Petite Suite, La Boite a joujoux, Children's Corner : Pascal Rophe / Pays de la Loire National Orchestra (Hybrid)

With the present release, Pascal Roph and his Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire pay tribute to their great countryman, Claude Debussy but not with the standard orchestral fare. Debussy Orchestrated paints a portrait of a light-hearted composer, seen through the eyes of two of his collaborators, Henri Bsser and Andr Caplet, who transferred the works recorded here from the keyboard to the orchestra. In Petite Suite, composed for piano four hands in 1899, Debussy makes allusions to Ftes galantes by Paul Verlaine, the poet who so often inspired him. Bssers orchestration of this light and pleasant suite was made in 1907, and obviously pleased Debussy, as he later entrusted him with making an orchestral version of Printemps. As for Childrens Corner and La Bote joujoux, it is probably fair to say that the composers main inspiration was his own daughter, Claude-Emma, born in 1905. Both works are dedicated to her, and it is easy to imagine that some of the characters that appear in Childrens Corner had their counterparts among her toys. Letting toys come alive in a ballet was the idea that illustrator Andr Hell a few years later presented to Debussy with La Bote joujoux. The piano version of the piece was published, with Hells illustrations, in time for Christmas in 1913 and Debussy began orchestrating it the following year, but died before he could complete the task. His friend Andr Caplet who had already orchestrated Childrens Corner took over and the ballet was finally premired in December 1919.