Impressionism in Debussy’s Preludes

An Investigation into La Cathedrale Engloutie and La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin

Luke Heter

Dr. Davenport

FAMH 455E

April 14, 2016

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The final decades of the Romantic period at the end of the nineteenth century were a time

marked by individual expression and intense emotion. Paris was a center of activity for artistic

developments: artists working in a wide variety of media, from paint to language to music,

centered in Paris and inspired one another with their work. In 1874, a group of painters with a

similar style, including Claude Monet (1840-1926), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Edgar Degas

(1834-1917), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and others, held an independent exhibition in

Paris.1 This exhibition became the birth of Impressionism, an artistic movement centered on

these artists, whose work used rough brush strokes to depict common subjects, both of which

were abnormal characteristics of art at the time.2 This movement created a stir among other

Parisian artists. French musicians of the time period were very interested in visual art;3 famed

composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918) once said, “I love pictures almost as much as music.”4

He and other composers took notice of the Impressionist movement in visual art and began to

imitate its practices in their compositions, creating what became referred to as musical

Impressionism. By the middle 1890s, the preeminent Impressionist composer was Claude

Debussy, who had broadened the accepted harmonic vocabulary and compositional techniques to

create the Impressionist effect in his music. Debussy’s use of various new compositional

techniques sparked the Impressionist movement in music, and can easily be seen in two of his

Preludes: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin and La Cathédrale Engloutie. La Cathédrale

1 James H. Rubin, Impressionism (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2006), 9. 2 Moshe Barasch, Modern Theories of Art: From Impressionism to Kandinsky, Volume 2 (New York: NYU Press, 1998), 48, 63. 3 Roy Howat, The Art of French Piano Music: Debussy, Ravel, Faure, Chabrier (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 3. 4 Paul Roberts, Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1996), 1.

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The Romantic period is generally considered to last from 1820 to 1900; Debussy was

born in 1862 and began composing in 1879.5 Marked by deeper emotional expression than the

Classical period before it,6 the Romantic period and its technological developments led to

increased urbanization; as a reaction, artists and musicians became focused on breaking out of

the bonds of the routine and monotony that accompanied urban life.7 They constrained

themselves less strictly to the rules of tonal harmony so firmly established in the Baroque and

Classical periods, exploring new harmonic relationships and using dissonant intervals where

previously they would not have been accepted.8

Romantic instrumental music is generally divided into three types: program music,

character music, and absolute music. Program music tells a specific story, often written down in

an accompanying program so that audience members can read what would happen in the music

and listen for it. Character music is less specific, creating a mood or an impression of a scene or

personality; rather than a program, hints about the composer’s intended meaning are generally

found in the title of the piece.9 Both of these types of music existed before the Romantic period,

but were broadened and further explored in the Romantic. Absolute music, a new development in

the Romantic period, has nothing specific that it is meant to portray but rather is simply music

for music’s sake.10

5 Simon Trezise, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Debussy (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), xiv. 6 J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, A History of Western Music (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2014), 594. 7 Burkholder, A History of Western Music, 594. 8Ibid.,5939Ibid., 595.10 Ibid., 595.

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During the Classical period composers considered form to be very important and most

often operated within the pre-established patterns of any of the accepted forms of the time.11 In

the Romantic period, on the other hand, organic musical form was developed and became the

new standard. “Organic music” mimics the characteristics of plants: although each part of the

plant is unique, they are all adaptations of the same structure. In the same way, composers

unified their pieces with reoccurring themes and motifs rather than with a prescribed form.12

Because of this, there is very little repetition of entire sections in Romantic music, since it was

not confined to a prescribed form. Usually one time was enough for the composer to say what he

or she wanted to; however, it is common for certain motives to be repeated in a modified form

throughout a piece; in program and characteristic music, these motives often represent something

the composer wants to portray or may be used simply to create cohesion within the piece. In

Hector Berlioz’s (1803-1869) Symphonie Fantastique, one motif, known as an “idée fixe,”

represents the woman Berlioz is in love with, and weaves its way in and out of all five

movements with numerous modifications and adaptations to suit what else is happening in each

movement.13

Romantic composers often focused on subject matter contrary to the monotonous

existence of urban-dwellers they saw around them. For example, they placed a heavy focus on

nature:14 from Camille Saint-Saëns’s (1835-1921) Carnival of the Animals to the third movement

of Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, which is about shepherds, to Frederic Chopin’s

(1810-1849) “Raindrop” prelude, many Romantic composers depicted some aspect of nature

11Burkholder, A History of Western Music, 503.12 Ibid., 595. 13Ibid.,630.14 E. Robert Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, Inc., 1950), 16

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within their pieces. They also placed an emphasis on dreams over reality, especially as a form of

escapism from the unpleasantness of nineteenth century urban existence: lack of sanitation, close

quarters, poverty and disease.15 Two prime examples of this are Berlioz’s Symphonie

Fantastique, which depicts Berlioz’s infatuation with a woman and his opiate-induced fantasies

about her that culminate in his death and descent into hell, and Franz Schubert’s (1797-1828)

Erlkönig, portraying a father’s race through a forest on horseback as his dying son is visited by

the Elf King, the spiritual manifestation of death.

Claude Debussy incorporated Romantic compositional elements with that of the

Impressionist painters. Impressionist paintings have the broad defining characteristics of rough

brushstrokes that appear meaningless from up close and only create an image when viewed

holistically from far away.16 They also place great importance on coloristic relationships.

Oftentimes painters experimented with creating visual harmony or juxtaposition by placing like

or unlike colors next to each other.17 They also focused on “ordinary” subjects such as nature the

common person rather than mythology and nobility, similar to Romantic composers.18 Examples

of all these techniques are found in Renoir’s La Grenouillère, Monet’s Impression, Sunrise,

Édouard Manet’s (1832-1883) Argenteuil, and Berthe Morisot’s (1841-1895) Hide and Seek.

Perhaps the best way to encompass the Impressionist movement in words is this: before, artists

composed their pieces; that is, they planned their paintings in order to create unity between

visual elements. Impressionist painters did not compose their pieces; rather, they unbounded

15 Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, 16. 16 Barasch, Modern Theories of Art: From Impressionism to Kandinsky, Volume 2, 63. 17 Ibid., 55-61. 18 Ibid., 48.

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their art from visual rules and allowed themselves to paint freely through their own “visual

experience.”19

As Claude Debussy moved through his composing career, he began to emulate various

aspects of the Impressionist visual art movement. His music often creates loose “impressions” of

emotions or vignettes within the listeners, rather than the more strict or purposeful illustrations of

emotions and stories common among his contemporaries. When he began composing in this

style, it was not immediately appreciated by the cultural elite; a reviewer first used the word

“impressionism” to describe Debussy’s music as a criticism, saying that his music was too free in

its depictions, that it needed to convey more concrete images.20 As such, to the end of his days,

Debussy never liked the term “impressionism” to describe his work. As he continued his career,

contemporary reviewers struggled to describe Debussy’s unique composition style;21 some

settled on “Debussyism” and equated it to Impressionism in painting and Symbolism in poetry.22

Impressionism, or “Debussyism,” is difficult to define, as widely found characteristics of

Impressionist pieces are not easily pinpointed. However, on a very broad level, it must make an

impression of something upon the listener. Many Impressionist pieces are loosely programmatic,

or characteristic: they do not tell a story but do create the impression of a scene and sometimes

action within it. Other pieces create an impression not of a story but of an emotion. These pieces

create a stir of feeling in the listener but rather than guiding that feeling to a specific emotion like

other Romantic pieces, they allow the listener to simply arrive at any emotion. This is how

19 Ibid., 51-53. 20 Ronald L. Byrnside, “Musical Impressionism: The Early History of the Term,” The Musical Quarterly 66 no. 4 (1980): 523. 21 Ibid., 528-533. 22 Ibid., 536.

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Impressionist music differentiates from other Romantic music: it conveys loose impressions, not

specific images.

Debussy uses various compositional techniques in order to convey these impressions that

make his music so unique. One of these techniques is that he often fluctuates between tonalities

or modes, effectively blurring the tonal center. He frequently uses a whole tone scale as a bridge

between tonalities;23 because the notes of a whole tone scale are all equally spaced, it further

removes any sense of a tonal anchor. Debussy also uses large block chords that move in parallel

or similar motion across the piano;24 these chords are usually played using the sustain pedal,25

lending a grandiosity and openness to the sound that is highly characteristic of Debussy’s music.

Rhythmically, stability and instability are often pitted against each other, as somewhat regular

rhythmic patterns give way to more unpredictable rhythmic motions;26 oftentimes, the stability is

provided by a strong sustained pedal point.27 Debussy’s use of these techniques, among others,

gives him a very characteristic sound that make his music generally fairly easy to identify.

Two of Debussy’s preludes, published in 1910 in a book along with ten others,28 provide

powerful illustrations of Debussy’s composing style: La Cathédrale Engloutie and La Fille aux

Cheveux de Lin. True to the Impressionist style, both are characteristic, conveying loose

impressions of scenes and characters. A unique characteristic of Debussy’s books of preludes is

23 Howat, The Art of French Piano Music: Debussy, Ravel, Faure, Chabrier, 10. 24 Ya-Hsuan Chiang, “Pedal technique in La Cathédrale engloutie by Claude Debussy” (master’s thesis, San Jose State University, 1992), 22. 25 Roberts, Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy, 39. 26 Daniel Sachs, “Claude Debussy and Equalizing Balances: A Different Approach to Analysis of Claude Debussy’s Music with Examples from Preludes, Books 1 and 2,” (master’s thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2005), 4. 27 Ibid., 9. 28 Robert Orledge, “Debussy's Piano Music: Some Second Thoughts and Sources of Inspiration”. The Musical Times 122 no. 1655 (1981), 24.

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that each prelude is given a number as well as a descriptive title; however, while the number is

given at the beginning of each piece, the descriptive title is not given until the end of the piece.

This demonstrates how Debussy emphasized the importance of his listeners forming their own

uninfluenced impressions from the music to create a more pure listening experience. Hearing

each piece for the first time provides a wonderfully unadulterated aural experience that is left

entirely to the mind of the listener; it is recommended that the reader listen to both La

Cathédrale Engloutie and La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin before proceeding in order to get as close

to this unbiased experience as possible. However, upon listening to them again, knowing the

titles and some background information about each piece makes it easier to understand why

Debussy wrote what he did and what he was trying to accomplish within each piece.

La Cathédrale Engloutie, or The Sunken Cathedral, is based on an ancient Breton legend

about a drowned city whose cathedral rises from the water at dawn at certain times of the year.29

In order to paint a musical depiction of this scene, Debussy uses various musical aspects, some

more obvious than others. The beginning of the piece is in parallel fifths and octaves,

reminiscent of medieval organum sung in churches. Also in this measure are resounding open

pedal point chords that function as bell tones, mimicking the bells in a church bell tower30

(Figure 1). Only measures later, Debussy uses the melodic contour to create an impression of a

church: looking at the score, the melodic line looks like an architectural arch found in a church31

(Figure 2). This is a very creative way to add to the vignette that many listeners may not decipher

upon first hearing it.

29 Roberts, Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy, 28. 30 Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, 155-156. 31 Ibid., 155.

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Figure 1: La Cathédrale Engloutie, m. 1

Low pedal points function as bell tones; parallel fourths and octaves resemble organum.

Figure 2: La Cathédrale Engloutie, mm. 14-15

Melodic contour visually mimics architectural church arch.

Still in the beginning section, and imitated throughout the piece, Debussy writes groups

of long notes that change or rearticulate at different times. The first time this section occurs, it is

a clear change in tonality from the beginning from D Dorian to E Lydian and often creates less

consonant harmonies, like tritones and minor seconds. These intervals do not necessarily create a

dissonant sound but rather lend a blurry quality to the sound, reminiscent of looking at an image

underwater where the surface of the water blurs the image (Figure 3).

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Figure 3: La Cathédrale Engloutie mm. 8-10

Long notes changing at different times with dissonant harmonies create watery impression.

About a quarter of the way through the piece, Debussy writes a section comprised of

large parallel block chords and a persistent bass pedal point. This section begins with a strong C

major sonority and then modulates to an F major sonority halfway through. Perhaps it is the

grandiosity and beauty, or perhaps it is the perpetual parallel motion over the powerful bass line,

or simply because the listener is listening for a “cathedral” because of the title, but somehow this

section creates the impression of a grand cathedral. The fact that it is so hard to describe adds to

the mystery and genius of the impression; no single specific thing sounds like a specific aspect of

a church or is commonly used in relation to churches, but the music still evokes in the listener a

beautiful cathedral in all its glory (Figure 4).

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Figure 4: La Cathédrale Engloutie mm. 28-30

Large parallel block chords create impression of grand cathedral.

Debussy wrote this section at fortissimo, as if to depict the sunken cathedral’s glorious

emergence from the depths. However, true to the legend, Debussy reprises the section toward the

end of the piece at pianissimo, an octave lower, and over an undulating wave-like bass line.32

This is certainly to portray the cathedral’s descent back into the ocean. He even notes that it

should be played “Comme un echo de la phrase entendue précédemment,” or “as an echo of the

phrase heard previously.”33 Without knowing the legend, this section might just sound like the

scene has moved further away, but with prior knowledge of the legend corresponding with the

piece, it is obvious this is what Debussy is doing (Figure 5).

32 Guido M. Gatti, “The Piano Works of Claude Debussy” trans. Frederick H. Martens, The Musical Quarterly 7 no. 3 (1921): 443. 33ClaudeDebussy,Preludes,Book1,Nos.7-12editedbyJamesBriscoe(NewYork:Schirmer,1990),19.

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Figure 5: La Cathédrale Engloutie mm. 72-74

Reprised motif at pianissimo over wave-like bass line creates image of underwater cathedral.

La Cathédrale Engloutie is one of Debussy’s more famous pieces, and is often studied

and performed today. Its beauty and characteristic style have a wide appeal, making it easy for

both performers and listeners to connect with this piece.

La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, or The Girl with Flaxen Hair, is based on a poem of the

same name about a beautiful girl, with whom the poem’s speaker is infatuated, in the countryside

in the springtime.34 The piece opens with an arpeggiated motif from Db down to Eb and back up

in a eighth-sixteenth-sixteenth note pattern, which somehow sounds bright and flowing, as if to

give the impression of a spring morning or a babbling brook and establishing the setting for the

scene. Some have analyzed this motif to represent a spinning wheel,35 lending itself to the

portrayal of an innocent and beautiful girl in the country. It could also be interpreted to be

representative of the girl; this would make it easy to explain its reoccurrence throughout the

piece (Figure 6).

34 Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, 150. 35 Ibid., 151.

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Figure 6: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, mm. 1-3

Descending motif, perhaps representative of the girl.

Later in the piece, Debussy takes this motif and inverts it, moving from Eb up to Db and

back down, this time in a more rhythmically neutral eighth note pattern. Upon hearing this, the

listener is reminded of the original motif, but clearly something is different. In the poem, the

speaker shifts from praising the girl’s beauty to expressing his woe at not being able to have and

love her; by inverting the motif, Debussy expresses this different view of the girl while

maintaining the essence of her portrayal by keeping the same notes in the melodic line as the

original motif

Figure 7: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, mm. 24-25

Original motif inverted and more rhythmically neutral.

Later, Debussy writes two voices in the right hand playing alternating groups of two

sixteenth notes, disrupting the eighth-sixteenth-sixteenth pattern. This continues until the bottom

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voice eventually gives way to long notes while the top voice continues the sixteenth notes

(Figure 8). This section somehow gives a slightly different impression but feels as if the subject

is the same; perhaps the girl has gotten up and is twirling through a meadow, or perhaps

raindrops are falling around her. Each listener likely experiences something different in his or

her own imagination, but this is part of the genius of Debussy’s work; by composing a piece

about a specific subject, he is able to create vague “impressions” of the subject without

expressing clear events or characteristics.

Figure 8: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, mm. 14.

Alternating sixteenth note pattern creates a new impression of same subject.

At the end of the piece, the original descending motif returns an octave higher, clearly

reminiscent of the girl and everything the speaker of the poem loves about her. However, when

the motif feels like it should resolve on a major chord, Debussy resolves it on a minor chord; this

creates the impression of sadness or longing, indicating the girl’s absence from the speaker. The

piece concludes with the alternating sixteenth-note pattern ascending to a final cadence on the

major tonic; the reprise of this theme gives the impression of the girl maintaining her usual

existence but viewed from a greater distance (Figure 9). The ending of the piece is somewhat

sad: the major tonic chord is sustained in the left hand while the right hand slowly resolves. Out

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of context it would sound happy, but having just experienced the minor resolution and the

distance of the sixteenth-note pattern lends a melancholy quality to the sound, leaving the

listener with the sadness of being unable to possess the girl in the poem (Figure 10).

Figure 9: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, mm. 30-31

Descending motif resolves on a minor chord.

Figure 10: La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin, mm. 36-39

Delayed and distant resolution creates impression of sadness at not being with girl.

The compositional techniques Debussy employs in these two pieces can be found in

many of his other pieces; he developed a very distinct sound that characterizes his pieces. In fact,

some of his contemporaries complained that the latter part of his career lacked originality, that he

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was simply recycling old material.36 That being said, they also acknowledged that what Debussy

wrote into his music had rarely been captured in composition before,37 that he had made

innovations beyond any composers before him.

Worthy of emphasis is the fact that all of these innovative techniques that Debussy uses

simply create impressions in the mind of the listener, not specific scenes or narratives. The

analyses given above are by no means the only valid interpretations; they are merely some

common ones derived from what each piece is known to be based on. However, these pieces

could create impressions of any number of other scenes or emotions in each individual listener.

This is what makes Debussy’s music unique; his contemporaries often composed in order to

depict a very specific scene or narrative, and his Classical-period predecessors most often

composed music without trying to convey any specific scene or narrative. This is why Debussy

became the forefront of the Impressionist movement: because he pioneered the use of music to

create amorphous impressions that, while sometimes guiding the listeners, generally leave their

minds to wander and create their own images.

Not only was Debussy essentially the first composer to use Impressionist techniques, few

have done so in a way similar to him since then. By the end of Debussy’s career, the twentieth

century was well under way, bringing with it new trends and practices that quickly put Debussy’s

innovations out of style; explorations into atonality and unconventional use of instruments

essentially left the Impressionist movement behind. While some elements of Impressionism can

certainly still be found in music after Debussy, very rarely has it been treated in the same manner

as it was with Debussy. Without him, the movement likely never would have occurred, and the

36 Ernest Newman, “The Development of Debussy,” The Musical Times 59 no. 903 (1918): 1. 37 Ernest Newman, “The Development of Debussy (continued),” The Musical Times 59 no. 906 (1918): 1.

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world would have been deprived of the beauty of the Impressionist genre so cherished by both

the musically literate and illiterate alike today.

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