Debussy's La mer

Flora Willson chooses her favourite recording of Debussy's La mer.

Debussy composed La mer between 1903 and 1905. It is a brilliant and exciting orchestral showpiece that conjures up the many moods of the sea. Debussy corrected proofs of the score while on holiday at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne on the English Channel coast. He described Eastbourne to his publisher, Durand, as "a charming peaceful spot: the sea unfurls itself with an utterly British correctness".