Performance technique in Debussy's etudes: Volume II

The first examples of etudes which aim to improve instrumental technique in the teaching of the organ and the harpsichord date back to composers such as J. S. Bach, D. Scarlatti, Couperin and Durante. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, composers such as Cramer, Moscheles, Clementi and Czerny had composed numerous etudes. In the piano music of the romantic age, etudes developed by Chopin, Liszt, Alkan and Saint-Saens evolved into concert pieces that require a superb technique and musicality.In the twentieth century, composers such as Bartok, Stravinski, Skriyabin and Messiaen introduced new approaches to etudes which paralleled the decline of romantic expression. Just as Chopin, the object of his great admiration did before him, Debussy, with his revolutionary twentieth century compositional techniques, also composed ?twelve etudes? comprising two volumes.Composed of intervals outside of traditional tonal harmony and exhibiting numerous articulation indications and wide dynamic ranges, these pieces require masterful pedal technique and expose the full capabilities of the instrument.The first chapter of this thesis focuses on the historical evolution of etudes and presents detailed information about the purposes Debussy wished to serve by composing his ?twelve etudes?. The second chapter provides recommendations for the interpretation and practice of the second volume of etudes.