Debussy - Arabesques
Early impressionist standards from the French piano master, but there's more to Debussy's Deux Arabesques than meets the eye - just ask Alicia Keys.
It's easy to look back on the career of Claude Debussy and say that he was perhaps the greatest impressionist composer of his time. But it's interesting to note that even his early works were brimming with the washes and romance of impressionism, and it's probably best showcased on these two delightful Arabesques.
He composed them when he was still in his twenties, somewhere between 1888 and 1891, and the works themselves follow the same principals as the impressionist visual art form (but obviously far more interesting than that sounds). It's all about musical lines mirroring those of nature, something that Debussy was a keen student of.
Taking his cue from the baroque arabesque form (a popular French dance), both of these works have something resembling a danceable form - something clearly noticed by US R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, whose song 'Like The Sea' samples Debussy's first arabesque.
