In 1983 G. Henle Publishers launched its series of piano works by Debussy with these Arabesques, the most important of his early piano pieces. The edition is still amongst our most successful ones. The Arabesques were probably composed shortly before they was issued in November 1891. Following the work’s publication, it received little attention, but after 1906 it became one of the composer’s most popular works and now there are numerous transcriptions for other instruments. The elegant and flowing ornamentation of the first Arabesque, which despite all of the movement also displays a certain motionless quality, has ensured the piece has a firm place in the pianist’s repertoire, including that of the talented amateur.
