Description
Les accords de septième regrettent!!! was the first of the birthday gift Debussy wrote for his second wife-to-be Emma Barda on 4 June 1905. It consists of only nine bards, inscribed as follows: ‘But see
how successfully the chords of the 9th, equipped with all their harmonies, send the regrettable 7th [in
bars 1-4] about their business and borrow from the colour of the sky some godlike gleams in order to
celebrate your birthday, dear “petite mienne”’ [‘Mais voici qu’heureusement des accords de 9me armés
de tous leurs harmoniques te nous envole promener les regrettable 7èmes et emprunte à la couleur de
ciel des lueurs d’apothéose pour célébrer ta chère fête de chère petite mienne’] Which shous how much
their initially idyllic relationship was founded on Emma’s sympathetic understanding of Debussy’s musical language, something that had proved impossible for his first wife Lilly.