Debussy Does Debussy — But Is His The Last Word?

“Debussy left behind piano music in the form of black marks printed on a page. He also left behind a little of himself: piano rolls of Debussy playing Debussy. So elegantly conceived is the first part of this legacy that we sometimes wish the second part did not exist. The scores imply a ‘this is it’ permanence. The composer’s playing of them (now on a CD from the Pierian Recording Society) could just as well be the impulse of a moment.”