Le Petit Nègre (Claude Debussy) - Alto Saxophone

This was the first piece I played at my Year 11 Unit 1 VCE Music Concert, as part of the course to play 2 contrasting pieces in front of an audience. Admittedly, this was not my best performance of it, as my saxophone had technical issues that night, but I thought I might post something as it&been a while! Below are my program notes to explain the piece a bit: Le Petit Nègre (Claude Debussy) is a bouncy ‘Cakewalk’, which was a popular style of dance in the US in the late 19th century. The piece is said to have an ‘attractive charm’ for both the player and the listener with a style mirroring early art impressionists. It’s comprised of a simple ‘ABA’ section. In his younger years, Debussy was noted as a ‘talented rebel’, and his music was known for being free, spontaneous and sounding almost improvised, with a strong stress of fluidity, atmosphere and tone colour. Woodwinds were often featured in his works. It gives a delightful impression of a young, dark skinned child strolling along the streets (Le Petit Nègre translates to The Little Negro), and its infectious rhythms and catchy tune give the piece and overall bright feel. My approach to this song is to really put emphasis on the dynamics to express the impressionistic style of this piece.