Claude Debussy
Rêverie

Unlike nearly everything else written for the Parisian salons of the 1880s, this music still has the power to gently lure you into an addictive dream world.

ID: 1160
Claude Debussy

Rêverie

Key: F Major
Year: 1890
Level: 8
Period: Impressionism
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Debussy Daydreaming

Debussy’s Rêverie was one of the first pieces he composed that made a, pardon the pun, big impression on the musical world. It’s a charming little meditation, that doesn't contain any of the pyrotechnics that some of his later works did; but there are some mild hints that point to Debussy’s later style in terms of harmony. The dreams the performer experiences while playing the piece get lusher and more expansive throughout the piece – although without ever arriving at a real climax (a fact that contributes to the dreamlike atmosphere) – until the quiet ending where the slumbering person doing the dreaming turns over and goes back to sleep.

Background

Debussy didn’t regard Rêverie as an important work – in fact rather the opposite. At the time, Debussy complained in a letter to a friend that “the various lessons I rely on for my daily bread have gone off to the seaside, without a thought for my domestic economy". He composed Rêverie and had it published in the hope of getting some economic relief. When another publishing firm (Fromont) reprinted it much later, he wrote: “I regret very much your decision to publish Rêverie. I wrote it in a hurry years ago, purely for material considerations. It is a work of no consequence and I frankly consider it to be no good!”


Forum posts about this piece:

Debussy - Rêverie by livvie
Hi! I recently started playing Rêverie by Debussy. I'm having trouble with bar 19, specifically the octave c with the e flat. My hands are pretty small. Normally I don't have any trouble with playing...

Quick question about Jazz by oldbrakes
I'm wondering if anyone can give me any piece of piano music that influences Jazz piano earlier than Satie's Prélude d'Eginhard (1893). This piece could be Bill Evans in a quiet club one night, but...

Building a music library by jimf12
First post on the forum, so first off hello to all... Background.... I am an adult re-starter, after ~10 years of not playing I am back at it.    I am looking for advice in...

Debussy's "Reverie" by simyl
Hi there, has anyone played / listen to Debussy's "Reverie" before? Does anyone wants to share anything about this piece? I am going to perform this piece in a piano competition on May...

trouble with debussy pedalling by ptyrrell
not sure how to pedal the opening 11 bars of debussy 'reverie'.  I read somewhere that the pedal remains down throughout the opening.  I feel the need to change in bar 7 when the harmony...

Regarding Reverie by Debussy by rach3pianoconcerto
Hi I have just started looking at this piece and i have not gone through the whole piece yet and am wondering what people are saying about how debussys uses some unorthodox fifths in this piece. Can...

Progressive Pieces by ryno200sx
Before I begin.....I am new to this forum and I would like to say thank all those who contribute.....I have found your collective advice/tips/experiences to be invaluable. As I said before in another post I...


Members who like this piece have also downloaded:

Claude Debussy: Rêverie in F major - piano sheet music to print instantly. This piece is level 8 and was composed during the Impressionism period.
This piece is composed by Claude Debussy and was published in 1890. Title: Rêverie, in G Minor . The difficulty level if graded by ABRSM would be approximately 8 and it belongs to the Impressionism period.