The piece La Mer by Claude Debussy drew much criticism in its early years. “I see no sea, I hear no sea, I feel no sea,” a Parisian critic remarked following the piece’s deplorable premiere. But over time, La Mer has matured into a classic, hailing today as one of the most famous seascapes ever composed. Inside Dallas’s own Meyerson Center, conductor Pablo Heras-Casado and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra command the group’s powerful volume and musical interpretation toward a phenomenal performance of the piece.
Unlike conventional musical compositions, seascapes like La Mer endeavor to produce images in the mind: for example, short pitter-patter notes transform into light droplets of water. Essentially, Debussy paints an artwork of the ocean — yet, rather than use a paintbrush, he uses an orchestra. At the start of the piece, double basses and cellos establish the tone of the show to come, wavering steadily as if each brush stroke lets out a gentle ripple. These light waves transition into the violins and cellos, who begin to roar louder and louder as the ocean’s fury intensifies. A light melody, played by the orchestra’s woodwinds, brass, and harps, tells a tale of ocean breezes as the salty air glides into the scene to meet the water below. …show more content…
Every note echoes and fills the room. For instance, at the start of the third movement, anxiously quick notes and wave-like rises and falls in volume clearly portray a suspenseful, brooding scene of a stormy sea. As if the ocean itself fills the auditorium, the orchestra shakes the ground at every crash of the waves, when the percussions let loose and the cymbals ring. This sensational use of volume truly activates the imagination, successfully fulfilling the piece’s function as a
Unlike conventional musical compositions, seascapes like La Mer endeavor to produce images in the mind: for example, short pitter-patter notes transform into light droplets of water. Essentially, Debussy paints an artwork of the ocean — yet, rather than use a paintbrush, he uses an orchestra. At the start of the piece, double basses and cellos establish the tone of the show to come, wavering steadily as if each brush stroke lets out a gentle ripple. These light waves transition into the violins and cellos, who begin to roar louder and louder as the ocean’s fury intensifies. A light melody, played by the orchestra’s woodwinds, brass, and harps, tells a tale of ocean breezes as the salty air glides into the scene to meet the water below. …show more content…
Every note echoes and fills the room. For instance, at the start of the third movement, anxiously quick notes and wave-like rises and falls in volume clearly portray a suspenseful, brooding scene of a stormy sea. As if the ocean itself fills the auditorium, the orchestra shakes the ground at every crash of the waves, when the percussions let loose and the cymbals ring. This sensational use of volume truly activates the imagination, successfully fulfilling the piece’s function as a