Clair de Lune (Keyboard Ens 8)

What would it sound like if Claude Debussy had been able to score for the modern percussion ensemble? Dwayne Rice’s new orchestration of Debussy’s beloved Clair de Lune attempts to answer the question by faithfully and stunningly recreating the work for keyboard percussion ensembles. This new transcription employs the full color palette of the contemporary percussion ensemble and is an instant hit for performers and audiences alike.

Genre: Percussion Ensemble | # of Players: 8
Series: N/A
Level: Intermediate | Duration: 4:30

Instrumentation
Bells
Vibraphone 1
Vibraphone 2
Chimes
Marimba 1 (4-octave)
Marimba 2 (4-octave)
Marimba 3 (4.5-octave)
Marimba 4 (5-octave)

Program Notes
Clair de Lune, arranged by Dwayne Rice, was composed by Claude Debussy. In 1890, at age 28, Debussy began work on his Suite Bergamasque, a solo piano suite in four movements: Prélude, Menuet, Clair de Lune, and Passepied. Bergamasques were popular masked festivals held in the Bergamo region of Northern Italy during the Italian Renaissance, yet Debussy actually took his inspiration from Paul Verlaine’s 1869 poetry collection Fêtes Galantes, which included the following poem, "Clair de Lune" (Moonlight):

“Your soul is a delicate landscape
Where charming masqueraders and Bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.

All sing in a minor key
Of victorious love and the opportune life,
They do not seem to believe in their happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,

With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
That sets the birds dreaming in the trees
And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,
The tall slender fountains among marble statues.”

By the turn of the 20th century, Debussy had evolved into a musical innovator whose influence would alter the course of modern music, and some records suggest that the composer came to think less of his earlier suite, resisting its initial publication; only allowing it to reach print in 1905 after substantial revisions.

Over time, the suite’s 3rd movement, Clair de Lune has become one of Claude Debussy’s most famous pieces, finding its way into iconic pop culture moments such as Disney’s Fantasia (1941/1996), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Twilight (2008), and Westworld (2016). An electronically inspired version was even created for the closing ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.