![]() As Paul Dukas recounts, ‘Verlaine, Mallarmé, Laforgue brought us new tones, new sounds. In the Paris of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, composers found an atmosphere of artistic ferment, nourished primarily by the literary figures of the circle that met regularly at such places as the Chat Noir. Machaut, Janequin, Couperin, Rameau, Berlioz, Boulez wrote their own texts, employed descriptive titles, or wrote extensively about music. One could speak of the literary character of French music in general. Here again, Debussy looked back on a tradition in his own country: the close relationship between, and mutual influence of, music and words. What distinguishes his cycle significantly from its forerunners is the fact that he chose poetic titles. ![]() Debussy followed this example, yet without linking his design to the idea of twenty-four different keys in any particular order. Bach’s preludes of 17, each of twenty-four, the incentive remains the same with those who followed (Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Chopin, Alkan, Stephen Heller, Busoni, Scriabin, César Cui). ![]() ![]() The number of pieces, twenty-four, picks up a tradition that originated with 18th-century composers’ joy of being able to write pieces on all major and minor keys for the ‘well-tempered clavier.’ From the two volumes of J. ![]()
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