Debussy, Claude. (1862-1918). Autograph Letter, Listing Orchestration for "Le Martyre de saint Sébastien".
A short autograph letter from the important French composer, listing the instruments needed for a piece he will compose. Undated [1911?], possibly addressed to Gabriel Astruc (1864 - 1938), the influential French playwright, journalist, theatre director and impresario, who supervised many important Ballets Russes programs, including the premiere of "Le Sacre du Printemps" and "Le Martyre de saint Sébastien." Translated from the French: "Dear friend, I thought I had given Monsieur de Morsier [of the publishing house in Paris, la Societe Musicale G. Astruc & Cie] the information that you ask for, but here it is again: 4 flutes (2 big, 2 small), 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 harps, 1 celeste (large model), 1 harmonium (offstage), percussion... and six months more to write the music. Yours, Claude Debussy." The instrumentation, with the addition of a string quartet, is that required for Debussy's music for Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (1911). On a black-bordered sheet of Debussy's Paris letterhead at 80 Avenue du Bois de Boulogne (where he lived from 1904 until 1918). 5.25 x 3.5 inches. In fine condition.
The five-act musical mystery play Le Martyre de saint Sébastien was produced in collaboration between Italian author Gabriele D'Annunzio and Claude Debussy, and designed as a vehicle for Ida Rubinstein. Debussy's contribution was a large-scale score of incidental music for orchestra and chorus, with solo vocal parts (for a soprano and two altos). Debussy accepted the commission in February 1911. Some of the material was orchestrated by André Caplet. Though the first Gabriel Astruc production was attended by scandal (the Archbishop of Paris requested Catholics not attend because the dancer playing St. Sebastian was a woman and a Jew), the work was not successful and did not enter the repertoire; thanks to Debussy's score, however, it has been recorded in abridged and adapted versions several times. More often performed is a four-movement orchestral suite made up of music extracted from the score and subtitled 'Fragments Symphoniques.'
Debussy, Claude. (1862-1918). Autograph Letter, Listing Orchestration for "Le Martyre de saint Sébastien".
A short autograph letter from the important French composer, listing the instruments needed for a piece he will compose. Undated [1911?], possibly addressed to Gabriel Astruc (1864 - 1938), the influential French playwright, journalist, theatre director and impresario, who supervised many important Ballets Russes programs, including the premiere of "Le Sacre du Printemps" and "Le Martyre de saint Sébastien." Translated from the French: "Dear friend, I thought I had given Monsieur de Morsier [of the publishing house in Paris, la Societe Musicale G. Astruc & Cie] the information that you ask for, but here it is again: 4 flutes (2 big, 2 small), 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 harps, 1 celeste (large model), 1 harmonium (offstage), percussion... and six months more to write the music. Yours, Claude Debussy." The instrumentation, with the addition of a string quartet, is that required for Debussy's music for Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (1911). On a black-bordered sheet of Debussy's Paris letterhead at 80 Avenue du Bois de Boulogne (where he lived from 1904 until 1918). 5.25 x 3.5 inches. In fine condition.
The five-act musical mystery play Le Martyre de saint Sébastien was produced in collaboration between Italian author Gabriele D'Annunzio and Claude Debussy, and designed as a vehicle for Ida Rubinstein. Debussy's contribution was a large-scale score of incidental music for orchestra and chorus, with solo vocal parts (for a soprano and two altos). Debussy accepted the commission in February 1911. Some of the material was orchestrated by André Caplet. Though the first Gabriel Astruc production was attended by scandal (the Archbishop of Paris requested Catholics not attend because the dancer playing St. Sebastian was a woman and a Jew), the work was not successful and did not enter the repertoire; thanks to Debussy's score, however, it has been recorded in abridged and adapted versions several times. More often performed is a four-movement orchestral suite made up of music extracted from the score and subtitled 'Fragments Symphoniques.'