La plus que lente

La plus que lente, L. 121 (French pronunciation: [laplyskəˈlɑ̃t], "The more than slow"),[1] is a waltz for solo piano written by Claude Debussy in 1910,[2] shortly after his publication of the Préludes, Book I.

[3] The piece debuted at the New Carlton Hotel in Paris, where it was transcribed for strings and performed by the popular 'gipsy' violinist, Léoni, for whom Debussy wrote it (and who was given the manuscript by the composer).

[6] Typical of Debussy's caustic approach to naming his compositions, it represented his reaction to the vast influence of the slow waltz in France's social atmospheres.

"[3] The work is marked "Molto rubato con morbidezza," indicating Debussy's encouragement of a flexible tempo.

[8] During the same year of its composition, an orchestration of the work was conceived, but Debussy opposed the score's heavy use of percussion and proposed a new one, writing to his publisher: Examining the brassy score of La plus que lente, it appears to me to be uselessly ornamented with trombones, kettle drums, triangles, etc., and thus it addresses itself to a sort of de luxe saloon that I am accustomed to ignore!—there are certain clumsinesses that one can easily avoid!