Debussy Prelude from Book 1, "...La Fille aux cheveux de lin"

This Debussy prelude for piano is characterized by a beautiful melody, played in the right hand, accompanied by blocked chords in the left and right hands. The introduction of the piece is the melodic voice playing sol-mi-do-la-do-mi-sol-mi-do-la-do-mi-do-do-la-do which sounds very tonic even with the la. The accompanying parts come in at the end of the introduction's melodic phrase with a V-I chord progression, but the melody keeps going from the I chord so that it does not sound overly cadential or like a closed stopping point. The melody plays two chord tone pick up notes in preparation for the next phrase which is mostly blocked chords. The next phrase focuses more on the melody which has noticeable chord changes on the beat. The melody makes its way down the tonic scale to a low chord which then works itself back up the key board. Quite often in this portion of the piece, the chord is played and then the melody plays. Before this structure repeats itself, there is another random phrase where both hands are moving in parallel motion, changing chords together, to work their way a short distance down the piano. The next part, which I would call the B portion, definitely sounds as if it modulates. This is the loudest part of the piece and I call it the climax. Even though the chordal accompanying of the melody is similar to previous, the melody is completely different. After the climax, the resolution has an interesting, Asian sounding chord progression where both hands move in parallel motion. The transition section works so well that the modulation back to our original key is not overly noticeable. At this point the introduction from the beginning of the piece comes in an octave higher. A portion of the first section is played before the dominant chord is played in variations up the keyboard, before going to the tonic chord, creating a possible authentic cadence. The tonic octave is then played, one note at a time, starting with the lowest note and going up.
I enjoy the slow and beautiful, yet still happy sound, that this piece is able to create through it's tempo, rhythms, and chords. Every chord is played slowly and clearly so that the listener can receive the chords full tonal value. In English the title translates to "Girl with the flaxen (blonde) hair." Maybe when Debussy wrote this he had a certain girl in mind. The piece is overwhelmingly graceful, from the introduction to the climax and resolution. The end is most graceful and portrays the pieces naturally flowing, beautiful sound.