Debussy: The Preludes 175
IV. “The Fairies are Exquisite Dancers” (Les
Fées sont d’exquises danseuses)
Aerial lightness, rapidity and grace; the ethereal sensu-
Oiisness of an impalpable world of fairy movement and
color.
V. “Heather” (Bruyères)
A delicate and gracious bit of fancy and autumnal color.
The influence of Chabrier is obvious.
VI. “The Eccentric General Lavine” (Général
Lavine-e xcentrique)
Debussy’s impression of a clown and a delightful piece
of pompous humour and burlesque.
VII. “The Terrace where the Moon Receives”
(La Terrace des Audiences du Clair de Lune)
One of the greatest of the “Preludes” and a miracle of
symbolist expressiveness which tempts one to quote the
following passage from “Monsieur Croche anti-dilletante”.
. . . “Music alone has the power to evoke, at will, those
imaginary sites and that fantastic but indubitable world
which is secretly at work in the mysterious poetry of the
night, in the thousand anonymous noises of the leaves, ca-
ressed by the rays of the moon.”
The title comes from one of the "Indian Letters” which
René Puaux wrote for Le Temps, but Godet, who divulged
the origin of the phrase, is careful not to say whether the
music was written before or after Debussy happened to
encounter it.1
* In this and other connections it is interesting to note that Debussy
has inscribed his titles at the end, instead of at the head of the “Preludes”.