Claude Debussy

The Annotated Danses Sacrée et Profane

Since their composition in 1904, Debussy's Danses sacree et profane are among the most frequently programmed of all of Debussy's works. The piece was originally written for chromatic harp, and the legendary harpist Henriette Renie made a transcription for pedal harp in 1910. For this edition, Carl Swanson compared the Renie version to the original manuscript in the National Library of France. While preserving virtually all of the editing that Renie made to the chromatic harp part, Mr. Swanson found that Mme Renie altered many of Debussy's musical indications and changed some of Debussy's notes to harmonics which have been changed back for this edition. This new engraving of the Danses - the first since 1910 - has all of the pedal changes printed in a typeface large and dark enough to see easily. There are three or four systems on each page instead of five, allowing more room to write. There are footnotes throughout explaining the differences between the Renie version and the original manuscript.