The Little Nigar: Difference between revisions
Adding local short description: "Piano piece by Claude Debussy", overriding Wikidata description "piano piece by Claude Debussy" (Shortdesc helper) |
|||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
Debussy composed ''The Little Nigar'' (giving the noun this spelling)<ref name="McKinley 1986">{{cite journal | last=McKinley | first=Ann | title=Debussy and American Minstrelsy | journal=The Black Perspective in Music | publisher=JSTOR | volume=14 | issue=3 | year=1986 | issn=0090-7790 | doi=10.2307/1215065 | page=249}}</ref> in 1909<ref name="CD" /> on a commission from [[Théodore Lack]], for his [[Method (music)#Piano|piano method]] ''Méthode de Piano''.<ref name="Heinemann" /><ref name="Scheytt" /> The subtitle describes it as a [[cakewalk]].<ref name="Heinemann" /> It is reminiscent of ''Golliwogg's Cakewalk'' from his ''[[Children's Corner]]'', a piano suite that he had composed a year earlier. In both pieces, rhythmic outer sections frame a melodic middle section. In ''Golliwogg's Cakewalk'', the middle section satirically quotes the beginning of ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' by [[Richard Wagner]], a composer who had influenced Debussy when he was young but from whose late romantic style Debussy later distanced himself.<ref name="Smith" /> |
Debussy composed ''The Little Nigar'' (giving the noun this spelling)<ref name="McKinley 1986">{{cite journal | last=McKinley | first=Ann | title=Debussy and American Minstrelsy | journal=The Black Perspective in Music | publisher=JSTOR | volume=14 | issue=3 | year=1986 | issn=0090-7790 | doi=10.2307/1215065 | page=249}}</ref> in 1909<ref name="CD" /> on a commission from [[Théodore Lack]], for his [[Method (music)#Piano|piano method]] ''Méthode de Piano''.<ref name="Heinemann" /><ref name="Scheytt" /> The subtitle describes it as a [[cakewalk]].<ref name="Heinemann" /> It is reminiscent of ''Golliwogg's Cakewalk'' from his ''[[Children's Corner]]'', a piano suite that he had composed a year earlier. In both pieces, rhythmic outer sections frame a melodic middle section. In ''Golliwogg's Cakewalk'', the middle section satirically quotes the beginning of ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' by [[Richard Wagner]], a composer who had influenced Debussy when he was young but from whose late romantic style Debussy later distanced himself.<ref name="Smith" /> |
||
Debussy regularly [[Claude Debussy#Influences|sought exotic influences]]. In ''The Little Nigar'', he alluded to [[banjo]] chords and drums,<ref name="Andres" /> influenced by American [[minstrel show]]s.<ref name="Scheytt" /> The piece, marked ''allegro'', begins with a first [[Theme (music)|theme]] presenting "jazzy" [[syncope (music)|syncopes]] in 2 |
Debussy regularly [[Claude Debussy#Influences|sought exotic influences]]. In ''The Little Nigar'', he alluded to [[banjo]] chords and drums,<ref name="Andres" /> influenced by American [[minstrel show]]s.<ref name="Scheytt" /> The piece, marked ''allegro'', begins with a first [[Theme (music)|theme]] presenting "jazzy" [[syncope (music)|syncopes]] in {{music|time|2|4}} time, in the then popular [[ragtime]] style.<ref name="Henle" /> It is followed by a lyrical passage, marked ''espressivo'' and ''pianissimo'' (very softly), which leads to a return of the first section. The first theme leans towards [[pentatonic]] and is accompanied by a [[chromatic]] [[Sequence (music)|sequence]] of broken [[Minor third|minor thirds]].<ref name="Eichmann" /> |
||
''The Little Nigar'' was first published in 1909 by [[Éditions Alphonse Leduc]] in Paris as part of Lack's piano method and again as a single piece in about 1934, now with an added repetition and entitled ''The Little Negro'', with subtitle ''Le petit nègre''.<ref name="Heinemann" /><ref name="CD" /> |
''The Little Nigar'' was first published in 1909 by [[Éditions Alphonse Leduc]] in Paris as part of Lack's piano method and again as a single piece in about 1934, now with an added repetition and entitled ''The Little Negro'', with subtitle ''Le petit nègre''.<ref name="Heinemann" /><ref name="CD" /> |
||
Revision as of 01:57, 27 December 2020
| The Little Nigar | |
|---|---|
| Cake Walk | |
| Piano music by Claude Debussy | |
 Debussy at the piano in 1893 | |
| Other name | The Little Negro / Le petit nègre |
| Key | C major |
| Catalogue |
|
| Composed | 1909? |
| Published |
|
The Little Nigar (CD 122, L. 114) is the original title by composer Claude Debussy for a short piece for piano, composed in 1909 for a piano method and published the same year. It was later also published as a single piece, entitled The Little Negro and Le petit nègre.
History
Debussy composed The Little Nigar (giving the noun this spelling)[1] in 1909[2] on a commission from Théodore Lack, for his piano method Méthode de Piano.[3][4] The subtitle describes it as a cakewalk.[3] It is reminiscent of Golliwogg's Cakewalk from his Children's Corner, a piano suite that he had composed a year earlier. In both pieces, rhythmic outer sections frame a melodic middle section. In Golliwogg's Cakewalk, the middle section satirically quotes the beginning of Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, a composer who had influenced Debussy when he was young but from whose late romantic style Debussy later distanced himself.[5]
Debussy regularly sought exotic influences. In The Little Nigar, he alluded to banjo chords and drums,[6] influenced by American minstrel shows.[4] The piece, marked allegro, begins with a first theme presenting "jazzy" syncopes in 2
4 time, in the then popular ragtime style.[7] It is followed by a lyrical passage, marked espressivo and pianissimo (very softly), which leads to a return of the first section. The first theme leans towards pentatonic and is accompanied by a chromatic sequence of broken minor thirds.[8]
The Little Nigar was first published in 1909 by Éditions Alphonse Leduc in Paris as part of Lack's piano method and again as a single piece in about 1934, now with an added repetition and entitled The Little Negro, with subtitle Le petit nègre.[3][2]
Debussy also used the piece's main theme in his 1913 ballet for children, La boîte à joujoux, in which it characterises an English soldier.[6][5]
Numerous transcriptions in various instrumentations have been made of the piece. An arrangement for woodwinds has even been used for advertising Purina One dog food.[9]
Literature
- Schmitz, E. Robert (1950). The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, foreword by Virgil Thomson. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce.
References
- ^ McKinley, Ann (1986). "Debussy and American Minstrelsy". The Black Perspective in Music. 14 (3). JSTOR: 249. doi:10.2307/1215065. ISSN 0090-7790.
- ^ a b "The little Nigar". Centre de documentation Claude Debussy. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ a b c Heinemann, Ernst-Günter. "Postface" (PDF). Henle. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ a b Scheytt, Jochen (2017). "Le petit nègre". jochenscheytt.de. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ a b Smith, Lindy (2008). "Out of Africa: The Cakewalk in Twentieth-Century / French Concert Music". Nota Bene: Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Musicology. 1 (1): 75–80. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ a b Andres, Robert (2005). "An introduction to the solo piano music of Debussy and Ravel". BBC. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ "The little Negro". Henle. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ Eichmann, Andreas, ed. (2014). Kurt Weill und Frankreich (in German). Waxmann Verlag. p. 46. ISBN 978-3-83-098077-3.
- ^ Brown, Matthew (2012). Debussy Redux: The Impact of His Music on Popular Culture. Indiana University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-25-335716-8.
External links
- The Little Nigar (Debussy, Claude): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- The little nigar (recordings) muziekweb.nl
- Christine Stevenson: N is for Negre – Debussy’s Le Petit Negre notesfromapianist.wordpress.com 2012
- Debussy: The little nigar(Ichiro Kaneko) on YouTube
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
