As a BTPM Classical radio host, people often ask me, “Marty, who is your favorite composer?” It is a perplexing question. With so many composers to choose from, how can I pick just one?
Further, my favorite composer has changed dozens of times through the years. As a teenager taking piano lessons, I loved Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849). In music school, I moved promiscuously from composer to composer based on whoever we were studying that week in music history class. I loved them all!
Today, if you forced me at squirt gun point to name my favorite composer, it would be French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918) – ironically, the great composer of music depicting water.
People often describe Debussy’s Preludes for Piano as “dreamy.” He does not tell us what to think in these pieces; he just hints at it through atmosphere, mood, and by placing the titles at the end of the preludes instead of the beginning. This is to encourage us to experience each prelude without being influenced by a specific title. If you do not already know Debussy’s Preludes for Piano, try listening to them without knowing the titles first. Write down your thoughts and impressions as you listen. Then compare those thoughts and impressions with Debussy’s titles. It is a fascinating exercise, but it is one you only get to do once, so make the most of it!
Many great pianists have recorded Debussy’s Preludes for Piano. Three of my favorites are Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau (1903-1991), who was my own piano teacher’s teacher, German pianist Walter Gieseking (1895-1956), and Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995). Any time you can hear Arrau, Gieseking, or Michelangeli play Debussy is time well spent.
But my absolute favorite interpreter of Debussy’s piano music is pianist Paul Jacobs (1930-1983). Paraphrasing Gramophone Magazine:
“Hearing Paul Jacobs is a novel, vigorous, and superbly uncluttered view of Debussy. The power and focus of these performances remain astonishing, with opalescent mists and hazes burnt away. Jacobs' commitment to every note of Debussy’s vision is total.”
Paul Jacobs recorded Debussy’s Preludes for Piano Books I & II on the Nonesuch label in 1979. NPR added it to its Classical 50 list of essential recordings. Jacobs also recorded Debussy’s complete Images, Etudes, and Estampes for Nonesuch. They are brilliant! I love them all!
I cannot guarantee that Debussy will still be my favorite composer next year, or even next week, but I can guarantee that Debussy’s piano music will always speak to me like no other music ever will, and when played by Arrau, Gieseking, Michelangeli, or especially Jacobs, it is transcendent!
Who is your favorite composer? You can write to me at mwimmer@btpm.org. I look forward to hearing from you!
