Debussy: Petite Suite - symphonic wind dectet
The Petite Suite, L 65, is a suite for piano four hands by Claude Debussy. It has been transcribed many times, most notably in an orchestral version by Debussy's colleague Henri Büsser.
It is arranged here for symphonic wind dectet (double wind quintet) and bass
I have also arranged it for wind quintet.
Dectet arrangements of individual movements are also available.
other movements in preparation.
Background
The suite, which was composed from 1886 to 1889, was first performed on 2 February 1889 by Debussy and pianist-publisher Jacques Durand at a salon in Paris.It may have been written due to a request (possibly from Durand) for a piece that would be accessible to skilled amateurs, as its simplicity is in stark contrast with the modernist works that Debussy was writing at the time
Structure
The work, which lasts about 13 minutes in performance,has four movements:
En bateau (Sailing): Andantino
Cortège (Retinue): Moderato (see notes below re clarinets)
Menuet: Moderato (2nd oboe plays cor anglais)
Ballet: Allegro giusto (2nd flute plays piccolo)
The first two movements of his Petite Suite are drawn from two poems of Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) from his 1869 volume Fêtes galantes.
i. En bateau (sailing)
In En bateau (Sailing), revelers in a boat have their minds on romantic trysts as they sail at dusk on a dark lake. Debussy’s music captures perfectly a mood of water-borne serenity and languor, opening with a kind of musical sigh that made the Petite Suite immediately popular with a wide audience.
I have given the opening melody, as does Henri Busser, to the flute.
II. The title “Cortège (Retinue)” does not refer to a funeral cortege, rather to a promenade.
Debussy happily conveys Verlaine’s outward textual playfulness as a lady and her escort of a liveried monkey and pageboy go for a promenade and then retire upstairs. Nor does he miss the less-than-pure thoughts on the minds of her companions as their mistress proceeds.
Debussy’s setting suggests a procession but without much elegance.
Both the movements that follow lack literary reference.
III.Menuet is the most intimate and personal movement of this work. Register shifts are introduced here, allowing us to appreciate the fast changes in tone quality.
IV. The finale, Ballet, has a strong rhythmic drive and percussive quality. This movement, which has features of Javanese gamelan music, might perhaps be the most carefree music of Debussy.
Transcriptions:
The Petite Suite was orchestrated by Debussy's colleague Henri Büsser in 1907, and published by A. Durand & Fils. Büsser's transcription calls for two flutes(second doubling piccolo), two oboes (second doubling cor anglais), two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, percussion (cymbals, tambourineand triangle), harp, and strings.
My arrangement is for wind dectet/decet/tentet or double wind quintet plus bass.
N.B. Büsser uses Bb clarinets throughout (same as this arrangement) In mvt II “Cortege” they start in F# major (6 sharps) which makes the parts challenging!
N.B. I have now added additional Clarinet in Bb/A parts (as of 14/10/2025) for those players who possess both clarinets!
