La Mer is one of Debussy’s most famous compositions. Debussy disregarded established conventions of how to create texture and sound, in order to move away from tradition. The result was a musical depiction of a raging ocean. It begins quiet and calm and beautiful, reflecting a calm, shimmering ocean. As the music plays on, overlapping lines and melodies create a dizzying seasick effect. The music becomes darker and more intense and invokes the feeling of a tumultuous raging storm at sea. The piece uniquely conveys the rapid changing emotions and sides of the sea in a way that doesn’t feel like it is merely describing the sea, but more like it is the sea itself.
The piece is significant because it marks the beginning of Debussy’s foray into musical impressionism. Despite La Mer being a widely influential piece that is still performed today, its premiere was not too successful. Le Ménestrel was a well-known music journal that ran in France from 1833 to 1940, and they harshly critiqued La Mer. Amédée Boutarel wrote “Rhythm, chant, tonality three things unknown to Mr. Debussy. … what a lovely sequence of perfect chords in direct movement, with fifths and octaves following each other”. The use of sarcasm in the review to critique Debussy’s transgression of parallel fifths and octaves is especially biting. Premiering in 1905, audiences were left disappointed by the piece. However, 3 years later in 1908, La Mer was performed again and was met with far more acclaim and praise. It was almost treated as a second premiere, this time, with Le Ménestrel praising the piece.
It is difficult to pinpoint why the premiere was received so poorly only to be praised a mere 3 years later. Perhaps the 1905 audience was not receptive to Debussy’s budding impressionistic style. Some speculate that it may have had to do with the fact that Debussy had separated from his wife Lily, following an affair with Emma Bardac, the summer in which he wrote La Mer. His poor treatment of his wife was very public and its possible his being in such low public opinion contributed to the reception of the premiere of La Mer and bias in the review written about it in Le Ménestrel. Was the performance in 1908 treated better because they had forgotten about Debussy’s personal affairs? Probably not. It is more likely that there was a growing market for impressionistic music and audiences were more receptive to the style. However, it is interesting to see how a piece scorned by the leading music journal at the time, became such an influential part of musical history and a lasting piece of orchestral repertoire. It makes one wonder what may become of modern day pieces that have been received poorly by critics.
