La Plus que Lente (the more than slow) waltz by Claude Debussy was written in 1910 after his Preludes book 1. It was originally written for piano but has over the years has been adapted to many instruments and in different keys and forms. It has been inferred that his Ballade is a strong influence for this piece.

The piece is in the style of the Valse Lente which was popular in cafes at the time. Debussy wrote it after hearing a performance in a cafe in Budapest. He wrote:

“In an ordinary common place cafe, he gave one the impression of sitting in the depths of a forest; he arouses in the soul the characteristic feeling of melancholy in which we seldom have the opportunity to indulge”. Claude Debussy

The reason why I chose this piece is because I believe stretching oneself as a player to capture the virtues of a voice , violin or other instruments is so beneficial to development and finding a voice as a musician. This stretched me because I wanted so much tone and colour wise . Some of the flexibility required was challenging and trying to emulate a string instrument was indeed thought provoking