Description
Debussy composed the suite with four movements in 1888, shortly after returning from Italy where he had spent time on a scholarship at the Villa Medici in Rome as the winner of the Prix de Rome. In 1889, he performed the work with Paul Dukas at the Paris Conservatoire, and it was very well received. Among the students present was Henri Busser, who later arranged the suite for orchestra in 1907, by which time Debussy had already become famous. The composer immediately thanked Busser in a letter, praising his "ingenious orchestration." Today, this suite remains one of Debussy's most frequently performed works, in both its original form and the numerous arrangements that exist.
