Debussy: Images, Books 1 & 2 (Bavouzet, Thibaudet)

Debussy’s two sets of Images, much like Ravel’s Miroirs, must count as one of the high pinnacles of piano-writing: in sheer compositional intricacy and evocativeness they are *nearly* unmatched in all the literature. The pieces might as well be case studies in how to ideally use so many of the techniques the Impressionists introduced [to the Western tradition]: chordal planing; parallel and more generally non-functional harmonies; pentatonic and whole-tone scales; unprepared modulation; glittering passages which serve purely textural function. You’ve got Reflets dans l’eau, opening with a single pebble dropping into still water; Hommage à Rameau, with ironically antiquated modal harmony; the incessant whirring of Mouvement; the tiered whole-tone bells of Cloches à travers les feuilles; the mystic parallel chords of Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut; and the sudden, minute, brilliant darting of goldfish in Poissons d’or. The two performances here are both superb but radically different.