La Plus que Lente for flute septet

Despite its title, this piece was not meant to be played slowly. “Lente” in this context refers to the valse lente genre that Debussy attempted to emulate. Slow waltzes enjoyed a special vogue in Parisian salons of the early twentieth century, leading Debussy, with a twinkle in his eye, to produce this piano waltz (“slower than slow”). He actually recorded it on a piano roll and orchestrated it in 1913.

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