Alongside the Images for Orchestra, Debussy wrote two books of “images” for piano, and despite the title, the music is unrelated. The piano work is a suite of six pieces divided into two books. The title of the suite, the individual pieces of the suite, and their musical content, are good examples as to why Debussy was labeled an “Impressionist”. There are good arguments for why “Impressionism” is not a good label for music, primarily that the idea of an “impression” is better shown visually, like in the paintings by Monet that inspired the [then pejorative] title. In music, we can say that the composer is trying to give only an impression of an idea, but that could apply to many pieces from earlier in the Romantic era, and even before. Even so, Debussy is distinct for not writing in traditional forms, and for working with unconventional scales and harmonies, and these reasons put together are why he could be considered the first Modernist composer. The first book of images opens with “Reflections of the water”, where delicate chords glisten up and down the piano. Soon the chords fade away and we follow one musical line that rapid but subdued scales, that feel like an image of rippling water, and the light’s reflection is distorted and scattered around. The main chord theme comes back but this time paired with the rippling effect. The music quiets down and ends with spacious broken octaves. The next piece, a Homage to Rameau, follows the model of a sarabande. It opens with a statement in unison octaves, before introducing chords to harmonize with it. On the one hand, it feels like Parisian salon music [thanks to Debussy’s influence], but it carries a calm dignity, somber but not over the top. The texture gets more dense and the chords get louder, before drifting back to the simplicity of the opening. After a repeat, the chords build up the main theme in agitation, but they break away into softer arpeggios. Like bells, this piece also ends by fading away. The third piece is simply titled “Movement”, and it is mostly a perpetuum mobile with the right hand playing triplets over open parallel fifths in the left hand. The hands switch voices and introduce a festive motif. The soundscape becomes more spacious and grand, but after the theme is restated we are taken into a whirlwind of ambiguity. After insane technical dazzle, we come back to a slightly revised version of the opening, but the piece drifts off into the shadows. The second book of images opens with “Bells through the leaves” where the ringing of the bells comes through over a whole tone pattern, creating a sense of mystery. Where are the bells coming from? What are they for? Following the playing instructions, the work feels melancholy, and the whole tone ambiguity makes everything feel hazy. But then it transitions into a more clear and uplifting passage, where the bells clang out in gorgeous tones. The whole tones return, and we feel less certain of our surroundings. The next piece is called “And the moon descends on the temple that was”, emphasizing an interesting emotion, of looking at ruins and thinking about who used to live there, and how strange it is to see the way that time passes by, and thinking of the lives and events that go unrecorded, forgotten. It starts out with chords, but breaks out into a broken up passage, traveling through different keys. The last work, Golden Fish, has a soft melody over agitated trills and tremolandos. Again, a depiction of water, and light glittering through it, only this time it is gold fish. Or does he mean fish made of gold? Shimmering in the waves? The tremolandos get more intense with full chords, and the theme is uplifted into a powerful explosion. The work drifts off and ends on a soft note, the fish have swum away. In all these works, we do get an impression, a glimpse of some idea or world that we can’t reach without hearing the music, much like we cannot see the subjective portrayals of boats, Lilly pads, ballerinas, bars, or other scenes that the Impressionist painters depicted in their work.
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