Karstein Djupdal >> Debussy

Debussy at the piano

This project is an attempt to understand Claude Debussy as a pianist. It is based on my master thesis, on which I worked 2003-2004 at The Norwegian Academy of Music. The title was "Debussy at the piano". My purpose was to study Claude Debussy's own piano playing, his unique style as a pianist. This was done in two ways:

  1. Interpreting written accounts describing Debussy playing the piano, and
  2. Listening to the recordings of Debussy playing the piano.

Soon I also included a chapter on Debussy's ideas on piano playing, since these would not necessarily be in accordance with how he actually played.

I owe much to two of my piano teachers, Geir Henning Braaten and Avi Schönfeld, who both studied with pupils of Debussy, and were able to introduce me to the Debussy tradition.

Contents

Here are some sections that can be read online:

See also:

(Photo of Debussy)

My original thesis (in Norwegian) can be downloaded here: Debussy ved pianoet.pdf (10 MB)

© by Karstein Djupdal. Created May - November 2005.