Best of Frenemies: Debussy and Ravel

Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

Joshua Weilerstein

Arts, Performing Arts, Music

4.9 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Debussy and Ravel are often described as the prototypical musical impressionists. It is often said that the two composers are the closest equivalents to the artistic world of Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, Degas, and others. But both Ravel and Debussy (like Monet for that matter), vehemently rejected the term Impressionism, and they both felt that they were striking out on their own individual paths in their msuic. That didn't stop the public and critics from constantly comparing the music of these two shining lights of French music, despite the fact that Ravel and Debussy are actually quite different. Comparing Ravel and Debussy is a bit like comparing Haydn and Mozart. At first glance, there are many similarities, but if you look and listen more closely, Ravel and Debussy(like Mozart and Haydn) had totally different approaches, goals, and styles.

All of the constant comparisons and attempts at making the composers compete with each other had a real impact on Debussy and Ravel. Initially they were friends and mutual admirers of each others work, but they slowly drifted apart over time until they stopped speaking to each other altogether. We'll talk about this complicated personal relationship, as well as looking at these differences in their music, not from a critical standpoint, but from the perspective of bringing out what is so wonderfully unique about their music. We'll also talk about Ravel's arrangements of two Debussy's greatest orchestral works: his two piano arrangement of Debussy's Nocturnes, and his piano 4 hands arrangement of the legendary Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Join us on another collaboration with G Henle Publishers!

Recordings:

Nocturnes

Claudio Abbado with London Symphony
Anne Shasby, Richard McMahon, Piano

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Ravel arrangement: Jean-Pierre Armengaud and Olivier Chauzu
Debussy Arrangement: Charles Badami and Anthony Olson

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Sticky Notes, the Classical Music Podcast. My name is Joshua
0:16.7	Weilerstein. I'm a conductor and I'm the music director of the Orchestra Nacional de Lille,
0:22.8	and the chief conductor of the Allborg Symphony.
0:28.3	This podcast is for anyone who loves classical music, works in the field, or is just getting ready to dive in to this amazing world of incredible music.
0:32.1	Before we get started, I want to thank my new Patreon sponsors, Drinkus, Jane, Florian, Marina, Andrew, Jenny, and Lisa, and all of my other Patreon sponsors for making season 10 possible.
0:45.1	If you'd like to support the show, please head over to patreon.com slash sticky notes podcast.
0:50.2	And if you are a fan of the show, please take a moment to give us a rating or review on Apple Podcasts.
0:55.2	It is greatly appreciated.
0:59.0	So it's been a pretty intense couple of weeks for me.
1:02.5	After my concert that I mentioned on the show two weeks ago with the Orchestra Nacional de Lille in Paris and in Lille,
1:09.6	with Shostakovich's 13th Symphony and
1:11.5	Schoenberg's Survivor from Warsaw, which was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my whole
1:16.9	musical career. I was asked at the very last second to jump in for Herbert Blomstett, who was sick
1:23.8	with an ear infection. He was going to be conducting the Dresden Statschapel, and I went to
1:28.9	Dresden last week to work with this amazing orchestra program of Dvorzak's New World Symphony,
1:34.7	get on Klein's Partida for strings, and Beethoven's fourth piano concerto with Emanuel Axe, which, of course,
1:41.0	was, again, an unforgettable experience.
1:49.1	So now I've got a little bit of time off before heading off to Allborg to do Brahms' Requiem next week.
2:01.2	It's been a really busy month, but it's also been just so full of really magical, musical experiences that, as I said, I will not forget for a very, very long time.
2:09.9	So on to today's show on Debussy and Ravel, which is again presented in partnership with the wonderful publishing company, Henley.
2:30.1	Hope you enjoy it. Debussy and Ravel are often described as the prototypical musical impressionists.
2:39.0	It is often said that the two composers are the closest equivalence to the artistic world of Monet, Renoir, Pizarro, Degas, and others. But both Ravelle and Debussy, like Monet for that matter, vehemently rejected the term impressionism,
	...

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