The bulk of La mer was composed during a visit to Burgundy- a long way from the nearest sea- although the work was completed in the English seaside town of Eastbourne. The composer himself argued that his inspiration was drawn from a range of ocean view paintings and from literature in which the sea played a major part. Debussy described the work as ‘Three symphonic sketches for orchestra’, thus avoiding the term ‘symphony,’ which would have imposed a specific musical structure, as well as the expression ‘symphonic poem,’ which would imply that the music was descriptive in nature. ‘Sketches’ was a wise choice, precisely because it neatly conveys that the music is meant to do no more than provide an impression. Whereas Debussy occupied himself spontaneously and intuitively with looking for new sounds, Ravel placed much more emphasis on the effect that the sounds could have in the context of a musical story. These two impressionistic masterpieces have not been available on the Challenge catalogue until now. Antonello Manacorda brilliantly leads these works.