Debussy's early song "Beau" Soir (Beautiful Evening) in a lovely arrangement for cello and piano. "Beau Soir" is a setting of a poem by Paul Bourget. Debussy was 15 or 16 when he wrote this song (ca. 1877/8), and his music was marked by the aesthetics of the period.

Claude Debussy is well known for his impressionistic approach to music, although he hated the term “impressionism” and preferred being associated with the creation of new sounds and colors through the exploration of fluid rhythms, and whole tone and pentatonic scales. Throughout his life, Debussy composed a variety of works including music for piano, orchestra, and chamber ensembles. In addition, Debussy wrote many French art songs. Beau Soir was one of the pieces written in Debussy’s youth, said to have been written in his time studying at the Paris Conservatory. Beau Soir, which translates to “beautiful evening,” is set to a text based on a poem by Paul Bourget. The poem paints the picture of a beautiful evening where the rivers are turned rose-colored by the sunset and the wheat fields are moved by a warm breeze. Debussy uses a gently flowing triplet rhythm in the accompaniment, which contrasts the duplets that drive the light melody. The piano and voice partner to create the sensation of peace that one might feel in the evening in nature, fitting the post-Romantic style. As any evening fades, however, so does the mood of the piece, and the song modulates from E major to F-sharp minor. The piece reaches its climax when the melody reaches a high F-sharp, paired with the word “beau”. The combination of the text and melody powerfully depicts the beauty of the sun, once again showing how Debussy used music for color.

Translation of Lyrics:
When streams turn pink in the setting sun,
And a slight shudder rushes through the wheat fields,
A plea for happiness seems to rise out of all things
And it climbs up towards the troubled heart.
A plea to relish the charm of life
While there is youth and the evening is fair,
For we pass away, as the wave passes:
The wave to the sea, we to the grave.

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