Noah SchlottmanMUSC 1050

02/17/15

Estampes: Pagodes

Claude Debussy’s “Pagodes” was heavily influenced by Javanese gamelan music

performed at the Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris. Gamelan ensembles mainly consist of

tuned percussive instruments, from gongs of varying size to a variety of mid- and high-range

metallophones. The gongs keep the beat with the longest notes, layered over with melodies and

patterns that increase in complexity and speed in the higher-tuned instruments, with the softest

style percussion instruments being able to play quicker, more intricate patterns. The Central

Javanese gamelan at the Paris Expo performed in sléndro tuning, which divides the octave into

five roughly equal notes. Gamelan music has a tight rhythmic structure, with the great gong

articulating the largest phrases (acting as a “pedal” of sorts), mid- and higher- range instruments

subdividing those phrases in half and quarter length respectively. The end of a phrase is marked

by slowing the music (akin to our ritardando), with the new phrase beginning in the original

tempo.

Debussy used a well-known Western form to convey his Oriental impression. “Pagodes”

appears to be in modified rondo, with sections delineated thus: A: mm. 1-33; B: mm. 33-40; C:

mm. 41-44; B: mm. 45-52; A: mm. 53-72; C/transition: mm. 73-79; Coda: mm. 80-98. It could

also be a more simplistic ABA form with a coda (A: m.1; B: m.33; A: 53; coda: 80), as the C

section (under the rondo definition) does not really provide new material, but is distinct in its

fortissimo dynamics. Both the A and B sections do, however, have multiple distinct themes

that are developed or recycled throughout the piece, especially in the coda, where the B appears

after the A theme, suggesting the more ternary structure.

Starts in B Major, allowing the convenient use of the pentatonic scale on the black keys

of the piano, which imitates the non-diatonic sléndro scale of Gamelan music. Although there

is a main 2-bar theme introduced in the top voice of mm. 3-4, which is developed and

fragmented throughout the piece, there are many melodies across different voices that retain their

distinction in rhythm and contour, separated in register and syncopation. A good example of such

independence is mm. 23-26. This polyphony is pervasive, with mm. 15-18 being the main

exception to the rule in its harmonic approach. Otherwise, the distinction of line is evident,

allowing one to hear each part clearly and recognize reiterated themes throughout, to the extent

that often a theme repeated in an entirely different register sounds as though it were also coming

from a different instrument. By distributing motivic fragments throughout the voices, Debussy

achieves the effect of an ensemble from a single piano. The introduction of new melodic

material, as late as the coda, also provides a sense of development and build as we progress

through the piece, while repeated motives act as anchor points that are re-ornamented rather than

re-harmonized.

Instrumentation is essential to achieve this polyphony as well as to distinguishing phrases

and form. Debussy structures the music such that there are 3 distinct voices in three well-defined

registers. The independence of voices is accentuated by the difference in note length and motion

in each of the different registers, similar to the musical structure of a Gamelan ensemble. The

dynamics throughout also help define phrases, with significant dynamic changes always

accompanied by changes in the note of the gong “pedal” and its dismissal or introduction.

Especially powerful is the first louder than piano in measure 41. These changes in dynamic are

necessary for giving shape to the piece as well as character, as there aren’t really tonal changes to

express development and resolution Debussy is drawing on expressive elements beyond the

harmonic vocabulary to provide coherence and satisfaction in “Pagodes.”

As mentioned before, rhythmic syncopation and note length difference between registers

adds to independence of individual lines. Debussy also does some other things in the manner of

Gamelan music, like reigning in the tempo multiple times throughout the piece (mm. 27, 53, 80,

etc.). Also, in the A section there are three phrases that begin a Tempo after a ritardando,

prepared like Gamelan phrases are, even down to the gong (eighth note in the last beat of mm. 4,

6, 8) signaling the start of the new phrase.

Looking vertically at the music, it is clear that much of the harmony is not created by the

lines meeting functionally in the manner of counterpoint, but instead by building upon each other

to create pentatonic cluster chords. The most notable exception occurs in measures 15-18. These

chords do not seem to function either but are dyads and triads with smooth voice leading that

hint at different pentatonic groupings, thereby staying in the same aural space and allowing them

to retain an “Oriental” quality. By choosing to use static harmony and avoiding major and minor

modes, Debussy capitalizes on other compositional tools and expressive techniques to capture

the nuances of Javanese ensemble music, presque sans nuances.