Early performances

Edouard Colonne and Camille Chevillard, directors of the Concerts Colonne and Concerts Lamoureux respectively, were both keen to give the first performance of La mer: Debussy's first major work after Pelléas was bound to be a highlight of the concert season. After debating the matter, Debussy bestowed the honour upon Chevillard, in spite of his reservations about the first performance of Nocturnes at the Lamoureux Concerts in 1900. A letter to Durand (30 September 1903) gives abundant evidence of Colonne's interest in the new Debussy, if not of Debussy's enthusiasm for him: ‘The new “Debussy” announced by the gentle Colonne is no less news to me! He has written to me about this, but I still don't know what I will give him; in my plans, La mer is destined for Chevillard.’ Debussy had been nervous of Colonne ever since the dismal premiére of the revised La damoiselle élue in 1902. It was then that Colonne, aware of his shortcomings or exasperated by the composer's complaints, terrified him by suggesting he conduct the music himself, to which Debussy responded, ‘When I have to conduct, I am sick before, during, and after.’

We should pause a moment to consider the first conductor of La mer. Chevillard officially took over the Lamoureux Concerts from his father-in-law Charles Lamoureux in 1899, having conducted them for several years. Like most leading French conductors of the period, he was also a composer, with works in traditional forms alongside symphonic poems like Le chêne et le roseau (1890).