b'Program Notescontinuedthough primarily an academic musician, was a fine harpist and performed frequently, although I dont recall ever having heard him play this work.Rosemary Nalden In 1810, the Parisian piano maker Sbastien rard introduced a system of pedals to alter the pitches of the harps open strings chromatically, but though this instrument could effectively negotiate every note within its range, it was somewhat clumsy of operation, and various attempts were made to simplify the harps mechanics. At the end of the 19th century, Gustave Lyon developed a chromatic harp, a pedal-less instrument in which a single string was devoted to each chromatic note. The Parisian instrument-making firm of Pleyel put Lyons invention into production in 1897, in direct competition with rard et Compagnie. By the turn of the century, Pleyel was casting about for ways to win some business from rard who, as the supplier of pianos and harps to the Paris Conservatoire, enjoyed immense prestige across the Continent.In 1904, Pleyel succeeded in having a course devoted to their chromatic harp instituted at the Brussels Conservatory, and the companys officials asked Claude Debussy to compose a work specifically for the new instrument that would serve both as a test piece for the students and as a demonstration of their harps potential to prospective buyers. In the spring of 1904, Debussy composed a matched pair of dances, one sacred and one profane, for chromatic harp and string orchestra. It should be added that Lyons chromatic harp, with its vast curtain of strings, found little favor, and that it is rards double-action pedal harp which remains the standard instrument to this day.The Danse sacre et danse profane comprise two brief works joined as one. The Danse sacre is said to have been suggested to Debussy by a piano piece of his friend, the Portuguese composer and conductor Francisco de Lacerda (1869-1934). Concerning the relation between the two sections of the work, Joseph Braunstein wrote, The title is somewhat intriguing since there is not much difference between the sacred dance and its profane counterpart. Both display small melodic phrases, a transparent texture, shifting harmonies, and richness of dissonances, and at the same time arresting effects are obtained by the harp in combination with the sonorities of the string orchestra.(Note by Richard E Rodda 2011 Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center, New York)princetonsymphony.org/ 14'