Music teachers are often hard-pressed to find material that is both interesting and yet methodical enough to develop a student's technique. But if you can't find anything you like, sometimes the best solution is to write the exercises yourself. From Bach to Bartok, composers have contributed to the pedagogical literature, offering numerous opportunities for students to hone their scales beyond the oft-monotonous four-octave warm-up.
Debussy's Études acknowledge this tradition and yet gently self-mock the genre. The name étude is French for "study," a rather self-conscious designation of the piece's purpose. Yet while most études and preludes were rather cleverly disguised as concert pieces to avoid reminding performers and listeners that the piece was a technical drill, Debussy seems to go out of his way to remind everyone that a study is a study, no matter how pretty.
This is not to say that Debussy sounds simply mechanical in the Études. But given that he was known for lush pentatonic sound washes, the Études come across as very efficient and stripped down.
Finished in 1915 and dedicated to Chopin (whose études are considered some of the most musically expressive in the repertoire), the set consists of twelve pieces, divided into two books of six études each.
Like a method book, each étude is labeled with the technical drill the piece delivers. Ironically, though the methodical titles seem to suggest a high degree of respect for organization and rules (as found within the classical music world), the harmonic structure of the actual pieces playfully stretches those rules.
The first book emphasizes individual finger dexterity, giving opportunity for the pianist to play running thirds, fourths, sixths, octaves, and even exercises that use all the fingers but the thumbs. Delivering homage to Czerny, known more for his technique than his musical expressivity, the first étude cheekily starts out with a repetitive five-note scale.
The second book focuses more heavily on scale passages: the étude respectively deal with chromatic scales, passing scales between the two hands, repeating notes, exploring the extreme registers of the piano, arpeggios, and moving the hand quickly between chords.
Book One
1. Pour les (cinq doits) d'apres Monsieur Czerny
2. Pour les tierces
3. Pour les quartes
4. Pour les sixtes
5. Pour les octaves
6. Pour les huit doigts
Book Two
7. Pour les degres chromatiques
8. Pour les agrements
9. Pour les notes repetees
10. Pour les sonorites opposees
11. Pour les arpeges composes
12. Pour les accords
