Debussy plays Debussy | La Cathédrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral), Prélude Book I, (1913)

Claude Debussy plays Debussy (Piano Rolls, before 1913): Prélude for piano, Book I, L. 125 (117), La Cathédrale Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral). Profondément calme [Composed in 1909] Claude Debussy, Piano, 1913. La Cathédral Engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral): Debussy effects a striking musical depiction of the mythical submerged cathedral of Ys with “archaicisms“ like modality and parallel harmonies. The work’s rhythmic stasis, combined with its massive sonorities, creates an overwhelming sense of awe and grandeur. Each of Debussy’s Préludes, Book I (1907-1910) is a short but substantial work that conveys a particular mood or impression suggested by its title. Still, as musicologist Rollo Myers notes, “the pictorial element [is not] unduly stressed if stressed at all; these Préludes are pure music.“ In accordance with the composer’s practice of assigning a title only after the completion of a work, the titles of the Pr