Deux Arabesques (1888-1890)

“No, not that,” said Debussy to a pupil who wanted to play the Deux Arabesques to him, “It’s too bad!” An early work - first published in 1891 and probably written nearer to that date than the 1888 traditionally attached to it - it represents a stage in the composer’s development which only few years later was a source of some embarrassment to him. The Deux Arabesques are, however, essential Debussy. The harmonies might be of their time (though reminiscent of Chabrier rather than Massenet or Delibes as usually alleged) but the concept of the “adorable arabesque” long remained fundamental to Debussy’s melodic thinking. The curving lines of the outer sections of the first Arabesque in E major and the decorative but wittily fertile opening motif of the second in G major are both, in their different ways, characteristic features. If the latter piece is the more mature in style and personality, the former is no less charming for that.