I'll perform the Passepied for juries at the end of the semester, so my focus has fallen mostly onto that movement. "Passepied," French for "passing feet" is a type of dance—usually in a fast triple meter. Debussy's Passepied is not in triple meter, however it certainly has a lively tempo, kept alive by the constant eighth note pulse provided by the left hand.
In quickly browsing the web for more information about the suite, I found this interesting little tidbit of information (admittedly, from the extremely reputable source, Wikipedia). Check it out:
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_bergamasque |
Here's a wonderful performance (pianist, Bruno Canino) of the suite in its entirety. Enjoy.