Sunken cathedral claude debussy arabesque

Piano composition by Claude Debussy

For the novel by Charlotte Wood, see The Submerged Cathedral (novel).

"La cathédrale engloutie" (The Sunken Cathedral) is a musical composition by the French composer Claude Debussy for solo piano, published in 1910.

It is the tenth piece in Debussy's first book of préludes. It is characteristic of Debussy in its form, harmony, and content.

Musical impressionism

This prelude is an example of Debussy's musical impressionism in that it is a musical depiction of, or allusion to, an image or idea.

Debussy quite often named his pieces in accordance with the image that he intended to evoke, such as in the case of La Mer, "Des pas sur la neige", or "Jardins sous la pluie". In the case of the two volumes of preludes, he places the title of the piece at the end of the piece, either to allow the pianist to respond intuitively and individually to the music before finding out what Debussy intended the music to sound like,