Clair de Lune music box
Clair de Lune means “moonlight”, and Debussy’s piece sounds like it: soft, shimmering and unhurried. It is a dreamy choice for a bedroom drawer.
- Tune
- Clair de Lune
- Composer
- Claude Debussy
- Origin
- Suite bergamasque, published 1905
The story behind the tune
Debussy began his Suite bergamasque for piano around 1890 and revised it for years before it was published in 1905. Clair de Lune is the third of its four movements and by far the most famous.
The title comes from a poem by Paul Verlaine, which describes moonlit figures in a garden. Today the piece turns up everywhere, from film soundtracks to wedding ceremonies.
How it sounds on a music box
On piano the piece flows freely, stretching and relaxing its tempo. A music box version has to simplify that into a steady pulse, so it becomes a gentle, lullaby-like take on the melody rather than a copy of the full piano piece. Final arrangements for the Musical Drawer are still being developed.
Lovely for
- Moon-and-stars bedrooms
- Grown-up keepsakes
- A wind-down tune for older kids