Music TheoryPrint

Claude Debussy

Syrinx (Debussy)

Syrinx, L. 129, is a piece of music for solo flute which Claude Debussy wrote in 1913. It generally takes three minutes or less to perform. It was the first significant piece for solo flute after the

Background#

The piece is commonly performed off stage, as it is thought when Debussy dedicated the piece to the flutist Louis Fleury, it was for him to play during the interval of one of Debussy’s ballets. Syrinx was written as part of incidental music to the play Psyché by Gabriel Mourey, and was originally called “Flûte de Pan”. It was given its final name in reference to the myth of the amorous pursuit of the nymph Syrinx by the god Pan, in which Pan falls in love with Syrinx. Syrinx, however, does not return the love to Pan; she turns herself into a water reed and hides in the marshes. Pan cuts the reeds to make his pipes, in turn killing his love.

  • Free recording from Emily Shin of the Columbia University Orchestra.
  • Free HD Video Recording from Singaporean Flutist Jed Huang (UC Berkeley Alum)
Composer
Claude Debussy