Debussy Deux Arabesques

On April 11, 1891, Debussy signed a contract for the Deux Arabesques for piano with the publishing house “MM. DURAND, SCHOENEWERK & Cie, Éditeurs de Musique à Paris”. For him, the term “arabesque” did not have any specific meaning: he just used it to describe any piece with undulating lines, no matter what its style. Flexibility, grace, almost vocal curves, were, for him, its defining characteristics. He imagined the arabesque freeing itself from the straitjacket of the measure or the tyranny of the downbeat. Debussy signed a contract for the Deux Arabesques for piano. The first of all of the transcriptions is the one for pedal harp by Henriette Renié, a student of Alphonse Hasselmans’ at the Conservatoire de Paris. Historical introduction in French and English by Edmond Lemaître.