Suite Bergamasque
Suite
Claude Debussy 1862–1918
Suite
Form
Score
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Difficulty
Our estimate Intermediate
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Themes & character
Neoclassical dance forms·18th century pastiche·Debussy's early style·Contains Clair de lune
At a glance
- Form
- Suite
Movements
I
Prelude
A bright, improvisatory opening that recalls Baroque keyboard preludes.
II
Menuet
A graceful court dance, poised and understated.
III
Clair de luneD-flat major
The suite's famous slow movement, named for a poem by Paul Verlaine.
IV
Passepied
A light, quick dance with a moving accompaniment, closing the suite with wit rather than grandeur.
About the piece
Suite bergamasque brings together four movements in old dance forms, begun by Debussy around 1890 and set aside for over a decade before he revised and published it in 1905. The title nods to the Italian region of Bergamo and, through Verlaine's poetry, to masked commedia dell'arte figures.
Only the third movement, Clair de lune, became widely famous on its own, but the suite as a whole shows the young Debussy working through inherited eighteenth century forms on his way to a more personal style.
The composer
Claude Debussy
1862–1918
Achille Claude Debussy was a French composer, born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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