You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 3.85.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪ST47‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a web host's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and they should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 21:48, 22 February 2026.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 05:35, 21 February 2024
- Expiry of block: 05:35, 21 February 2029
Your current IP address is 3.85.235.113. The blocked range is 3.85.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((short description|Composition for orchestra by Claude Debussy))
((italic title))
((Redirect|Trois Nocturnes|other uses|Three Nocturnes (disambiguation)))
((Infobox musical composition
| name                = ''Nocturnes''
| type                = [[Orchestral music]]
| composer            = [[Claude Debussy]]
| image               = Pour Georges Hartmann - "Nocturnes" - 1° Nuages - 2° Fêtes - 3° Sirènes - Claude Debussy - Paris - 1898 - 1899 (manuscrit autographe), p 3r.jpg
| image_upright       = 1.2
| caption             = Original manuscript of the orchestral arrangement
| catalogue           = [[List of compositions by Claude Debussy|L]] 98
| dedication          = [[Georges Hartmann]] (publisher)
| based_on            = ((plainlist|
* ''Poèmes anciens et romanesques'' by [[Henri de Régnier]]
* ''Nocturnes'' by [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler|James McNeill Whistler]]
))
| duration            = about 25 minutes
| movements           = ((plainlist|
* I. ''Nuages'' ("Clouds")
* II. ''Fêtes'' ("Festivals")
* III. ''Sirènes'' ("[[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]]")
))
| composed            = ((start date|1892))–1899
| performed           = ((plainlist|
* 9 December 1900 (((abbr|mvts|movements)) 1 & 2)
* 27 October 1901 (all 3 mvts)
))
| scoring             = ((hlist| Orchestra | women's chorus))
| published           = ((plainlist|
* 1900
* 1930 (revised version)
))
))
'''''Nocturnes''''', L 98 (also known as '''''Trois Nocturnes''''' or '''Three Nocturnes''') is an [[Impressionism in music|impressionist]] orchestral composition in three [[Movement (music)|movements]] by the French composer [[Claude Debussy]], who wrote it between 1892 and 1899. It is based on poems from ''Poèmes anciens et romanesques'' ([[Henri de Régnier]], 1890).

==Composition==
==="Three Scenes at Twilight"===
[[File:Debussy 1893.jpg|thumb|Debussy at the piano in the summer of 1893 ]]
Based on comments in various Debussy letters and in [[Léon Vallas]]'s biography,<ref name=DeVoto /> it has generally been assumed that composition of the ''Nocturnes'' began in 1892 under the title ''Trois Scènes au Crépuscule'' ("Three Scenes at Twilight"),<ref name=Rodda /> an orchestral [[triptych]].<ref name=Kuenning /><ref name=DeVoto /> However, the lack of actual manuscripts makes it impossible to determine whether such works were truly related to the ''Nocturnes''.<ref name=DeVoto />

''Trois Scènes au Crépuscule'' was inspired by ten poems by [[Henri de Régnier]] entitled ''Poèmes anciens et romanesques'' (published in 1890).<ref name="Jensen">((cite book |last1=Jensen |first1=Eric Frederick |title=Debussy |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=176–178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xY0dBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|isbn=978-0199730056 ))</ref> Régnier was a [[symbolist]] poet, and his poems contain vivid imagery and dreamlike associations of ideas. In a letter to [[Jacques Durand (publisher)|Jacques Durand]] on 3&nbsp;September 1907, Debussy writes "I am more and more convinced that music, by its very nature, is something that cannot be cast into a traditional and fixed form. It is made up of colors and rhythms";<ref name="Fisk">((cite book |last=Morgenstern |first=Sam |editor-last=Fisk |editor-first=Josiah |title=Composers on Music: Eight Centuries of Writings: A New and Expanded Revision of Morgenstern's Classic Anthology |year=1997 |orig-year=1956|publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston |page=207 |edition=2nd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iwZ-qTuSkUC&q=colors++rhythms |access-date=7 January 2020|isbn=978-1555532796 ))</ref> he found suitable material in the imagery of these poems.<ref name="Lockspeiser"/>((rp|127))

Debussy may have begun creating the work for an intended performance in [[New York City]], promoted and sponsored by Prince André Poniatowski, a banker and writer, and a confidant to whom Debussy frequently expressed himself in long letters.<ref name=Snyder /><ref name="Lockspeiser"/>((rp|168–169))<ref name=Orledge /> The New York performance was to consist of the premiere of Debussy's [[Fantaisie for piano and orchestra (Debussy)|''Fantaisie'' for piano and orchestra]] completed two years earlier, a rather traditional work in classical form but a tradition which Debussy in the next two years would reject and musically move away from (resulting in the ''Fantaisie'' never being performed or published in his lifetime); his experimental [[oratorio]] ''[[La Damoiselle élue]]'', from four years prior, also still unperformed as yet; and the ''Twilight Scenes'', which Debussy told the prince were "pretty much finished" even though he hadn't put anything on paper yet.<ref name=Snyder /><ref name="Lockspeiser"/>((rp|168–169)) The American concert deal fell through.<ref name=Snyder />

Debussy was already working with difficulty on his opera ''[[Rodrigue et Chimène]]'', a biography of ''[[El Cid]]''; it has been said that he eventually destroyed its complete score because he felt he could no longer write "that kind of music" to "that kind of literature",<ref name=Samuel /> but his biographer says he merely concealed them and they remained in private collections.<ref name="O'Brien"/>

He was also working on another orchestral triptych after a cycle of three poems by another symbolist poet, [[Stéphane Mallarmé]], called ''[[L'après-midi d'un faune (poem)|L'après-midi d'un faune]]'', that was more in keeping with the new style of music and inspiration Debussy was seeking. He had in fact asked Henri de Régnier, a close associate of Mallarmé, to inform the latter of his interest in setting the poems to a new kind of musical impression.<ref name=Rodda /> Mallarmé was vehemently opposed to juxtaposing poetry and music and was strongly against Debussy's compositional idea.<ref name=Valéry /> After Mallarmé heard the completed ''Prélude'' based on his first poem, however, Debussy had evidently caused him to completely reverse his belief, as he expressed his astonishment in lavishing praise and admiration in a personal letter to the composer.<ref name=Dumesnil />

===Three Nocturnes for solo violin and partitioned orchestra===
[[File:Whistler-Nocturne in black and gold.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|''[[Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket]]'' from a series of [[impressionism|impressionist]] paintings by [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler|Whistler]]]]
Meanwhile, Debussy's ''Scènes au Crépuscule'', after Régnier's poetry, were completed in piano score in 1893, but before Debussy had a chance to orchestrate them he attended the premiere performance of his [[String Quartet (Debussy)|String Quartet in G minor]] in December, given by the [[Ysaÿe Quartet (1886)|Ysaÿe Quartet]] led by Belgian violin virtuoso [[Eugène Ysaÿe]].<ref name=Avis /> Debussy was impressed and flattered by Ysaÿe's interest in his music and decided to rewrite his ''Twilight Scenes'' into a piece for solo violin and orchestra.<ref name=Rodda />

In 1894, after completing the first movement of his Mallarmé triptych entitled ''[[Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune|Prélude]]'' (to "The Afternoon of a Faun"), he began the recomposition of the ''Twilight Scenes'' in a new inspired style, retitling the new version ''Nocturnes'' after a series of paintings of the same name by [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler]], who was living in Paris at the time.<ref name=LAPhil /><ref name=Rodda />

In September he described the music to Ysaÿe as "an experiment in the different combinations that can be achieved with one colour—what a study in grey would be in painting".<ref name="O'Brien"/><ref name=Avis /> Whistler's most famous painting was a portrait of his mother called ''[[Arrangement in Grey and Black No.&nbsp;1]]''.<ref name=Rodda /> Debussy scored the orchestral part of the first of the three pieces for strings alone; the second for three flutes, four horns, three trumpets, and two harps; and the third for the two groupings together.<ref name=Avis /><ref name=Rodda /> The first version of the ''Nocturnes'' seems to be the one described; he later abandoned the idea of the solo violin arrangement when he was unable to get Ysaÿe to undertake the performance.<ref name="O'Brien"/>

Following the abandonment of ''Rodrigue et Chimène'' in 1893, Debussy had immediately begun work on an opera more to his liking, ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'', which occupied him with no small measure of trouble over the next nine years, until it premiered on 30&nbsp;April 1902.<ref name="Nichols">((cite book |last1=Nichols |first1=Roger |last2=Smith |first2=Richard Langham |title=Claude Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-31446-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q8OMyheKMpsC))</ref> Thus it wasn't until 1896 that he informed Ysaÿe that the music for the ''Nocturnes'' had pretty much been completed and he still wanted Ysaÿe to perform the solo violin part.<ref name=Rodda /><ref name=Avis />

By 1897, Debussy had decided to dispense with a solo violin part and the orchestral groupings, and simply write all three movements for a full orchestra. He worked for the next two years on the ''Nocturnes'', and once confessed to his friend and benefactor, the publisher [[Georges Hartmann]],<ref name=IMSLPHartmann /> that he was finding it more difficult to compose these three orchestral nocturnes than a five-act opera.<ref name=Rodda /> Wanting to equal the sensation caused by the success of "The Afternoon of a Faun" piece,<ref name=Rodda /> he drove himself toward an over-perfectionism with the ''Nocturnes''. Having worked on the composition for as long as seven years, constantly revising it and changing its very structure several times, he expected it to live up to his own grand, [[avant-garde]] views:
((quote|I myself love music passionately; and because I love it, I try to set it free from barren traditions that stifle it. It is a free art, gushing forth, an ((nowrap|[open-]air)) art, an art boundless as the elements, the wind, the sky, the sea! It must never be shut in and become an academic art.|Debussy, in an interview in ''[[Comœdia (paper)|Comœdia]]'', 1910<ref name="Woodwind">((cite book |title=Woodwind Anthology: A Compendium of Woodwind Articles from the Instrumentalist |date=1992 |location=Northfield, IL |publisher=Instrumentalist Company|volume=1 |page=599|quote=In an interview in ''[[Comœdia (paper)|Comœdia]]'' on January 31, 1910, he said... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I7IQAQAAMAAJ&q=%22love+music+passionately%22+stifle+barren |access-date=8 January 2020))</ref><ref name=Rodda />))

===Completion and further revision===
A full score of the manuscript of the ''Nocturnes'' was signed with the completion date of 15 December 1899.<ref name=Kuenning /> The manuscript bears a dedication to [[Georges Hartmann]], who helped to support Debussy financially beginning in 1894. It was published under contract to Hartmann's publisher, under the Eugène Fromont imprint in 1900. This printed score contained dozens of errors.<ref name=DeVoto />

The first two movements, ''Nuages'' and ''Fêtes'', received their premiere on 9 December 1900 in Paris by the [[Lamoureux Orchestra]] conducted by [[Camille Chevillard]]. The third movement ''Sirènes'' could not be staged because the female choir needed for it was unavailable.<ref name=Avis /> The complete work was premiered by the same orchestra and conductor on 27 October 1901. Though these initial performances received a cool response from the public, they were more positively hailed by fellow musicians. A review by [[Pierre de Bréville]] in the ''[[Mercure de France]]'' has been translated as saying: "It is pure music, conceived beyond the limits of reality, in the world of dreams, among the ever-moving architecture that God builds with mists, the marvelous creations of the impalpable realms."<ref name="Rodda" /><ref name="Daitz">((cite journal |last1=Daitz |first1=Mimi Segal |title=Pierre de Bréville (1861–1949) |journal=19th-Century Music |date=July 1981 |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=24–37|quote=Daitz suggests a date for the original article, but does not give the quote. More details may be available in her Ph.D. thesis. She writes: 'Breville's longest series of articles was written for the ''Mercure de France''. Missing only a few months, he wrote the "Revue du Mois-Musique" from February 1898 through July 1901. It was in one of these articles (January 1901) that he reviewed the premiere of Debussy's ''Nocturnes''.' |doi=10.2307/746557|jstor=746557 ))</ref>

For several years after its publication, almost until the day he died, Debussy continued to tinker with the composition, at first making corrections to dozens of errors in his copy of the published score, then moving on to adjusting small passages and fundamentally revising the [[orchestration]].<ref name="DeVoto" /><ref name="Rodda" /> Debussy made many subtle changes to ''Sirènes'' to integrate the wordless singing of the women's chorus with the orchestra.<ref name="LAPhil" /> Two of these scores exist with Debussy's changes in different colors of pencils and inks, and often these changes are contradictory or simply alternate versions.<ref name="DeVoto" /> As Debussy told conductor [[Ernest Ansermet]] when the latter asked which were the right ones: "I'm not really sure; they are all possibilities. Take this score with you and use whatever you like from it."<ref name="Labyrinth">((cite book |last1=Herlin |first1=Denis |chapter=Sirens in the Labyrinth: Amendments in Debussy's Nocturnes |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=Richard Langham |title=Debussy Studies |date=1997 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=51–77))</ref><ref name="DeVoto" />

Debussy continued to modify the composition just as he had for the seven years prior to its publication, sometimes just not satisfied or sometimes thinking of a new experiment in sound, a new color combination of instrumental [[timbre]]s he hadn't heard yet.<ref name="Mark">((cite book |last1=DeVoto |first1=Mark |title=Debussy and the veil of tonality : essays on his music |date=2004 |publisher=Pendragon Press |location=Hillsdale, NY|page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxrrQiB4U9cC&pg=PA99 |access-date=8 January 2020|isbn=978-1576470909 ))</ref> Many of these changes were finally incorporated into a "definitive version" published in 1930 by Jobert.<ref name="Mark"/><ref name=DeVoto /><ref name=Rodda /> This version continues to be performed today.

A comprehensive version addressing many more of Debussy's "possibilities" was published in 1999 by Durand, edited and annotated by Denis Herlin.<ref name="Herlin">((cite book |last1=Herlin |first1=Denis |title=Claude Debussy: Nocturnes |date=2000 |publisher=Durand (T. Presser) |location=Paris))</ref>  One reviewer states "in this new critical edition for the Debussy ''oeuvres complètes'', all of the most important questions concerning the establishment of a text of the ''Nocturnes'' for practical performance have been confidently answered."<ref name=DeVoto /> Herlin has carefully traced and analyzed four printings of the ''Nocturnes'' by Fromont, ending in 1922; multiple scores by Jean Jobert between 1922 and 1930; multiple versions of a heavily revised Jobert score appearing between 1930 and 1964; a 1977 edition by Peters of Leipzig; and a study score from Durand.<ref name=DeVoto />

The ''Nocturnes'' were performed as a ballet in May 1913, with [[Loie Fuller]] dancing.<ref name="O'Brien">((cite book |translator-first1=Maire |translator-last1=O'Brien|translator-first2=Grace |translator-last2=O'Brien|last1=Vallas |first1=Leon |title=Claude Debussy His Life And Works|date=1933 |publisher=Oxford University Press; Humphrey Milford |place=London |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.57948/  ))</ref> The ''Nocturnes'' are considered one of Debussy's most accessible and popular works, admired for their beauty and for holding new possibilities and wonder upon repeated hearings.<ref name=LAPhil />

== Instrumentation ==
The piece has the following instrumentation.<ref>((Cite web |title=Nocturnes (Claude Debussy) |url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/2463/nocturnes |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=LA Phil |language=en))</ref>

((col-begin))
((col-3))
;[[Woodwind instrument|Woodwinds]]
: 3 [[flute]]s (3rd doubling [[piccolo]])
: 2 [[oboe]]s
: 1 [[cor anglais]]
: 2 [[clarinet]]s
: 3 [[bassoon]]s

((col-3))

;[[Brass instrument|Brass]]
: 4 [[French horn|horns]] in F
: 3 [[trumpet]]s in F
: 3 [[trombone]]s
: 1 [[tuba]]

;[[Percussion section|Percussion]]
: [[timpani]]

: [[cymbal]]s
: [[snare drum]]
((col-3))
;[[Vocal type|Voices]]
: [[women's choir|women's chorus]] (3rd movement only)

;[[string instrument|Strings]]
: 2 [[harp]]s

: 1st [[violin]]s
: 2nd violins
: [[viola]]s
: [[cello]]s
: [[double bass]]es
((col-end))

==Music==
((listen
| filename     = Debussy Nocturnes1Nuages VPO.ogg
| title        = I. ''Nuages''
| description  = A computer-generated soundfile of the first movement
))

There are three [[movement (music)|movements]], each with a descriptive title.

((Ordered list|type=upper-roman

| ''Nuages'' ("Clouds")

| ''Fêtes'' ("Festivals")
| ''Sirènes'' ("Sirens")
))

The entire work lasts approximately 25 minutes.<ref name=LAPhil />

Debussy wrote an "introductory note" to the ''Nocturnes'' and each of the individual movements, printed in the programme for the first complete performance in 1901:<ref name=Brook /> "The title 'Nocturnes' is to be interpreted here in a general and, more particularly, in a decorative sense. Therefore, it is not meant to designate the usual form of the Nocturne, but rather all the various impressions and the special effects of light that the word suggests."<ref name="O'Brien"/>
===I. ''Nuages''===
[[File:Thema aus Debussy Trois Nocturnes, Nuages.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Theme]]
[[File:Septnonakkordparallelen in Debussy Troid Nocturnes, Nuages.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Parallel [[seventh chord]]s]]
The tempo markings are "Modéré – Un peu animé – Tempo I – Plus lent – Encore plus lent."<ref name="IMSLP">((cite web |title=Nocturnes |url=http://ks.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/5/53/IMSLP419438-SIBLEY1802.30697.b039-39087009438930score.pdf |access-date=3 February 2020 |website=IMSLP))</ref> 

According to Debussy, "'Nuages' renders the immutable aspect of the sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds, fading away in grey tones lightly tinged with white."<ref name="O'Brien" /> Biographer [[Léon Vallas]] recorded Debussy's comments on the genesis of this piece:((quote|
One day, in stormy weather, as Debussy was crossing the [[Pont de la Concorde (Paris)|Pont de la Concorde]] in Paris with his friend Paul Poujaud, he told him that on a similar kind of day the idea of the symphonic work "Clouds" had occurred to him: he had visualized those very thunderclouds swept along by a stormy wind; a boat passing, with its horn sounding. These two impressions are recalled in the languorous succession of chords and by the short chromatic theme on the English horn.<ref name="Brook"/><ref name="Cox">A very similar translation is given by ((cite book |last1=Cox |first1=David |title=Debussy orchestral music |date=1974 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |page=20))</ref><ref name="similar">A similar translation is given by ((cite book |last1=DeVoto |first1=Mark |title=Debussy and the veil of tonality : essays on his music |date=2004 |publisher=Pendragon Press |location=Hillsdale, NY |page=99 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WxrrQiB4U9cC&pg=PA99 |access-date=8 January 2020|isbn=978-1576470909 )), which credits the original text to Léon Vallas, ''Claude Debussy et son temps.''  Paris: Albin Michel, 1958.</ref><ref name="Vallas">((cite book |last1=Vallas |first1=Léon |title=Claude Debussy et son temps |date=1958 |publisher=Albin Michel |location=Paris))</ref>))((Clear))

===II. ''Fêtes''===
[[File:Debussy - Fêtes - à 15 temps.PNG|thumb|upright=1.8|''Fêtes'' uses ((Time signature|15|8)) time (shown subdivided into  ((Time signature|9|8)) and  ((Time signature|6|8)))]]The tempo markings are "Animé et très rythmé – Un peu plus animé – Modéré mais toujours très rythmé – Tempo I – De plus en plus sonore et en serrant le mouvement – Même Mouvement."<ref name="IMSLP" />

According to Debussy:
((quote|"Fêtes" gives the vibrating, dancing rhythm of the atmosphere with sudden flashes of light. There is also the episode of the procession (a dazzling fantastic vision), which passes through the festive scene and becomes merged in it. But the background remains resistantly the same: the festival with its blending of music and luminous dust participating in the cosmic rhythm.<ref name="O'Brien"/>))

Léon Vallas, in his biography, continues:

((quote|Debussy went on to explain to Poujaud that "Festivals" had been inspired by a recollection of merry-making in the [[Bois de Boulogne]], with noisy crowds watching the drum and bugle corps of the [[Garde Nationale]] pass in parade.<ref name=Brook />))

===III. ''Sirènes''===
The tempo markings are "Modérément animé – Un peu plus lent – En animant surtout dans l'expression – Revenir progressivement au Tempo I – En augmentant peu à peu – Tempo I – Plus lent et en retenant jusqu'à la fin."<ref name="IMSLP" />

According to Debussy, "'Sirènes' depicts the sea and its countless rhythms and presently, amongst the waves silvered by the moonlight, is heard the mysterious song of the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]] as they laugh and pass on.<ref name="O'Brien" />

==Whistler and Debussy==
The title, ''Nocturnes'', refers not to [[Nocturne|the musical tradition]] of the same name but to the "[[Nocturne painting|nocturne]]" paintings of [[James Abbott McNeill Whistler|Whistler]], who in turn had borrowed the term from music.<ref>((cite book | last = Walsh | first = Stephen | title = Debussy: A Painter in Sound | publication-place = London | publisher = Faber & Faber | year = 2018 | isbn = 978-0-571-33016-4 ))</ref>((rp|133)) Debussy's description of the ''Sirens'' movement reminded his biographer Léon Vallas of Whistler's "Harmonies in blue and silver". Vallas noted that Whistler "was a favourite with Debussy, and their art has often been compared."<ref name=Brook />
The two were mutual influences, with Whistler borrowing from musical vocabulary to name his pictures, while Debussy did something similar in reverse.<ref name="O'Brien"/>
((Gallery
| title        =
| align        =
| style        =
| state        =
| height       =
| width        =
| captionstyle =
 | footer = 
 | James Abbot McNeill Whistler 007.jpg
 | alt1 =
 | ''Harmony in blue and silver: Trouville''
 | Nocturne in Blue and Silver, by James Abbot McNeill Whistler, c. 1871-1872, oil on panel - Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University - DSC01240.jpg
 | alt5 =
 | Nocturne: Blue and Silver
 | James Abbott McNeill Whistler - Nocturne- Blue and Silver - Chelsea - Google Art Project.jpg
 | alt2 =
 | [[Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea]]
 | James McNeill Whistler - Nocturne- Blue and Silver—Battersea Reach - Google Art Project.jpg
 | alt3 =
 | Nocturne: Blue and Silver – [[Battersea]] Reach
 | James McNeill Whistler - Nocturne- Blue and Silver—Bognor - Google Art Project.jpg
 | alt4 =
 | Nocturne: Blue and Silver – [[Bognor]]
 | James Abbott McNeill Whistler - Nocturne in Blue and Silver- The Lagoon, Venice - Google Art Project.jpg
 | alt6 =
 | Nocturne: Blue and Silver – [[Venetian Lagoon|The Lagoon, Venice]]
 | James McNeill Whistler - Nocturne in Blue and Silver - Google Art Project.jpg
 | alt7 =
 | Nocturne: Blue and Silver
 ))

==Arrangements==
The complete work was transcribed in 1910 for two pianos by [[Maurice Ravel]] and [[Raoul Bardac]] (Debussy's pupil and stepson), and was first performed in 1911.<ref name=Avis /> ''Fêtes'' was arranged for solo piano by the English pianist [[Leonard Borwick]], and the arrangement has been recorded by [[Emil Gilels]], among others.<ref name=Tanin /> ''Fêtes'' has also been transcribed for large symphonic wind ensemble by Merlin Patterson and William Schaefer.<ref name="worldcat">((cite journal |title=Fêtes : from Three nocturnes |oclc=16400183 ))</ref>

==References==
((Reflist|refs=

<ref name=Avis>((cite AV media notes
|author-first=Peter |author-last=Avis
|title=Trois Nocturnes, L98. composer: Claude Debussy
|url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W4085
|id=[https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/55014-B.pdf Liner notes to Debussy : The complete music for two pianos] (Stephen Coombs and Christian Scott, 2p), Helios CDH55014 (CD), May 1999 [1991 Hyperion]
|year=1999
|publisher=[[Hyperion Records]]
|access-date=27 October 2019
))</ref>

<ref name=Brook>((cite book
|author-first=Donald |author-last=Brook
|title=Five great French composers: Berlioz, César Franck, Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Ravel: Their Lives and Works
|location=Freeport, NY
|publisher=Books for Libraries Press
|year=1971
|orig-year=1946
|page=168
))</ref>

<ref name=DeVoto>((cite web
|author-first=Mark|author-last= DeVoto
|author-link=Mark DeVoto
|title=Claude Debussy: Nocturnes. Édition de Denis Herlin. Paris: Durand, 1999 & Paris: Durand (T. Presser), 2000. Reviewed
|url=https://sites.tufts.edu/markdevoto/files/2018/05/Nocturnesreview.pdf
|date=16 May 2018
|orig-year=Revised from ''Notes'' September 2001
|publisher=[[Tufts University]]
|access-date=27 October 2019
))</ref>

<ref name=Dumesnil>((cite book
|author-first=Maurice|author-last= Dumesnil
|author-link=Maurice Dumesnil
|title=Claude Debussy : Master of Dreams
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIMHAQAAMAAJ
|year=1979
|orig-year=1940
|location=Westport, CT
|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]
|isbn=978-0-313-20775-4
|page=181
))</ref>

<ref name=IMSLPHartmann>((cite web
|author=IMSLP
|title=G. Hartmann
|url=https://imslp.org/wiki/G._Hartmann
|publisher=[[Petrucci Music Library]]
|access-date=29 October 2019
))</ref>

<ref name=Kuenning>((cite web
|author-first=Geoff |author-last=Kuenning
|title=Debussy: Nocturnes
|url=https://lasr.cs.ucla.edu/ficus-members/geoff/prognotes/debussy/nocturnes.html
|work=Program notes for Concerts by the Symphony of the Canyons
|date=14 December 1996
|publisher=[[UCLA]]
|access-date=27 October 2019
))</ref>

<ref name=LAPhil>((cite web
|title=Nocturnes
|url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/2463/nocturnes
|publisher=[[Los Angeles Philharmonic]]
|access-date=11 October 2012
))</ref>

<ref name="Lockspeiser">((cite book
|author-first=Edward |author-last=Lockspeiser
|author-link=Edward Lockspeiser
|title=Debussy: His Life and Mind, Volume 1 : 1862–1902
|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=CY85AAAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PP1
|location=Cambridge and New York
|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
|year=1978
|orig-year=reprint of 1966 Second ed. (1st ed. 1962)
|isbn=978-0-521-29341-9
|page=127
))</ref>

<ref name=Orledge>((cite book
|author-first=Robert |author-last=Orledge
|author-link=Robert Orledge
|chapter=Debussy the Man
|title=The Cambridge Companion to Debussy
|editor=Simon Trezise
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00trez_0
|year=2003
|location=Cambridge
|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
|isbn=978-0-521-65478-4
))</ref>

<ref name=Rodda>((cite web
|author-first=Richard E.|author-last= Rodda
|title=Nocturnes Nos. 1 and 2. About the Work. Composer: Claude Debussy
|url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/artist/composition/5213
|year=2019
|publisher=[[The Kennedy Center]]
|id=Article also at [https://www.thesymphony.org/program-notes/view/carpenter-plays-poulenc-saint-saens Santa Barbara Symphony website]
|access-date=27 October 2019
))</ref>

<ref name=Samuel>((cite AV media notes
|author-first=Claude |author-last=Samuel
|author-link=Claude Samuel
|title=Rodrigue et Chimène, notes
|id=Debussy: Rodrigue et Chimène ([[Kent Nagano]], conductor), Erato 98508 (CD), 1995
|year=1995
|publisher=[[Erato Records|Erato Disques]]
|pages=12–13
))</ref>

<ref name=Snyder>((cite book
|author-first=Harvey Lee |author-last=Snyder
|title=Afternoon of a Faun: How Debussy Created a New Music for the Modern World
|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=CD45CwAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PP1
|year=2015
|location=Milwaukee
|publisher=[[Amadeus Press]]
|isbn=978-1-574-67482-8
|pages=117–120
))</ref>

<ref name=Tanin>((cite web
|author-first=Ates |author-last=Tanin
|title=Recorded Gilels
|url=http://www.doremi.com/RecGilels.html
|date=1 August 2005
|publisher=Doremi
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060414232111/http://www.doremi.com/RecGilels.html
|archive-date=2006-04-14
))</ref>

<ref name=Valéry>((cite book
|author-first=Paul |author-last=Valéry
|author-link=Paul Valéry
|chapter=Stephane Mallarmé
|title=Collected Works of Paul Valéry, Volume 8: Leonardo, Poe, Mallarmé
|chapter-url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=XL99BgAAQBAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PP1
|translator1=Malcolm Cowley
|translator1-link=Malcolm Cowley
|translator2=[[James R. Lawler]]
|year=1933
|location=London
|publisher=[[Routledge & Kegan Paul]]
|publication-date=1972
|isbn=0-7100-7148-5
|page=263
))</ref>

))

==External links==
((Commons category|Nocturnes (Debussy)))
* ((IMSLP2|work=Nocturnes (Debussy, Claude)|cname=Nocturnes))
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s4LZbr_h50 YouTube] - Pierre Boulez, Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus (Salzburg Festival, August 30, 1992)
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0LR1Rw0W4c YouTube] - Mikko Franck, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Chœur de Radio France, Maîtrise de Radio France (September 15, 2017)

((Claude Debussy))
((Impressionist music))

((authority control))

[[Category:Suites by Claude Debussy]]
[[Category:1899 compositions]]
[[Category:Compositions for symphony orchestra]]
[[Category:Nocturnes|Debussy]]
[[Category:Orchestral suites]]
[[Category:Music based on poems]]
[[Category:Orchestral compositions with chorus]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Nocturnes (Debussy) (edit)
Trois Nocturnes (edit)
Template:Abbr (view source) (protected)
Template:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Blockquote (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Blockquote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite AV media notes (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite journal (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Claude Debussy (edit)
Template:Clear (view source) (protected)
Template:Col-3 (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-begin (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-begin/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-break (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-end (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Comma separated entries (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Commons category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Gallery (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist (view source) (protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:IMSLP (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:IMSLP2 (view source) (semi-protected)
Template:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Impressionist music (edit)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox musical composition (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Listen (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Nowrap (view source) (protected)
Template:Ordered list (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Plainlist (view source) (protected)
Template:Plainlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Quote (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:R/superscript (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:R/where (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Redirect (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Replace (view source) (protected)
Template:Rp (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Serif (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Sister project (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Start date (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:Time signature (view source) (semi-protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/auxiliary (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:DecodeEncode (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:EditAtWikidata (view source) (protected)
Module:File link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Gallery (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Gallery/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:GetParameters (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Italic title (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:List (view source) (protected)
Module:Listen (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Listen/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Plain text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Redirect hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Separated entries (view source) (protected)
Module:Side box (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Side box/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:String2 (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Su (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:WikidataIB (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/nolinks (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WikidataIB/titleformats (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Nocturnes (Debussy).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnes_(Debussy)"