24 Préludes (Books I & II)


Claude Debussy - La cathédrale engloutie, No. 10 from Preludes, Book 1

La cathédrale engloutie (The Sunken Cathedral) from the first book of Preludes, is one of Debussy’s most popular and well-known works. Inspired by a Breton legend where a sunken cathedral rises above the ocean before receding, Debussy created a piece filled with grandeur, mystery and majesty. Pentatonic and modal scales, dynamic extremes, and playing of sevenths and chords with open intervals all contribute to the engrossing landscape of this extraordinary piece.

In this video lesson, Fred Karpoff shows how to create a wide tonal palette, interpret the composer’s oft-misunderstood meter markings, pedal imaginatively and much more!

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Click here to download Fred's marked score for this work or click here to view open domain editions.

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