Clair de lune (performance) (Suite bergamasque, No. 3 - performance version (expressive timing))

Background

This is the same Clair de lune as the steady version in this library, with every note in place, but played the way a pianist would play it on stage. The history of the piece and a guide to learning its notes are on the Clair de lune page; this page is about what the performance adds.

The version here comes from a MIDI file by Bernd Krueger, who sequences classical pieces with expressive, hand-shaped timing. It contains more than seven hundred small tempo changes and real pedalling, so almost every bar moves at its own speed.

That freedom is not an invention of the performer. Debussy's score asks for it in words. The opening is marked Andante très expressif and con sordina, with the soft pedal. At bar 15 he writes Tempo rubato, "robbed time", meaning the beat may stretch and give. At bar 27, where the rippling arpeggios begin, he asks for Un poco mosso, a little more movement; at bar 37 En animant, getting livelier; at bar 43 Calmato, calmer; and at bar 51 a return to the first tempo. The performance follows those instructions closely.

How to practise it

Learn the notes from the steady version first. Rubato only works when the notes are secure enough that you can think about time instead of keys.

Then study this version as a map. Measured in dotted-quarter beats a minute (three to a bar), it moves like this:

• Bars 1 to 13: around 47, with small breaths at the ends of phrases.
• Bar 14: slower, about 41, as the first section closes.
• Bars 15 to 18: back to about 49 as the Tempo rubato begins.
• Bars 19 to 26: pressing forward to about 57.
• Bars 27 to 36: faster again, around 66.
• Bars 37 to 42: the fastest part, close to 80, at the climax.
• Bars 43 to 50: relaxing to about 64.
• Bars 51 to 58: back near the opening pace.
• From bar 59: slower still, and the last bars are the slowest of all.

The steady version stays at 44 throughout, which is why the performance finishes about three-quarters of a minute sooner.

A good way to absorb this shape is to practise each section at its own tempo with a metronome, then practise the joins, letting the speed change gradually over two or three bars rather than with a jolt. Afterwards, turn the metronome off and let your ear lead.

Bar 51 is a lovely place to hear the performer's timing at work. The opening thirds return high above a rising arpeggio, and the music relaxes into them:

Listen also to the pedalling. In the opening bars the pedal changes only once or twice a bar, sometimes not at all. From bar 27, in the arpeggio sections, it changes several times in most bars, with each new harmony, so the ripples ring without smudging.

Finally, record yourself and compare your timing with this shape. Check especially that you are not hurrying the quiet bars or holding back at the climax, which would turn the performance's shape inside out.

Planning practice in sections like this is covered in how to practise piano.