Modernism in the Music of Claude Debussy
Intro
Clade Debussy was a French composer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and a seminal figure in the development of Impressionism. During his time at the conservatory, he was an extreme contrarian. Instead of following the tradition of German classics, he studied more obscure and esoteric music like music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and French clavichord music from the 17th and 18th centuries. It is perhaps this contrarian nature that led Debussy to Modernism.
Modernism
The Modern Period in music lasted from approximately 1890 to 1945 and was characterized by great change. Modernist composers sought to advance music forward as much as possible and be different from what came before. A common thread in Modernist music is the breakdown of traditional tonal harmony. Four prominent schools of Modernism are: Impressionism, Primitivism, Neoclassicism, and Atonality. Debussy is firmly an Impressionist camp, with a few Neoclassical elements.
Impressionism
Like many words describing music, Impressionism was first applied to visual art. Instead of a crisply detailed image, Impressionist artists created an ‘impression’ of their subject through the use of blurred outlines. Just as an Impressionist painting avoids sharp contours, an Impressionist piece avoids rigid chord progressions. Instead of having a driving progression, an Impressionistic piece would much rather sit in a harmonic soup. The Oxford Dictionary of Music ascribes several attributes to Impressionist music, these being:
New chord combinations, often ambiguous as to tonality
Chords of the 9th, 11th, and 13th being used instead of triads and chords of the 7th
Appoggiaturas used as part of the chord, with full chord included
Parallel movement in a group of chords of triads, 7ths, and 9ths, etc.
Whole‐tone chords
Exotic scales
Use of the modes
Extreme chromaticism
Debussy uses all of these extensively. An example of a piece that perfectly encapsulates Debussy’s harmonic style is La fille aux cheveux de lin. The main melody is composed entirely from the Gb Major pentatonic scale. (6) The major pentatonic scale is extremely consonant. The reason for this is the omission of the 4th and 7th degrees from the scale. These notes are responsible for creating tension, due to their strong pull to a neighboring note. So by writing the melody in the pentatonic scale, Debussy has alleviated all tension: these notes have no desire, no drive to go anywhere, which is exactly what the Impressionist ethos is all about. Using the pentatonic scale also allows for greater harmonic freedom. The previously discussed mechanics of the scale allow it to be played over every chord in a key while still sounding harmonious. Debussy uses this to his advantage by playing the same melody over a different chord progression in this piece.
La fille aux cheveux de lin also features extensions. (2) Many chords have the 7th, 9th, or even 11th scale degrees included. This is another feature of Impressionism, and it helps add color to the piece. Many of these chords are also not used in a functional context. (1) These chords would make no sense being analyzed with Gb as the tonic. Instead, these chords help support the melody and add color. The dominant chord is even treated in this way. In Western classical music, V7-I is the strongest force there is: “the demand of the V7 for resolution is, to our ears, almost inescapably compelling. The dominant seventh is, in fact, the central propulsive force in our music; it is unambiguous and unequivocal.” (Goldman, 1965). It says so much that in Debussy’s music, the dominant chord does not resolve in a traditional way.
So if chords aren’t moving functionally, in what way are they moving? One way Debussy creates movement is through parallelism (4). Parallelism in music is the practice of moving every voice in a chord in parallel motion. Chordal motion like this breaks traditional harmonic rules prohibiting parallel fifths. The lack of functional harmony also leads to tonal ambiguity. (1) This piece is ostensibly in Gb Major but shifts to Eb Minor so often it’s hard to tell.
An example of Debussy’s use of exotic scales (5) is his piece Voiles from his first book of preludes. Voiles, which translates to “sails,” is composed almost entirely with the whole-tone scale. This piece defies traditional harmonic analysis. It sounds alien when compared to the world of tonal harmony, and is undeniably Modernist. Voiles also features extreme chromaticism. (8)
An example of modal harmony in Debussy’s music is found in his String Quartet in G Minor, which starts in the Phrygian mode. (7) This is made apparent as soon as the second chord, which is an incredibly striking half-diminished seventh chord. An example of appoggiaturas being used as part of the chord a can be found in the Prelude of Des pas sur la neige. (3)
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism was a musical movement that sought to bring back and revitalize pre-romantic classical music and its forms, with modern harmonies and techniques.
It is clear that Debussy had immense respect for the past. This is evident in his use of Baroque dance forms, and in his pieces that directly reference past composers such as Jean-Philippe Rameau and Joseph Haydn. Debussy’s Neoclassicism is shown on full display in his piano suite, Suite Bergamasque, which is evocative of a Baroque dance suite. This is a series of four movements: a prelude, a menuet, Clare de lune, and a passepied, and with the exception of Clare de lune, every movement in this suite is based on a Baroque dance form, and follows the characteristics of each. Debussy however, puts a new coat of paint on these forms, thus revitalizing them. This suite features colorful harmonies, playful rhythms, and a level of emotional depth that would not be found in a traditional dance suite.
It is important to note that, while Debussy’s music has elements that are in the spirit of Neoclassicism, he is not considered a neoclassical composer. The movement Neoclassicism was after Debussy’s time, and was actually seen as a reaction against Debussy.
Bibliography
Alvira, José Rodríguez. 2001. “Harmonic Analysis of Debussy’s Prelude La Fille Aux Cheveux de Lin (Book I, VIII).” Www.teoria.com. 2001. https://www.teoria.com/en/articles/debussy-fille-aux-cheveux-de-lin/index.php.
2011. “Des Pas Sur La Neige - Prelude by Claude Debussy.” Www.teoria.com. 2011. https://www.teoria.com/en/articles/debussy-des-pas-sur-la-neige/index.php.
2020. “Prelude II ... Voiles, Claude Debussy - Index.” Www.teoria.com. 2020. https://www.teoria.com/en/articles/2020/debussy-preludes/02/index.php.
DuBose, Joseph. 2010. “Hommage a Haydn.” Www.classicalconnect.com. December 5, 2010. https://www.classicalconnect.com/Piano_Music/Debussy/Hommage/4189
Hutchinson, Robert. n.d. “Impressionism.” Musictheory.pugetsound.edu. https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/Impressionism.html.
Guo, Shulin. 2019. “A Study of Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque: Prelude, Menuet, Clair de Lune and Passepied.” University of Kansas. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/232011243.pdf.
"Impressionism." In The Oxford Dictionary of Music, edited by Kennedy, Joyce, Michael Kennedy, and Tim Rutherford-Johnson. : Oxford University Press, 2012. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199578108.001.0001/acref-9780199578108-e-4584.
Jean-Aubry, G., and Frederick H. Martens. “Claude Debussy.” The Musical Quarterly 4, no. 4 (1918): 542–54. http://www.jstor.org/stable/737879.
J Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V Palisca. 2014. A History of Western Music. 10th ed. New York: W.W. Norton And Company.
“Learn about the Piano Suite ‘Suite Bergamasque’ by Claude Debussy.” n.d. Galaxy Music Notes. https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/learn-about-suite-bergamasque-by-claude-debussy.
Music, Liberty Park. 2021. “The Modern Period.” Liberty Park Music. March 15, 2021. https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/the-modern-period/.
Richard Franko Goldman. 1965. Harmony in Western Music.
Robles-Rendón, Bruno. 2020. “Debussy - Clair de Lune - Harmonic and Structural Analysis.” Www.youtube.com. May 29, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDGUrj5KApY.
2021. “Debussy - Arabesque No.1 Score Analysis (Harmonic and Structural).” Www.youtube.com. February 18, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsxBeNXhnYs.
Samu, Margaret. 2004. “Impressionism: Art and Modernity.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. October 2004. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm.
Strunk, Oliver and Treitler, Leo, eds. “Claude Debussy.” Strunk’s Source Readings in Music History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998, 1431-1436.
Wheeldon, Marianne . 2017. “Anti-Debussyism and the Formation of French Neoclassicism .” Journal of the American Musicological Society 70 (2): 433–74. https://doi.org/10.1525/jams.2017.70.2.433.
