La Mer

• Debussy subtitled La Mer “three symphonic sketches.” He started work on the set in 1903 and it premiered on October 15, 1905.
• The premiere of La Mer was not a success, possibly because the conductor did not understand the work. In 1908, when Debussy made his debut as a conductor, he conducted La Mer and it was much better received than it had been under anyone else’s direction.
• Debussy loved the art of Katsushika Hokusai. His print, Under the Wave off Kanagawa, appeared on the cover of the score of La Mer.¹

Movements

I. De l’aube a midi sur la mer (From Dawn to Noon on the Sea)
II. Jeux de Vagues (Games of the Waves)
III. Dialogue du Vent et de la Mer (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea)²

1.  François Lesure and Roy Howat, “Debussy, (Achille-)Claude,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed February 23, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000007353.
2. “La mer (Debussy, Claude),” IMSLP, accessed February 23, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/La_mer_(Debussy%2C_Claude).