Claude Debussy's Préludes are two sets of pieces for solo piano, written in 1910-10 and 1912-13, and published as Book I and II respectively. Unlike other collections of preludes by great composers, Debussy's do not follow a strict pattern of key signature: there is no proof that Debussy necessarily intended the preludes to be performed as a cycle, although performers often do so. The titles of the preludes are written at the end of each work, thus allowing the performer to experience each individual sound world with fresh ears, without being influenced by Debussy's titles beforehand. Feux d'artifice is the piece that concludes the second book, an extremely virtuosistic piece, daring in its atonality, yet very pictoric.
