In autumn 1891 Debussy’s early piano piece, Ballade slave, was published by Choudens. When he had it re-engraved by Fromont in a slightly revised form in 1903, he deleted the word slave. Thus the title pointed more markedly to the work’s narrative character. Yet one can detect a certain Russian influence, stemming from the time he spent with Nadeshda von Meck – Debussy was at times her house pianist. Even echoes of Balakirev can be heard. The occasionally unconventional tonal approach already heralds the Debussy of the important cycle Pour le Piano, published in 1901.
1891年秋,德布西早期的鋼琴作品《奴隸敘事曲》(Ballade slave)由舒登斯出版社出版。 1903年,他委託弗羅蒙特重新雕版,並稍作修改,刪除了標題中的「奴隸」(slave)一詞。這樣,標題便更鮮明地體現了作品的敘事性。然而,我們仍能從中感受到某種俄羅斯的影響,這源自於他與娜傑日達·馮·梅克相處的時光——德布西曾一度擔任她的私人鋼琴師。甚至還能聽到巴拉基列夫的影子。作品中偶爾出現的非傳統調性處理方式,已預示德布西在1901年出版的重要鋼琴組曲《為鋼琴而作》(Pour le Piano)中的風格。