The Life of Debussy in Six Movements: Pierre Louÿs & Debussy

About the Event

Enjoy The Life of Debussy in Six Movements from Zoltán Kocsis in a festive atmosphere in Budapest. In the fourth in Zoltán Kocsis’s six‐part series presenting Debussy’s life and work, we are initiated into the details and background of a fruitful friendship, illuminated by wonderful music and references to the history and literature of Debussy's time.

In the work of the French poet and writer Pierre Louÿs, pagan sensuality found its perfect stylistic expression, reaching back to Greek mythology and portraying sexuality with an elegant and distinctly Gallic refinement. Louÿs planned a number of works for the theatre with his close friend Claude Debussy, although none of these ever came to fruition. The Songs of Bilitis, however, were completed in 1898, setting to music verses the French composer chose from a collection of erotic poems Louÿs had published some years earlier. Debussy held Louÿs’s verse in high regard: in 1901, he composed music for a chamber ensemble to accompany a reading of his poetry, and he would later recycle this musical material in a piano cycle for four hands entitled Six épigraphes antiques.

The series has been compiled for the 2012/13 season to coincide with the music world’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Debussy’s birth and the 95th anniversary of his passing.

Presented by: Művészetek Palotája (in Hungarian language)