La Boite a Joujoux (The Toy Box)

(1913-1917)

By Claude Debussy

Item Number: PE.EP9247

Language: French/German.

Ballet for Children (libretto by Andre Helle) - piano reduction by the composer. French/German - musical indications, however, are printed solely in French)

Originally composed as a piano score in 1913, La Boite a Joujoux was staged as a ballet in 1919. Debussy was fascinated by toys, and by dolls in particular, having once written to a friend, The soul of a doll is more mysterious than even Maeterlinck supposes; it does not readily put up with the claptrap that so many human souls tolerate. Debussy composed the piano-score of this ballet, but the war and his untimely death prevented him from completing his orchestration; this task was left to his close friend and fellow composer, Andre Caplet (born November 23rd, 1878; died April 22nd, 1925).