DEBUSSY, CLAUDE - 3 Sonates - Danses Sacree et Profane (LP)

Debussy composed his ”Danse Sacr?e Et Profane” for harp in the concert repertory. The harp parts are surprisingly conventional, and actually not especially difficult to play, though the exotic, coruscating passagework and rich chordal effects might suggest otherwise. The main theme of the first s ection was inspired by a piano piece by the Portuguese composer Francisco de Lacerda. The second part is much faster, and takes the form of a waltz in the key of D major. Still, the music is filled with harmonic contradictions, particularly evident in the use of such “primitive” effects as the lowering of the seventh scale degree. Recorded in 1962.