Instrumentation : 3 × B♭Clarinets、1 × Bass Clarinet
Playing time : 4'30"
Grade : 3
Description: This short waltz for solo piano was written in 1910 and first performed at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Paris. Debussy was interested in the valse lente, a genre popular in Europe at the time and explored by many composers. Despite its title, the piece does not appear to call for a consistently slow tempo. The marking “Molto rubato con morbidezza” suggests a flexible, freely flowing approach, setting it apart from a conventional valse lente.
When discussing the publication of the orchestral version, Debussy wrote to his publisher about the beautiful audiences he imagined gathering for five o’clock tea. The custom had been brought from London to Paris by the Ritz Hotel’s founder, César Ritz. These words suggest that La plus que lente evokes the urban elegance of a Parisian salon.