First Rhapsody

Debussy’s First Rhapsody – there is no Second Rhapsody although, paradoxically, there is an earlier, unfinished Rhapsody for saxophone – was written as a competition piece for student clarinettists at the Paris Conservatoire in 1910. In spite of its unglamorous origins, however, it is an attractive and by no means unglamorous piece, as the composer himself must have concluded. Certainly, after hearing it several times over in its original clarinet and piano version in the Conservatoire competition, he applied his considerable skills in orchestration to it in order to make it available to a wider public and more rewarding to ambitious soloists.

While he was reluctant to write for the saxophone, even on the payment of a large fee, Debussy was clearly inspired by the clarinet, which he seems to have valued above all for its versatility. In the First Rhapsody the clarinet is cast in two main roles, as a singer of sustained melodic lines and as a playfully nimble dancer. The first main theme, introduced by the clarinet in its middle register after an atmospheric rêveusement lent (“dreamily slow”) introduction, is a melody generously curvaceous in shape and elusively supple in rhythm. The playful side of the instrument makes an early appearance in a kind of cadenza but only, at this stage, to give way to a recall of the first theme, now in the clarinet’s upper register. It is actually the bassoon and the cor anglais that provoke the soloist into its first extended display of its dancing abilities. And it is the flute that introduces the staccato little scherzando theme which, a few bars later, the clarinet takes up and runs away with. This theme motivates not only the next episode but also – after a last quiet recall of the clarinet’s own melody and a brief cadenza – an exuberantly virtuoso coda.

The clarinet’s final gesture anticipates the beginning of a more famous rhapsody George Gershwin was to write fourteen years later.

Debussy’s First Rhapsody - there is no Second Rhapsody although, paradoxically, there is an earlier, unfinished Rhapsody for saxophone - was written as a competition piece for student clarinettists at the Paris Conservatoire in 1910. In spite of its not very glamorous origins, however, it is an attractive and by no means unglamorous piece, as the composer himself seems to have concluded. Certainly, after hearing it several times over in its original clarinet and piano version in the Conservatoire competition, he applied to it his considerable skills in orchestration so as to make it available to a wider public and more rewarding to ambitious soloists. As one of very few Debussy scores for a solo instrument and orchestra, it is even more valuable in this version than in the original.

While he was reluctant to write for the saxophone, even on the payment of a large fee, Debussy was clearly inspired by the clarinet, which he seems to have valued above all for its versatility. In the First Rhapsody the clarinet is cast in two main roles, as a singer of sustained melodic lines and as a playfully nimble dancer. The first main theme, introduced by the clarinet in its middle register after an atmospheric rêveusement lent (“dreamily slow”) introduction, is a melody generously curvaceous in shape and elusively supple in rhythm. The playful side of the instrument makes an early appearance in a kind of cadenza but, at this stage, only to give way to a recall of the first theme, now in the clarinet’s upper register. It is actually the bassoon and the cor anglais that provoke the soloist into its first extended display of its choreographic abilities. And it is the flute that introduces the staccato little scherzando theme which, a few bars later, the clarinet takes up and runs away with. This theme motivates not only the next episode but also - after a last quiet recall of the clarinet’s own melody and a brief cadenza - an exuberantly virtuoso coda.

The clarinet’s final gesture anticipates the beginning of a more famous rhapsody George Gershwin was to write fourteen years later.