Piano Guidance
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What grade standard is Clair de Lune?

Debussy's 'Clair de lune' is written for solo piano – and it is actually quite straight-forward. If you can play piano up to about Grade 6 standard you should be able to have a go at it.

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Debussy’s Clair de Lune: the romantic piano piece that even has a starring role in Twilight

By Elizabeth Davis

‘Clair de lune’, meaning moonlight, was written by the Impressionist French composer Claude Debussy. Here’s everything you need to know about this piano masterpiece Claude Debussy started writing the incredibly romantic piano piece Clair de lune in 1890 when he was just 28, but it wasn’t published for another 15 years! The title means ‘Moonlight’ and the piece is actually part of the four-movement work Suite Bergamasque. ‘Clair de lune’ takes its title from an atmospheric poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine which depicts the soul as somewhere full of music ‘in a minor key’ where birds are inspired to sing by the ‘sad and beautiful’ light of the moon.

Is it easy?

Debussy’s ‘Clair de lune’ is written for solo piano – and it is actually quite straight-forward. If you can play piano up to about Grade 6 standard you should be able to have a go at it.

‘Clair de lune’ featured in Twilight

via GIPHY

Debussy’s piano miniature featured in the phenomenally popular Twilight films starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. This piece was played when Bella visits Edward in his house for the first time. When Bella presses play on Edward’s sound system, ‘Clair de lune’ starts playing – he says ‘It’s Debussy’ and she replies ‘Clair de lune is great’. Well we can’t argue with that, Bella.

Is it romantic?

The producers of Twilight clearly thought so – Bella and Edward dance to the piece. But more than that - it's a piece for solo piano about a beautiful moonlit night. if that's not romantic, we don't know what is. If you're looking for more romantic music, here's our list of the romantic pieces ever written.

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Is sonata slow or fast?

fast Most first movements of Classical sonatas are in sonata form, and they are usually fast; the second movement commonly provides the contrast of a slower tempo; and the last movement in most cases is again fast.

Summary

sonata, type of musical composition, usually for a solo instrument or a small instrumental ensemble, that typically consists of two to four movements, or sections, each in a related key but with a unique musical character. Deriving from the past participle of the Italian verb sonare, “to sound,” the term sonata originally denoted a composition played on instruments, as opposed to one that was cantata, or “sung,” by voices. Its first such use was in 1561, when it was applied to a suite of dances for lute. The term has since acquired other meanings that can easily cause confusion. It can mean a composition in two or more movements, or separate sections, played by a small group of instruments, having no more than three independent parts. Most frequently it refers to such a piece for one or two instruments, such as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata (1801) for piano. By extension, sonata can also refer to a composition for a larger instrumental group having more than two or three parts, such as a string quartet or an orchestra, provided that the composition is based on principles of musical form that from the mid-18th century were used in sonatas for small instrumental groups. The term has been more loosely applied to 20th-century works, whether or not they rely on 18th-century principles. Quite distinct from all of the preceding, however, is the use of the term in “sonata form.” This denotes a particular form, or method of musical organization, typically used in one or more movements of multimovement instrumental works written since the beginning of the Classical period (the period of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven) in the mid-18th century. Such works include sonatas, string quartets and other chamber music, and symphonies. (See sonata form.)

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