Debussy: La Mer & Debussy/Matthews: Preludes

Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé give a dramatic and fresh interpretation of Debussy’s well loved tone poem, coupled with world premiere recordings of Colin Matthews’ stunning orchestrations of the Debussy Preludes.

‘The fact is,’ Debussy once remarked, ‘that the beauty of the work of art will always be a mystery, that is to say that one will never be able to work out “how it’s done”.’ The distinction of Colin Matthews’s orchestral arrangements of the 24 Preludes is that he seems to have worked out exactly ‘how it’s done’.

Far from writing note-for-note transcription, Matthews has discovered the secret of each piece and in most cases translated it faithfully, which does not mean literally, into orchestral terms. The 24 Preludes were orchestrated over a period of five years, following a commission from Mark Elder and the Hallé in 2001.

‘The arrival of the latest release on the Hallé Orchestra’s own label always brings with it a feeling of anticipation – a promise of superb performances, and some unfamiliar music among the well-known.’

The Daily Telegraph

‘Rarely have I heard the hostility of the sea evoked as eerily as in [Mark Elder’s] polished account of Debussy’s “La Mer”.’

The Observer, on the Hallé’s BBC Prom July 2006