Comment composait Debussy : les leçons d'un carnet de travail (à propos de Soupir et d'Eventail)

A Debussy's "musical notebook" acquired by the Bibliothèque nationale de France in 2005 (Ms. 24375) contains, among other notes relating to compositions from 1912 to 1913, the rough drafts of two of the "Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé", Soupir and Eventail. These drafts are the only document currently known prior to the holograph copy used for the engraving of the first edition. A study of these drafts brings to light two types of textual revision through which the composition of the songs passed. Many variants stem from a rewriting of simple point of detail, affecting only superficially the musical substance of the score. But in several instances, a close reading reveals more serious difficulties encountered by the composer, his hesitations over a given passage. A solution is then only found at the cost of often major changes, considerably by modifying the initial text.