The observation has been made that this, the last piece in Debussy's Images, Book II, is a counterpart to the final piece (Mouvement) in Book I. While both works explore rapid movement and sonorities that swirl and gyrate, most listeners will find the two quite different: the first is a driven, rhythmic work, and the latter is subtler, more evocative of specific images and having a more balanced mixture of moderate and fast tempos. Poissons d'or (Goldfish) was inspired by a wood panel in the composer's office containing the figures of two goldfish. Debussy must have taken great pleasure in giving them life in Poissons d'or, wherein their busy fins flash and splash, their torsos glide, and their movements ripple the waters. The work opens with gently quivering sonorities from the bass range, but the music brightly rises into the upper register and a sunny theme is heard. The quivering reappears, as do playful dives and shimmering swirls and other keyboard evocations of the fish's activities. All is joyous and fun filled, especially at the work's ecstatic climax, where their minnow-sized movements seem to take on big-sea fish properties. This masterful gem typically has a duration of about four minutes.

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1.Cloches à travers les feuilles

Debussy wrote three sets of Images for piano, the first (Images oubliées) coming in 1894, Set I in 1904—1905, and Set II in 1906—1907, all consisting of three pieces each. The first set contains the more popular works: Reflets dans l'eau (Reflections in the water) and Hommage à Rameau are both popular choices on many recital programs. Yet the three pieces in Images II are just as worthy of their level of popularity, this first of the three in particular. Cloches à travers les feuilles (Bells through the leaves) is a brilliant evocation of the sonorities of bells and perhaps of the exotic percussion ensemble, the Gamelan, that so enamored the composer. The work opens with a simple theme that seems to wander up and down a narrow range of the keyboard's middle register. Sonorities higher up are heard over top of it, dreamily blending in but also somewhat animating the exotic mood. Gradually, the music accrues tension and the bell-like sounds turn from the tinkling and more mellow sonorities to fuller, more rippling ones. The subdued manner from the opening returns and the piece closes in a mesmeric haze of fading bell sounds. This deftly atmospheric work typically has a duration of five minutes.

© Robert Cummings, Rovi