Debussy on Film

Claude Debussy's music has been used in many films and television programs, from "The Birds" to "The Right Stuff," to the late Jack Horkheimer's astronomy program, "Star Gazer."  Here are two of my favorite uses of Debussy's most famous melody, "Clair de Lune."

The 1940 Disney film "Fantasia" originally included a sequence in the Florida Everglades set to "Clair de Lune." The first time I saw this animation, I honestly gasped out loud at its beauty.


Another sublime use of "Clair de Lune" is in the movie "Ocean's Eleven" (2001), as Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his crew stand in front of the Bellagio, basking in their audacious heist.


So, what are *your* favorite scenes of Debussy on film? --Nathan Cone

Out of this world Debussy

NASA is exploring Mercury and images are coming back like this one:

How does this relate to a classical music blog? The large crater is named Debussy, as craters on Mercury are named after artists, musicians and writers. We also thought you might enjoy this movement from Gustav Holst's The Planets:

Old Music with New Interpreters...

It happens in Classical Music that one can find themselves going on about immortal performances; the ones we know inside and out. But there are new recordings coming out everyday and with them exciting and new perspectives on old favorites. On the Piano this Sunday three young pianists with bright futures ahead of them. We'll hear Alexander Romanovsky play Rachmaninoff's Corelli Variations, after that the thirty year old Vassily Primakov explores the dark and restless Kreisleriana of Schumann. To cap off the program Ivan Ilic plays an explosive prelude of Claude Debussy.

The Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 on KPAC and KTXI.

host, Randy Anderson

Record it again, Sam...

Recorded music has been around since 1877 and true to America's marketing genius we music lovers have been buying the same recordings again and again, the only difference being the format. 78 rpm, long play records, cassettes, El Cassettes, Reel to Reel tape, CDs and then super CDs with higher bit rates. On the Piano this Sunday the playing of Walter Gieseking in the cleanest sound yet. We hear him play Debussy's Suite Bergamasque and also a new recording of Schubert's mighty G major sonata with Seymour Lipkin.

The Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 on KPAC & KTXI.

host Randy Anderson

Old Favorites with new Faces

It happens in Classical Music that one can find themselves going on about immortal performances; the ones we know inside and out. But there are new recordings coming out everyday and with them exciting and new perspectives on old favorites. On the Piano this Sunday three young pianists with bright futures ahead of them. We will hear Alexander Romanovsky play Rachmaninoff's Corelli Variations, then the thirty year old Vassily Primakov explores the dark and restless Kreisleriana of Schumann. To cap off the program Ivan Ilic plays an explosive prelude of Claude Debussy.

The Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 on KPAC and KTXI.

host, Randy Anderson

Close to perfect

One thing we Classical Music lovers often want and can't have is the original artist performing their music. I mean we have Elvis singing is own tunes, but we can't hear Mozart playing his pianos sonatas.

Claude Debussy was a good pianist and near the end of his life he sat down and played his first book of preludes on a Welte Mignon reproducing piano and I have featured those recordings on the Piano before. The playing is a little uneven and we don't know if the composer brushed up his technique before sitting down to work. Enter Marcelle Meyer. She was the virtuosa with a fabulous and honest technique that became the "house" pianist for Les Six in Paris. She wanted to play Debussy's music and being the conscientious musician she was, she visited the composer and went over his music with him so she could do the music and Debussy justice.

On the Piano this Sunday afternoon at 5 you can hear Marcelle Meyer's recordings of Claude Debussy's First Book of Preludes on KPAC and KTXI.