The new album from Het Gelders Orkest, conducted by Antonello Manacorda, presents two impressionistic orchestral masterpieces which previously had not been a part of the Challenge catalogue: Debussy’s La Mer and Ravel’s Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose).

Debussy intimated that his inspiration for La Mer was drawn from a range of ocean view paintings and from literature in which the sea played a major part. He described the work as ‘Three symphonic sketches for orchestra’, neatly conveying that the music is meant to do no more than provide an impression.

Whereas Debussy occupied himself spontaneously and intuitively with looking for new sounds, Ravel placed much more emphasis on the effect that the sounds could have in the context of a musical story. One of these dazzling impressionist tales was the suite Mother Goose. Originally scored for piano four hands for children, Ravel subsequently arranged to work for orchestra, refining the music with the larger orchestral sound palette and eventually using this version in 1912 for a ballet.