Claude Debussy

Bilitis

In 1900, three years after the publication of his three songs, La Flûte de Pan, La Chevelure and Le Tombeau des Naïades, Claude Debussy wrote some little known incidental music to accompany the Chansons de Bilitis poems by Pierre Louys. The instrumental ensemble chosen at the time consisted of two flutes, two harps and a celesta. In 1913 he reworked the principal themes to make the' Six épigraphes antiques for four-hand piano. It seems interesting, and even natural, to present this' version of the Six épigraphes antiques as a faithful reproduction of the original colour.