Unsung Debussy

[Tony Finno]

Dear Friends,

I was surfing the net today and came upon an old discussion (from last November) about the Debussy Symphony in Bm, which I had the pleasure of orchestrating. I have not yet gone on record with my opinion of the "purpose" of this youthful piece but there is some debate over it and I would like to humbly weigh in, although this is conjecture on my part as it seems as though even Debussy himself never explained its purpose in any detail.

We do know his patroness was Madame von Meck and that he often wrote four hand piano pieces to perform with her and her children. There is a correspondence between them where he mentions the piece. In fact the original manuscript was found in a collection of other piano pieces in Moscow.

Having become intimate with the piece I would have to opine that it really is a collection of sketches which served as part of Debussy's duty but were then abandoned and never treated to further development. The "finale" could never, in my mind, be the end of a first movement. It is far too final and dynamic. I believe it could have served as a motific nugget for perhaps a fourth movement of a completed symphony.

The Andante Cantabile which some refer to as the lost "second movement" is actually quite different from the symphony sketches in a number of ways. It also is redundant considering the second movement sketch of the current symphony.

I thank you for the complementary comments and hope I have not offended anyone with my theory.

Tony Finno