A century ago, the great French composer Claude Debussy sat down at a contraption called a Welte-Mignon reproducing piano and recorded a series of performances for posterity. The machine was designed to encode the nuances of a pianist’s playing, including pedaling and dynamics, onto piano rolls for later reproduction, like the one above.
Debussy recorded 14 pieces onto six rolls in Paris on or before November 1, 1913. According to Debussy enthusiast Steve Bryson’s Web site, the composer was delighted with the reproduction quality, saying in a letter to Edwin Welte: “It is impossible to attain a greater perfection of reproduction than that of the Welte apparatus. I am happy to assure you in these lines of my astonishment and admiration of what I heard. I am, Dear Sir, Yours Faithfully, Claude Debussy.”
The selection above is “La soirée dans Grenade” (“Grenada in the evening”), from Debussy’s 1903 trio of compositions titled Estampes, or “Prints.” Debussy was inspired by the Symbolist poets and Impressionist painters who strove to go beyond the surface of a subject to evoke the feeling it gave off. “La soirée dans Grenade” is described by Christine Stevenson at Notes From a Pianist as a “sound picture” of Moorish Spain:
Debussy’s first-hand experience of Spain was negligible at that time, but he immediately conjures up the country by using the persuasive Habenera dance rhythm to open the piece–softly and subtly. It insinuates itself into our consciousness with its quiet insistence on a repeated C sharp in different registers; around it circles a languid, Moorish arabesque, with nasal augmented 2nds, and a nagging semitone pulling against the tonal centre, occasionally interrupted by muttering semiquavers [16th notes] and a whole-tone based passage. Debussy writes Commencer lentement dans un rythme nonchalamment gracieux [Begin slowly in a casually graceful rhythm] at the beginning, but later Tres rythmé [Very rythmic] in a brightly lit A major as the dance comes out of the shadows, ff [Fortissimo–loudly], with the click of castanets and the stamping of feet.
Debussy was 52-years-old and suffering from cancer when he made his piano roll recordings. He died less than five years later, on March 25, 1918. Since then his beautiful and evocative music has secured a place for him as one of the most influential and popular composers of the 20th century. As Roger Hecht writes at Classical Net, “Debussy was a dreamer whose music dreamed with him.”
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Rare 1946 Film: Sergei Prokofiev Plays the Piano and Discusses His Music
There are some memorable rolls by Ravel as well.
This is so beautiful. Thank you.
Wonderful to hear Debussy…but wondering. Are there no modern devices to reproduce these rolls? Why was the fidelity so poor (certainly not compared to the recording quality of 1913)? There were clicks and pops as though this was an old LP. The value of these piano rolls was that they could be reproduced on an instrument as if they were played live!
I’m not sure, Michael, but I think the recording is less than 15 years old. There was an album released in 2000 called Claude Debussy: The Composer As Pianist. That record includes all 14 roll recordings as well as four actual studio recordings of Debussy accompanying the soprano Mary Garden on piano in 1904.
Thanks Angela.
Thanks for the information, D. Mathews. We might do something on Ravel (and other composers who recorded on piano rolls) in the future.
I have piano rolls for Weber Player piano that were recorded by George Gershwin that are of the same quality…with all of the nuances of his playing. The piano is very much in need of tuning, but the rolls are also exquisite!
The Gershwin rolls were re-recorded in the late 20th Century bu converting the rolls to Disclavier files and recording them being played back on two pianos using modern recording techniques. I would imagine that the Debussy rolls, as well as the Ravel rolls would benefit from the same treatment.
floating away.…
Very honoured, Mike, to be quoted! Greetings from snowy Suffolk, UK.
might be from a 1950 Columbia lp; the cd Composer as Pianist is impeccable sonically
What an astounding picture! I’d like to selectively share with as many people as possible.
Extremely impressive!
I love listening to Debussy as well as Rachmaninoff and Ravel
http://vibedeck.com/chicago-sbestkeptsecret-boisequeen
Thanks, Christine. It’s an honor to hear from you. Your blog [Notes From a Pianist] is fascinating and beautifully written. I hope people who enjoyed this post will explore your series, “Debussy A‑Z.”
And thanks to all who have commented.
extraordinary to think this recording is 100 years old. Very moving to hear the composer play his own work.
Thank you for sharing this. So beautiful.
I always called this mermaid music when I was a child.
You will either be drawn into the music and pay careful attention or hit the stop button, or wish you had hit the stop button; there is nothing here for the casual listener to enjoy
I’m wondering if the rolls still exist and if they can be re-recorded on playback?
I’m asking because this (electronic) audio recording of the roll playback is obviously quite old and taken from a disk with its telltale “pops” and “scratches” and constrained sonic range.
The original rolls would greatly benefit from being recorded with state-of-the-art audio recording in a studio.
Jelly Roll Morton made some great piano rolls.
I had the PRIVILEGE of ‘watching’ George Gershwin play his “Rhapsody In Blue” on a beautiful player grand. It was in a collector’s quiet old home in a small farm-town, northeastern Nebraska. The roll, like this one, had been recorded by the artist himself. Seeing those keys animated — even as he first rested his fingers in preparation for playing — was stunning.
I am sure we have ‘Rhapsody In Blue’ and some Debussy maybe too, but the rolls are a bit raggedy and the titles missing in places, I spent some time restoring some of the rolls — the Pianola itself was restored 2005, we played it as children but the bellows had perished… Is this of interest to anyone? Maybe I need to get the piano tuned and do some recordings myself?
There was a chap in Ealing, if he is still alive who restored the piano — I am sure he would have contacts for other Pianola owners and their rolls?
This leaves me with an uncanny feeling, it’s a piece of audible history. To hear it at such a great quality is truly a gift. Thanks, Mike.
I have a WELTE myself with many rolls. If anybody might come to my hometown of recklinghausen/germany, I will be glad to present it for yr listing pleasure. if anyone has some WELTE rolls for sale, he should contact me, thanx for the Debussy link, it was not known to me, keep god#s golfball rollin’ TOM TORNADO
Francisco de Lacerda (Ribeira Seca, 11 of May of 1869 — Lisbon, 18 of July of 1934), better known by Francisco de Lacerda, was a musicologist, composer and maestro Azorean. He was Debussy fellow. In the season of 1912–1913 and from 1925 to 1928 he was hired to direct the Great Classical Concerts of Marseille. In this period, he conducted full auditions of works such as the Passion According to St. John and the Passion According to St. Matthew, the Lesser Mass and the Magnificat of Johann Sebastian Bach, the Solemn Mass of Ludwig van Beethoven, a German Requiem by Johannes Brahms, Parsifal by Wilhelm Richard Wagner, The Brief Life of Manuel de Falla and Matheu and The Demoiselle Élue by Claude Debussy.
THANKS FOR THE PIANO ROLL FROM DEBUSSY !
Thank you Mike Springer for your informative intro.
Debussy’s piano rolls are a revelation. I’m currently doing an Impressionist unit with my piano students — art and history as well piano. They are fascinated and will be even more so as they listen to the very idiosyncratic playing of the composer! Thank you for being here!
So happy I stumbled onto this invaluable recording. Thank you!!
you do not have a paypal donation link, therefore not able to support you. Sorry.
I have a restored Baldwin grand piano with Welte-Mignon mechanism, and this Debussy roll is one of my favorites to play. The piano sustain pedal (the “loud” pedal) is activated when this roll is played just as happened when Debussy recorded the roll, so it is interesting to watch his pedaling technique when the roll is played. Piano students especially enjoy watching this aspect.
there is a way for the piano rolls to be recognized digitally and then programmed into a modern player piano, for instance a Yamaha Clavinova.
You can get Gershwin playing Gershwin in pure digital form, playing on a Yamaha Grand and recorded full digital. It’s FANTASTIC music, clean pure reproduction of him playing his music.
It seems this should be done with Debussy also, rigth?
I realize this is an old thread, but here’s some info.
The piano roll recordings were transferred to tape and then vinyl before 1990. I know this because when I was studying composition and music theory at the University of North Texas in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s these recordings were available on vinyl then. I listened to them many times. I’m guessing they were transferred sometime in the ‘60s or ‘70s, but I can’t say for sure, yet. I’ve sent an email to some people that would know and hope to have an answer soon. I’ll be glad to post the follow up here.
If I had to guess, I’d say Debussy’s archives, including the recordings, are located in the archives at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. His autographed scores may be with his publisher Durand, although they could be at the Bibliothèque nationale de France too.
Hope that helps.
Steve
Thank you so much for that further info, Steve. That’s exactly what I was looking for. Go Mean Green!