"Canope" (Debussy) orchestration

Canope transposed pitch.pdfCanope transposed pitch.pdfThis is a piece that I consider to be special. I have spent weeks working on it bit by bit, making one decision after another.

It is Prelude No. 10 from Debussy’s Second Book, entitled ‘Canope’.

A canope is the vessel in which the remains of mummies were stored in ancient Egypt; these were sealed with small sculptures of Anubis’s head.

The piano piece is spectacular, with harmonies that defy all logic within the tonal world.

I’m providing the score in concert pitch and in transposed pitch.

Canope concert pitch.pdf Canope transposed pitch.pdf

Link to the piano original version:

Edited Thursday at 02:02 PM3 days by Luis Hernández

A very successful orchestration 😊. I enjoyed listening to it. Great balance and color!

Mark

Hi Luis,

This is a great piece to choose for orchestration! I'm sure I've played this on the piano in the past.

It uses one of Debussy's favourite tricks with its harmonic planing, and has some lovely impressionist touches.

I wonder, are there any other orchestrated versions; or is yours the first?

Using a choir of flutes was a neat idea, and I like your harp harmonics (near the start).

Also harp with glockenspiel is an effective combination that I probably wouldn't have thought of.

My only wish is that you had slightly better instrument libraries to do justice to your score, as the rendition doesn't always sound fully realistic.

Wonderful orchestration - lovely, lovely color!

I find this orchestration to be incredibly balanced - fresh and innovative, while holding to the character of the original. As @Alex Weidmann said, I also think the flute choir was an excellent idea.

Your choices feel very intentional, and I enjoyed listening to your orchestration! I would love to see how you might approach something by Bonds or Price.

@Alex Weidmann

@BlackkBeethoven

Thank you for listening and commenting.

Yes, virtual instruments do what they can, and well, I prefer to focus on the composition rather than on post-production with a DAW and so on. That’s why I use an editor (Dorico) with NotePerformer.

There are indeed orchestral versions of Debussy’s preludes. Some are very famous, such as the arrangements by Colin Matthews or Stokowski.

I must say I didn’t listen to them when I was working on my modest version. In fact, I didn’t even know they existed until I started exploring this piece.

It’s been an interesting challenge because of the nature of the piece – so colourful, yet harmonically free and daring at the same time. It’s been a slow process, taking about two months, as I was working under the supervision (on a weekly basis) of a composer and teacher. I’m in a small group (four people) learning orchestration with him, and it’s fantastic…

We usually work on shorter excerpts from pieces, but this one was the full work. In fact, there have been some subsequent modifications and improvements, but never mind.

Soon we’ll be moving on to orchestrating pieces we’ve composed ourselves; we’ll see how it goes…

This is a very evocative and Debussy-like orchestration! Some minor things:

1. I think you can add slurs in the third measure when strings come in. The articulation is suppose to be legato and smooth, and slurs will help with that. Continue the slurs in the viola/cello/bass melody in bar 5 onwards. Same thing in bar 28...and since the violins are PP, slurs would DEFINITELY help.

2. Probably can consolidate the 3 flute parts to 2, with the 2nd player doubling on alto and piccolo. Probably can remove the tuba too since it's mostly doubling the double basses. You might also be able to consolidate the 4 horns to 2. Play around with mixing bassoons or clarinets with horns.

3. Some of the violin harmonics look suspicious...measure 19 specifically in 1st violins.

Hi @danishali903

I appreciate your comments and will reply to a few in case anyone’s interested

I don’t usually write expression slurs (legato) on the strings, except for very short groups of notes. Instead, if I want to do this, I specify ‘legato’ (as an articulation, which the software I use does recognise) and hide the text.

Bear in mind that this is an exercise and that the economy of instrumentalists/instruments has not been the priority, although it was not intended to be used indiscriminately either.

That is why there is a piccolo alongside the flute and the alto flute, because that line in bar 18 requires three instruments from the same family.

The same applies to the four horns and the tuba. Another of the ideas is that, as far as possible, the families should sound harmonically complete, as in the chord in bar 9.

As for the harmonics, they have all been checked and are feasible, though I may have made a mistake. I’ve had another look at the ones you mention and they’re fine.

In this regard, I recommend this webpage, which lists all the natural and artificial harmonics that can be played (and those that are best avoided).

https://conductit.eu/study-room/rehearsal/rehearsal-4/4-6-string-harmonics/

When it comes to orchestration, there are endless possibilities. Probably, by assigning a few lines to other instruments, I could have done without the piccolo or one of the two horns… But then again, let’s be realistic: when Debussy orchestrated, he didn’t care about the number of instruments – it was all in the service of colour.

Best.

Addendum

The issue of legato slurs in the strings is something I’m going to consider writing about (always bearing in mind what they might do, as I understand it). It’s a more specific point.

In fact, as I have a few final amendments to make to this orchestration, I’m going to include that point.

Thank you. I’m still at 5% in my orchestration skills.

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Luis Hernández

On 7/16/2026 at 6:21 PM, Luis Hernández said:

There are indeed orchestral versions of Debussy’s preludes. Some are very famous, such as the arrangements by Colin Matthews or Stokowski.

I must say I didn’t listen to them when I was working on my modest version. In fact, I didn’t even know they existed until I started exploring this piece.

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the Colin Matthews version.

When I orchestrated Debussy's "Footsteps in the Snow", I was aware of his version; but deliberately avoided listening to it, so I wouldn't be influenced.

Afterwards I compared the two, and discovered I'd come to some of the same decisions as Colin with my orchestration; but also some radically different ones!

9 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

Thank you. I’m still at 5% in my orchestration skills.

Don't undersell yourself! This is quite a good attempt, and you've clearly put a lot of thought in the orchestration.

1. I mentioned the slurs mostly because of the bowing/sound implications. With less bow to use for more notes, string player tend to play softer which in your case helps with the softer dynamics (in addition to the legato articulation). I know software can be finicky so totally understand your workaround.

2. "...when Debussy orchestrated, he didn’t care about the number of instruments – it was all in the service of colour." I'm going to disagree with that somewhat. Yes, he wanted different colors, but he was very conscious about experimenting with different timbres/ranges of different instrument families.

3. The harmonics issue: technically playable, yes...but writing 5th touch artificial harmonics is pretty rare in orchestral music. Unless those violinists have big hands, they'd have to stretch more than normal to play that. That's why 4th touch harmonics are better and the standard (I think you might be able to convert some of those)