Gabriel Fauré, then director of the Conservatoire de Paris, named Claude Debussy (1862-1918) to the Conservatoire's board of directors in 1909, and promptly commissioned two works from Debussy for the 1910 clarinet examinations. For the sight-reading portion of the exam, he offered the charming Petite Pièce. But for the core part of the exam, he composed Première Rhapsodie, L. 116, CD. 124, a work that demands great technical skill and musicality from the soloist.

The work was dedicated to t...