Préludes, Book 1: X. La cathédrale engloutie

Olafsson's reading of La cathédrale engloutie approaches Debussy's sunken cathedral with a geologist's patience — the opening parallel fifths emerging from silence like something genuinely ancient surfacing from oceanic depths. His touch gives the low bass notes enormous resonance, the pedaling creating a vast acoustic space in which the plainchant-like melody floats with ceremonial gravity. The middle section's enormous climax is approached with deliberate, inexorable buildup, the cathedral bells ringing with physical weight before slowly submerging again into the depths. What distinguishes this interpretation is its temporal control — Olafsson seems genuinely unhurried, the music breathing at the pace of tides rather than human emotion. The final dissolution into silence is especially moving, the melody fading not into emptiness but into a different kind of presence, as if the cathedral is still there, just beneath perception.