CLAUDE DEBUSSY (arr. María Ramos): Rapsodie

Carlos Gimenez Martinez: Saxophone

Fergus McAlpine: Conductor

Zemlinsky Chamber Orchestra

Debussy’s Rapsodie for saxophone and orchestra was commissioned by amateur saxophonist, Elise Hall, who was responsible for a huge amount of repertoire for the [then] relatively new instrument. Debussy was confused by the instrument’s qualities and constantly put off finishing the piece. 18 years later, Debussy died and Hall was completely deaf, so the piece was finished by Jean Roger-Ducasse. This piece remains a rare and curious gem to this day, but still shows great lyrical qualities and harmonic colours of all Debussy’s music.

Debussy (arr. María Ramos): Rapsodie / Carlos Gimenez Martinez . Zemlinsky Chamber Orchestra

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CLAUDE DEBUSSY (arr. Jeremy Edelstein): La Damoiselle élue

Katherine Weber: Soprano

Aimee Hautvast: Mezzo-soprano

Fergus McAlpine: Conductor

Zemlinsky Chamber Orchestra and Chorus

La Damoiselle élue was Debussy’s first large-scale orchestral work, inspired by the poem of the same title (originally “The Blessed Damsel”), by Dante Rosetti, translated by Paul Sarrazin. The poem describes a young girl who’s life was tragically cut short, and how she looks down to Earth from Heaven, mourning her beloved partner. This beautiful work presents a retrospective of how we traditionally view the concept of death and the afterlife.

1st Soprano: Maaike Huppertz, Anouk Zwanenberg
2nd Soprano: Magdalena Michalko, Sterre Decru
1st Alto/Récitante: Aimée Hautvast, Diamanto Christoforide
2nd Alto: Linda de Hooge, Olga van Tongeren, Femke Hulsman

Debussy: La Damoiselle élue / Katherine Weber . Aimee Hautvast . Zemlinsky Chamber Orchestra/Chorus

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