Time for delight! Listen to Debussy's Arabesque No. 2 Allegretto scherzando and just try not to smile. It's impossible! The music skips and dashes like a child running through fields of flowers on a sunny spring day. Joy!
The Two Arabesques (Deux arabesques), L. 66, were written by Claude Debussy between the years 1888 and 1891 (he was still in his twenties!) Debussy wrote this about the arabesque in baroque music:“That was the age of the ‘wonderful arabesque' when music was subject to the laws of beauty inscribed in the movements of Nature herself.”
Notes from pianist Dr. Duane Hulbert: "This second arabesque in the set is lively in tempo which makes it joyful and frolicsome. The piece features fast 16th note triplets throughout, giving the texture a light filigree of musical colors. The middle opens with boisterous accented chords, followed by surprising key changes that break away from the G major tonality. Toward the end of the piece, the tempo slows down (Meno mosso indicates a slightly slower tempo). Gradually, the fast tempo builds with the sprightly opening triplets, followed by an energetic push to the finish......but wait! After some big chords build up to the finale, Debussy charms us with quiet groups of triplets marked pianississimo. It's charming!"
Debussy, Claude - Arabesque No. 2 (Grade 8, list C2, from the ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2023 & 2024)
Dr. Hulbert received his BA and MM from The Juilliard School of Music and his DMA from The Manhattan School of Music. Hulbert received the Gold Medal at the 1980 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and also won prizes in the 1981 Leeds Competition and 1985 Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition. He has performed as a soloist with symphonies across the United States and has given recitals at Merkin Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Benaroya Hall in Seattle. In 2002, his recording of the piano works of late-romantic Russian composer Alexander Glazunov was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Solo Instrumental Recording. David Hurwitz of ClassicsToday.com called the CD “a production that makes the best possible case for this really excellent but sadly neglected repertoire.” Dr. Hulbert taught at the university level for over thirty years.
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