20 MELODIES IN A BOTTLE We return to the marimba and string quartet for a quasi-symphonic version of Claude Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane for chromatic harp and strings. The touch of exoticism perceptible in Jean Cras’ work also permeates the score of his fellow countryman. “Debussy’s writing, often described as impressionist, requires as much lightness as it does luminosity. The marimba brings a shimmering radiance, while the quartet provides the depth of an orchestra,” the musicians affirm. They add that “Cras and Debussy were both influenced by extra-European music. In these pages, Jean Cras is surely thinking of the balafon, a percussion instrument from West Africa, while in his syncopated, modal, and repetitive writing, Debussy pays more direct homage to the gamelan, an ensemble of sacred Balinese percussion instruments.” If the marimba’s timbres blend naturally with the colours of the strings in Jean Cras, with Debussy it more often assumes the role of soloist.
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