The Suite Bergamasque (ber-gah-'mask) is one of the most famous piano suites of Claude Debussy, and is widely regarded as the most fascinating. It was likely named after Paul Verlaine's poem "Clair de lune", which references a bergamask. It was published in 1905 and consists of four parts, or movements. A short grand piano, with the top up. ... Claude Debussy, photo by Félix Nadar, 1908. ... Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (IPA: ; March 30, 1844–January 8, 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. ... Bergamask, or bergomask (from the town of Bergamo in North Italy), a clumsy rustic dance (cf. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... In music, a movement is a large division of a larger composition or musical form. ...

1. Prélude
2. Menuet
3. Clair de lune
4. Passepied

The Prélude is played in the key of F, tempo rubato. It is full of dynamic contrasts with a very spectacular beginning and ending. The second movement is entitled Menuet, according to the typical Baroque suite form. It is quite mysterious, yet playful during its pianissimo parts and shows interesting harmonies. It is followed by the well-known Clair de lune (Moonlight), a very soft and tender masterpiece of Debussy, played mostly pianissimo. Finally, the Passepied. It is played in F-sharp minor, allegretto ma non troppo; it is again playful and ends with a very quiet part after going through a section in C minor. In Music theory, the key is the tonal center of a piece. ... This article will be merged with Italian musical terms at some point in the near future. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... In music, a suite is an organized set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed at a single sitting, as a separate musical performance, not accompanying an opera, ballet, or theater-piece. ... In music, dynamics normally refers to the softness or loudness of a sound or note, but also to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic (staccato, legato etc. ... The first two measures of Mozarts Sonata XI, which indicates the tempo as Andante grazioso and a modern editors metronome marking: = 120. “Andante” redirects here. ...

Clair de lune de la Suite Bergamasque

Main theme of Clair de lune

The third movement of Suite bergamasque is its most famous; titled "Clair de lune," it is heard widely in movies, television shows, advertisements, and the like. The piece is mostly played pianissimo, and the variations between intensity and distance make this masterpiece one of the most beautiful from the Impressionist epoch. It is played in D-flat major, with the exception of its climax which modulates to E major. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 187 pixelsFull resolution (801 × 187 pixel, file size: 26 KB, MIME type: image/png) Excerpt from Clair de Lune of Claude Debussys Suite bergamasque for solo piano. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 187 pixelsFull resolution (801 × 187 pixel, file size: 26 KB, MIME type: image/png) Excerpt from Clair de Lune of Claude Debussys Suite bergamasque for solo piano. ... In music, dynamics normally refers to the softness or loudness of a sound or note, but also to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic (staccato, legato etc. ... The impressionist movement in music is a movement in European classical music that had its beginnings in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. ...

Use in film

• Walt Disney had planned to use Clair de lune for a segment of the 1940 film Fantasia, but the sequence was deleted from the film at 70% completion because of Fantasia's excessive length. The animated Clair de lune sequence, which illustrates the flow of the music with the movements of egrets, was later restored from a workprint in 1996 and included on a 2000 Fantasia DVD box set.

• Terrence McNally's play and film Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune uses Clair de lune both in the title and as a key plot element.

• In Federico Fellini's 1983 imaginative fable E la nave va (English title: And the Ship Sails On) Clair de lune is played in many scenes.

• Nick Nolte's character plays a portion of Clair de lune at a piano in the Paul Mazursky film Down and Out in Beverly Hills while boasting to Jenny Whiteman that he "...opened with this piece back when [he] toured the concert circuit..."

• Clair de lune is used as a theme in the 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, specifically as the music box first given to the Dalai Lama.

• Clair de lune is used in David Fincher's The Game in the restaurant scene and contains a hint to Christine's real name.

• An orchestral arrangement of Clair de lune by Lucien Cailliet is featured in the concluding part of the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, presented as part of the Bellagio Resort's fountain show. The song remains a part of the show's musical rotation. Also, a solo piano arrangement can also be heard, albeit extremely quietly, in the background of the scene where the characters meet for the first time in Reuben's backyard. In its second sequel, Ocean's Thirteen, a slight echo of Isao Tomita's electronic version of "Clair de lune" is heard when the characters Danny and Rusty meet again in front of the Bellagio and in the scene where Reuben is reading the get-well-letters.

• A solo piano arrangement is used on the soundtrack of "Man on Fire."

• Another orchestral arrangement is found in the 1983 film The Right Stuff, during an apocryphal scene set in the early 1960s in which exotic dancer Sally Rand performs a flower dance in honor of the Mercury Seven astronauts during a Texas barbecue hosted by then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson.

• Different portions of Suite Bergamasque are used in the Japanese film All About Lily Chou-Chou.

• Also portions of Suite Bergamasque have been found in a Japanese drama by the name of "Orange Days."

• Recently, Clair de lune has been used in a Chanel commercial starring Nicole Kidman, as well as an NFL Network commercial starring Chad Johnson.

• Clair de lune is also mentioned in Stephenie Meyer's first novel, Twilight.

• "Clair de lune" was used in two episodes in the first season of Nip/Tuck. In the "Cara Fitzgerald" episode, Sean plays it while he does the breast reconstruction surgery of Megan O'Hara. In the "Adella Coffin" episode, it is played in the background of the restaurant Sean and Megan are eating at, and Megan says how she used to play the piece all the time.

For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... Fantasia is a 1940 motion picture, the third in the Disney animated features canon, which was a Walt Disney experiment in animation and music. ... Genera Egretta Ardea An egret is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. ... A workprint is a rough version of a motion picture, used by the film editor(s) during the editing process. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Size comparison: A 12 cm Sony DVD+RW and a 19 cm Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. ... Terrence McNally (born November 3, 1939), is an American playwright. ... Poster for the off-Broadway production Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune is a two-character play by Terrence McNally. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is a Oscar-nominated American actor, model, and producer. ... Paul Mazursky (born April 25, 1930) is an American actor and film director. ... Down and Out in Beverly Hills is a 1986 American comedy motion picture starring Nick Nolte, Bette Midler and Richard Dreyfuss. ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Seven Years in Tibet is the 1997 film adaptation of the adventure story written by Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer based on his real life experiences in Tibet between 1944 and 1951 during the onset of the Second World War and the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Invasion. ... A musical box (or music box) is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder so as to strike the tuned teeth of a steel comb. ... Tenzin Gyatso (born 6 July 1935) is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama. ... The Game is a 1997 psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher and produced by Polygram, telling the story of an investment banker who is gifted with prepaid access to a game that integrates in strange ways with his life. ... Lucien Cailliet (May 27, 1897 - January 3, 1985) was an American composer, conductor, arranger and clarinetist. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Oceans Eleven is a 2001 remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film Oceans Eleven. ... Bellagio is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. It is owned by MGM Mirage and was built on the site of demolished Dunes hotel and casino. ... This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed compared to the rest of the article. ... Isao Tomita , born April 22, 1932), is a renowned Japanese electronic music composer. ... Man on Fire is a 2004 film directed by Tony Scott, starring Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Radha Mitchell, Giancarlo Giannini, and Christopher Walken. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... The Right Stuff is a 1979 book (ISBN 0374250332) by Tom Wolfe, and a 1983 film adapted from the book. ... Sally Rand (January 2, 1904 – August 31, 1979) was born Harriet Helen Gould Beck in Hickory County, Missouri. ... Original seven Astronauts portrait (L-R: Schirra, Shepard, Slayton, Grissom, Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter) The Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked in April 1959. ... The Vice President of the United States (sometimes referred to as VPOTUS)[1] is the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new President of the United States upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ... All About Lily Chou-Chou ) is a 2001 Japanese film written and directed by Shunji Iwai. ... Not to be confused with Channel. ... Nicole Mary Kidman AC (born June 20, 1967), is an Australian [1] actress. ... NFL Network is an American specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League (NFL) and is also shown in Canada and Mexico. ... For other persons named Chad Johnson, see Chad Johnson (disambiguation). ... Stephenie Meyer (born December 24, 1973) is the author of the book Twilight and its sequels New Moon and Eclipse. ...

External links

• Complete Recording of Suite Bergamasque on Piano, at Piano Society.com - Free Classical Piano Recordings
• Clair de lune on theremin by Lydia Kavina
• Downloadable sheet music of Debussy's piano music, including Clair de lune
• String Quartet Arrangement of Prelude
• String Quartet Arrangement of Menuet
• Orchestral Arrangement of Passepied
• Orchestral Arrangement of Prelude
• Suite bergamasque: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.
• Debussy at IMDB
• (Italian) An essai on the Suite bergamasque