"Jeux" by Claude Debussy - Audio + Full Score

pf: Manuel Rosenthal cond/ National Theater Opera Orchestra of Paris

Jeux (Games) is the last work for orchestra written by Claude Debussy. Described as a "poème dansé" (literally a "danced poem"), it was originally intended to accompany a ballet and was written for the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev to choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky. Debussy initially objected to the scenario, but reconsidered the commission when Diaghilev doubled the fee. Debussy wrote the score quickly, from mid-August to mid-September 1912.

Jeux premiered on 15 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, conducted by Pierre Monteux. The work was not well received and was soon eclipsed by Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, which was premiered two weeks later by Diaghilev's company.

The number of tempo markings in Jeux is around 60, sufficient for Émile Vuillermoz to describe the score as changing "speed and nuance every two measures". The thematic motifs of Jeux are likewise very short, often two measures long or constructed from two single-measure building blocks L.D. Berman has analysed Jeux in the context of Debussy's earlier Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune. Jann Pasler has analysed in detail Debussy's motivic construction.

SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeux