Dieu!, qu'il la fait bon regarder Choral single edition SATB

A lady is being described: She is gentle, lovely and of sublime virtue. Her perfection is unmatched on this side and on the other side of the ocean. Charles d'Orléans is the author of these amorous lines. About five hundred years later Claude Debussy musically rendered his verses. In Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder (God! How wonderful it is to look upon her) expressionistic tonal language and archaic-sounding melodic arabesques are condensed into the smallest of spaces. The loveliness and grace of the lady described here are ever-present in details such as the triple meter, the ornamental triplets and the beguiling parallel sixths. Debussy invokes a stylized illusion of Renaissance music here – enhanced by the rhythmic refinements and the rich tonal repertoire of Expressionism.