Hommage à Haydn (1909)

The other composers who, with Ravel, contributed to the Haydn centenary number of the Revue musicale in 1909 were Debussy, Dukas, Hahn, d’Indy and Widor. Unlike Ravel, Debussy prefers to keep the five-note theme the right way up. He makes up for that by presenting it in three vividly contrasted sections. Beginning with a slow waltz, he first reveals the Haydn motto when the melodic interest passes from the left hand to the right. He repeats the process before the tempo changes to Vif and the theme takes flight in a flurry of right-hand semiquavers. Over a rumbling left hand the theme is punched out in octaves in the right and, as the tempo accelerates, it crowns the fortissimo climax of the piece. Sustained, distant echoes of the theme lead to a brief coda recalling the first two sections.