 to the singer Thérèse Roger. Hisassociation from 1903 with Emma Bardac, the wife of abanker and a singer of some ability, led eventually to theirmarriage in 1908, after the birth of their daughter threeyears earlier. In 1904 he had abandoned his wife, movinginto an apartment with Emma Bardac, and the subsequentattempt at suicide by the former, who had shared with himmany of the difficulties of his early career, alienated anumber of his friends. His final years were darkened bythe war and by cancer, the cause of his death in March1918, when he left unfinished a planned series of chambermusic works, only three of which had been completed.

Debussy’s Fantaisie for piano and orchestra, dedicatedto his friend, the pianist and composer René Chansarel,was written in 1889-90. Debussy failed to provide theexpected overture to a formal Prix de Rome concert in Paris

and did not include the Fantaisie among the workssubmitted as envois, according to the rules of thecompetition. Arrangements were made, however, for theFantaisie to be performed at a concert of the SociétéNationale de Musique, with René Chansarel as the soloist.The conductor Vincent d’Indy, whose own Symphoniecévénole may have had some influence over Debussy’scomposition, found that there was not enough time torehearse and perform the Fantaisie, and proposed,therefore, to include only the first movement. Debussy’sreaction was to remove the parts of the work from theorchestra’s music-stands, explaining, in a note to d’Indythat he would rather have a passable performance of thewhole work than a fine performance of the first movementonly. Debussy continued to make changes in the Fantaisie,but it was only published in 1920, after his death, althoughin a version that did not reflect these changes, particularlyin orchestration. It was the unrevised version that was firstheard in simultaneous premières on 20th November 1920with Alfred Cortot in London and Marguerite Long inFrance. A revised version, taking account of changes madeby the composer, was published in 1968 and is the versionheard here. The work reflects something of the influence ofCésar Franck’s Symphonic Variations and some havedetected the influence of gamelan music that Debussy hadheard in 1889 at the Paris World Exhibition. Like Franck’swork, the Fantaisie is cyclic, with a sonata-form firstmovement introduced by an orchestral Andante ma nontroppo before the entry of the piano, which remains closelyintegrated with the orchestral texture. The energetic finalefollows the slow movement without a break.

Debussy wrote his Danse sacrée et danse profane forchromatic harp and strings in 1904 in response to acommission from Pleyel for works to be used in prizecompetitions at the Brussels Conservatoire, where thechromatic harp was taught, a technical development of theinstrument in which the Pleyel company had an interest.The newly devised instrument for which the Danses wereoriginally written differs from the usual concert instrumentby its lack of pedals and inclusion of a separate string for

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8.572675 5

ClaudeDEBUSSY

Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra Deux Danses • Rhapsodies for Clarinet and SaxophoneJean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano • Emmanuel Ceysson, Harp

Alexandre Doisy, Saxophone • Paul Meyer, ClarinetOrchestre National de Lyon • Jun Märkl

8.5726756

Orchestre National de LyonOffspring of the Société des Grands Concerts de Lyon, founded in 1905, the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) became apermanent orchestra with 102 musicians in 1969, with Louis Frémaux as its first musical director (1969-1971). From thenon the orchestra was run and supported financially by the City of Lyon, which in 1975 provided it with a concert hall, theLyon Auditorium. Since the Opéra de Lyon Orchestra was founded in 1983, the ONL has devoted itself to symphonicrepertoire. Taking over from Louis Frémaux in 1971, Serge Baudo was in charge of the orchestra until 1986 and made it amusical force to be reckoned with far beyond its home region. Under the leadership of Emmanuel Krivine (1987-2000) andDavid Robertson (2000-2004), the ONL continued to increase in artistic stature and to receive international critical acclaim.Jun Märkl took over from him in September 2005 as musical director of the ONL. Leonard Slatkin was recently namedmusical director, beginning with the 2011-2012 season.

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Emmanuel CeyssonWinner of the prestigious 2009 ARD Music Competition in Munich and Principal harpist of theParis Opéra, Emmanuel Ceysson won the Gold Medal of the United States International HarpCompetition in Bloomington, Indiana in 2004, going on to win first prize at the Young ConcertArtists International Auditions in 2006 when he was honoured by several important musicfoundations. He has played in venues such as Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and the Lincoln Center inNew York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Wigmore Hall in London, and hasalso performed on BBC Radio 3. European engagements include the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise,the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad, the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern and the CartagenaMusic Festival. He has performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, MunichRadio Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Bogotá Symphony,Montenegro Symphony, Macedonian Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and theOrchestra of St Luke’s.

Paul MeyerPaul Meyer was born in Mulhouse, France, in 1965. Following his début performance at the ageof thirteen with the Orchestre Symphonique du Rhin, he went on to study at the Paris Conservatoireand at the Basler Musikhochschule. Winner of the French Young Musicians Competition in 1982and of the prestigious USA Young Concert Artists Auditions in 1984, he went on to give débutconcerts in New York and consequently met and became friends with the legendary BennyGoodman, whose influence and friendship played an important part in his career and life. As aclarinettist he has appeared with major orchestras in Europe, the United States, the Far East andAustralia and now enjoys an extensive parallel career also as a conductor. Paul Meyer has recordedpieces by Mozart, Weber, Copland, Busoni, Krommer, Pleyel, Brahms, Schumann, Bernstein,Arnold, Piazzolla and Poulenc for Denon, CBS, Erato, Sony, EMI, BMG and DGG.

Alexandre DoisyBorn in 1980, the saxophonist Alexandre Doisy studied at the Paris Conservatoire NationalSupérieur and triumphed in three major international competitions, including the 2001 ARD inMunich, which marked the beginning of his international career. He has appeared as a soloist withleading orchestras throughout Europe and in chamber music, including audiovisual productionsfor Japanese television. He is a professor at the Toulon Conservatoire. He gives courses ininterpretation in Europe and in Asia.

572675 bk Debussy US_572675 bk Debussy US 26/08/2011 16:22 Page 5

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ClaudeDEBUSSY

Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra Deux Danses • Rhapsodies for Clarinet and SaxophoneJean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano • Emmanuel Ceysson, Harp

Alexandre Doisy, Saxophone • Paul Meyer, ClarinetOrchestre National de Lyon • Jun Märkl

8.5726756

Orchestre National de LyonOffspring of the Société des Grands Concerts de Lyon, founded in 1905, the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) became apermanent orchestra with 102 musicians in 1969, with Louis Frémaux as its first musical director (1969-1971). From thenon the orchestra was run and supported financially by the City of Lyon, which in 1975 provided it with a concert hall, theLyon Auditorium. Since the Opéra de Lyon Orchestra was founded in 1983, the ONL has devoted itself to symphonicrepertoire. Taking over from Louis Frémaux in 1971, Serge Baudo was in charge of the orchestra until 1986 and made it amusical force to be reckoned with far beyond its home region. Under the leadership of Emmanuel Krivine (1987-2000) andDavid Robertson (2000-2004), the ONL continued to increase in artistic stature and to receive international critical acclaim.Jun Märkl took over from him in September 2005 as musical director of the ONL. Leonard Slatkin was recently namedmusical director, beginning with the 2011-2012 season.

Pho

to: S

ébas

tien

Ero

me

Emmanuel CeyssonWinner of the prestigious 2009 ARD Music Competition in Munich and Principal harpist of theParis Opéra, Emmanuel Ceysson won the Gold Medal of the United States International HarpCompetition in Bloomington, Indiana in 2004, going on to win first prize at the Young ConcertArtists International Auditions in 2006 when he was honoured by several important musicfoundations. He has played in venues such as Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and the Lincoln Center inNew York, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Wigmore Hall in London, and hasalso performed on BBC Radio 3. European engagements include the Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise,the Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad, the Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern and the CartagenaMusic Festival. He has performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, MunichRadio Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Bogotá Symphony,Montenegro Symphony, Macedonian Philharmonic, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and theOrchestra of St Luke’s.

Paul MeyerPaul Meyer was born in Mulhouse, France, in 1965. Following his début performance at the ageof thirteen with the Orchestre Symphonique du Rhin, he went on to study at the Paris Conservatoireand at the Basler Musikhochschule. Winner of the French Young Musicians Competition in 1982and of the prestigious USA Young Concert Artists Auditions in 1984, he went on to give débutconcerts in New York and consequently met and became friends with the legendary BennyGoodman, whose influence and friendship played an important part in his career and life. As aclarinettist he has appeared with major orchestras in Europe, the United States, the Far East andAustralia and now enjoys an extensive parallel career also as a conductor. Paul Meyer has recordedpieces by Mozart, Weber, Copland, Busoni, Krommer, Pleyel, Brahms, Schumann, Bernstein,Arnold, Piazzolla and Poulenc for Denon, CBS, Erato, Sony, EMI, BMG and DGG.

Alexandre DoisyBorn in 1980, the saxophonist Alexandre Doisy studied at the Paris Conservatoire NationalSupérieur and triumphed in three major international competitions, including the 2001 ARD inMunich, which marked the beginning of his international career. He has appeared as a soloist withleading orchestras throughout Europe and in chamber music, including audiovisual productionsfor Japanese television. He is a professor at the Toulon Conservatoire. He gives courses ininterpretation in Europe and in Asia.

572675 bk Debussy US_572675 bk Debussy US 26/08/2011 16:22 Page 5

8.572296

8.572568 8.572583

Also available:

8.572297

An important marker in Debussy’s compositional development, the Fantaisie reflectssomething of the influence of César Franck’s Symphonic Variations yet embodies his own newaesthetic. Unpublished in Debussy’s lifetime, it is heard here in its 1968 revision. Thedelicately evocative Rapsodie for saxophone is an exotic work with an ‘oriental’ atmosphereand Spanish or Moorish associations. Although composed as a Conservatoire test piece, thePremière Rapsodie for Clarinet has long since entered the repertoire as an important additionfor the instrument. The glittering Danses for harp and strings recall Satie’s Gymnopédies, withthe Danse profane in particular calling for a degree of virtuosity. Volume 6 of this much-admired series (8.572583) was praised for its ‘subtle and sensitive readings’. (Gramophone)

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ClaudeDEBUSSY

(1862–1918)

Orchestral Works • 7

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano 1–2 • Paul Meyer, Clarinet 3

Alexandre Doisy, Saxophone 4 • Emmanuel Ceysson, Harp 5–6

Orchestre National de Lyon • Jun Märkl

Recorded at the Auditorium de Lyon, France, 30 September & 2 October 2010 (track 3), 30 October 2010(4–6), 18 March 2011 (1–2) • Producer & Engineer: Tim Handley

Publishers: Jobert (tracks 1–2); Durand (tracks 3–6) • Booklet notes: Keith AndersonCover image © Vicki France (Dreamstime.com)

Playing Time51:27

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Fantaisie for Piano and Orchestra 24:211 Andante ma non troppo – Allegro giusto 7:442 Lento molto espressivo – Allegro molto 16:333 Première Rapsodie for Orchestra with Principal Clarinet 7:364 Rapsodie for Saxophone and Orchestra 10:00

(orch. J. Roger-Ducasse)Deux Danses for Harp and Strings 9:13

5 Danse sacrée 4:326 Danse profane 4:41

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