Debussy and Orientalism - Essay Example

Debussy and Orientalism Introduction Achille-Claude Debussy was one of the most accomplished French composers of the 19th and 20th century. He was renowned for what critics termed as impressionist music despite the fact that he was personally against the particular term. His influence in the field of composing has been felt for centuries more so given the unique culture of non-traditional music that he made famous. His music is especially noted for the use of sensory content as well atonality; his work was mostly produced during the French literary period of symbolism, which significantly inspired him both as a composer and as a participant in culture. Debussys musical genius was spotted from an early age, however despite his overt talent; he tended to be unconventional and often strayed from what was considered proper and musically acceptable in his time. He was often against the modernist and structured teaching in the music academy where he studied choosing instead to favor dissonance, which was frowned upon in the musical circles (Mark 189). He was often compared to Georges Biset who was one of the most outstanding pianists and sight-reader. His public pieces included sonata, Beethoven and Chopin all which he excelled at. In the summer of 1884, he traveled to around Europe and during this period, he performed in private concerts and interacted with several composers (Edward 41). This experienced exposed him to divergent views in the musical arena and set the stage for his eventual departure from one-dimensional composition. After these experiences, he began working on his musical language, which was independent of the Wagner technique although largely the symbolist movement influenced it. He was a prominent contributor to Stephan Mallarmes symbolist meeting where Wagnerism took Centre stage in the discourse (François and Roy). However, he surprised many of his contemporaries by distancing himself from the traditional school of thought and choosing to write in much smaller and more accessible forms. Among his earliest works is the Deux arabesque, which revisits rococo with and air or contemporarys cynicism and a touch of puzzlement. It was in this suite that Clair de Lune which is one famous pieces was composed, he later moved on to more daring harmonic techniques such where he used the Phrygian mode and other less than standard scales including the "floating" whole tone comprised of ethereal harmony. Gradually, he began to distance himself from the customary A-B-A form with its reiterations and intensifications that had been a pillar of orthodox scores since the era of Haydn’s time. In the midpoint of his career was the last years of the 19th century were he released the three nocturnes, which was sharply contrasting with Wagnerian opera (François and Roy). After ten years of work, his Pelleas te Melisande proved to be his only complete opera which was based on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck, it was an instant hit and it influenced many young composers such as Maurice Ravel, his works brought to new rhythm and fluidity and color that had been retrospectively absent in western composition. In the La mer Essays, between 1903 to 1905, the music had a more philharmonic format with an ending whose subjects were borrowed from the initial thought to the intermediate period. According to his critics, this was seen as a less subtle step in his progress, to some it was even perceived as negative. True to his pupil perchance for trying new things and gravitating from the conventional, he let himself be influenced by a new type of music in the west that most modern composers would rather have kept from their scores. This was Javanese gamelan; an oriental style that he found to be both appealing and intriguing. The orchestra, which composed bells gongs and percussions, mesmerized him so much that his style noticeably changed as he implemented parts of this composition in his later music. Admittedly, he did not refer to the gamelan scales or ensemble; however, his sensitive and refined melodies were overtly achieved with the application of oriental exotic scales. Of all the composers in his time, he was the only one to have an entire tone comprising entirely of tones and an octave spilt into six equal parts in singular and unique display of musical artistry unprecedented in his era. According to Rudolph Reti, Debussys biggest accomplishment was the creation of an enriched monophony founded on the melodic toners and harmonics that were radically different from the norm. He created a new type of tonality in European music, which he embodied in his use of elongated pedal points as well as glittery passages and figurative webs that distract one from the absence of conventional tonality. He came up with parallel cord that operated like chordal melodies and enhanced unisons instead of tradition harmonies. Historians posit that Debussy uncounted the gamelan in action as far back as the early days of 1887 on a gamelan hosted at the Paris Conservatoire by the French government. What effect this had on his musical propensities can however not be speculated on given that none of his pieces from time had any notable oriental influences. He later came to hear the first complete gamelan orchestra by skilled native players in the Paris exhibition in 1889; this was an ensemble consisting of metallic percussion instruments. The next year again, he had a gamelan orchestra at the same exhibition although this time it was a complete instrumentation. Given that at the time he was exploring alternatives to western music, the exposure to Javanese music had a profound and epiphany influence on him. This emerged when in a letter to a friend in 1895 he expressed the overwhelming impact the music had had on him, he describes it as music that can "…express every shade of meaning, even unmentionable shades . . . which make our tonic and dominant seem like ghosts, for use by naughty little children?” (Tamagawa 21). In another correspondence in 1910, he described ". . . Javanese rhapsodies, which instead of confining themselves to a traditional form, develop according to the fantasy of countless arabesques." (Tamagawa 22). It is quite evident from a correspondence that he was quite taken by the new genre of music and the quotations serve to direct the reader towards understanding the qualities of the music that was of greatest interest to him. The most appealing aspect was likely the freedom and the evident harmony of caution, which was quite distinct from European music. He found its timber to be both unique and fascinating and according to Kiyoshi Tamagawa, these ideas of the gamelan were key determinants of his composition. In analyzing the extent to which this was so, he created a list of criteria that support the notion. The first of these was that his later titles were suggestive of the exoticism commonly associated with the orient, in addition, the formal structure have been founded on the ostinato style based on a significant repetition part of which is based on the circular and symmetrical patterns, in Debussys case, this sharply contrasted with the logical tone underpinning western music. Thirdly, the pitch materials or scales were seen to suggest the gamelan in addition to the few examples of limited borrowing. The fourth criterion was the fact that tone and colors were evocative of the gamelan which he dad described as not being in resonation with traditional Westen composition whose colors were not as evident (Hugh). Finally, the textures are layered in a gamelan format with slow and low sustained gong sounds on which a moderately moving melody is overlaid; Tamagawa proposes that a few of the characteristics alone cannot be indicative of the impact of Gamelan on the composer. However, in view of their appearance in several of his more overt attributes, surmises that it is self-evident that the gamelan greatly influenced his works (Tamagawa 35). For the sake of making a conclusive argument in the contrast between his pre and post gamelan composition, a group of his works from both periods will be separately discussed and used in proving that Debussy was indeed highly influenced by the gamelan. The Danse bohémienne was one of the earliest Pre-Gamelan works and his written when he was only 18 years old; it was composed of a conventional piano work in the traditional ABA format and did not have any new textures. The arabesque 1 is similarly ordinary and straightforward, the only remarkable thing about the ABA format is that it shifts to the IV in section B, while some modal harmony is evident; the major theme is characterized by a layers 3 texture against a two. The Arabesque 2 is done in the ABA form and section be shifts to IV instead of V, the rhythm extends for 11 instead units at the start of the piece and is repeated throughout the rest of the article (Hugh). At the start, there is a two-layered texture and which turns into a three layered one just before returning to A. The Reverie begins with and ostinato in the left and most of the harmonies is functional ABA, the B has some degree of pentatonic melody and the pedal is noticeably static that only goes on for eight units. In conclusion, it is apparent that although some aspects of gamelan appear in his early works, they are not definite and it seems to be largely accidental and non-systematic (Thosmon 158). Post Gamelan Compositions The Prelude in the Pour le piano provides the first noticeable deliberate application of gamelan in Debussy piano composition; he uses several toccata sounding figuration whose layered texture is similar to gamelan music. The form is also strikingly different unlike the simple ABA that forms, the motive shows an A BB AA B B coda and the only reason ABA is suggested is when the BA motive appear to resume the same form consistently. In the tonal scheme, the A motive remains a part of the C major which is unusually in the European context where it would resolve into a minor to conclude the work. The second post gamelan work is the sarabande that is contrast to the Pour le piano reminds one that not all-later music has a gamelan theme or devices. Despite the unusual tonal scheme, the texture comes off as mostly chordal with minimized layering and the form is in simple ABA. Scholars have suggested that the pogodes are work most influenced the gamelan music; it has a pentatonicism that reminds one of the sledro and is more thorough than any of his retrospective compositions (Day-OConnell, 61). There is a more comprehensive evocation of the gamelan in the overt hint of bells and gongs in the initial measure and many pedaled staccatos, which are in most cases ranging from octaves to cascades (Hugh). They key melody is expanded and developed much like the melodies typical of gamelan scores consistently presented in the pianos middle range. Throughout the composition, the gongs are sounded periodically with a moderate middle sound and faster figuration in the upper range in a constant layered texture. This particular composition hints at the rhythmic complexity and interplay of the gamelan instrument such as the three vs two rhythms and the intricate rhythms of mm 37 ff. In summary, the pogodes apply more gamelan effects than the composers do other music, which suggest that Debussy is cognizant of the possibilities suggested in gamelan music. To some extent, each of the five influences Tamagawa identifies are found in Pogodes and although not all are possible aspects of gamelan music they resonant with his personal proclivities that he made a permanent aspect of his music. In the Lisle joyeuse, one finds an archetypical example of a situation where a score was not deliberately meant to bring out anything mainly oriental or exotic but applies elements inspired by the genre. The use of static rather than the conventional functional harmony is dominant and the A pedal is subject to constant renewal throughout the score. The entire form consists of minor episodes that pause then disappear and once again appear without contributing to a repetitive pattern, on the other hand the whole tone and chromatic scales are combined with diatonic material marinating a layered texture in the entire score. The delay in Gamelan influence has been often pointed out as a point of mystery by critics and admirers alike since it is evident that although he started composing music with this influence after his exposure to it, there was a gap of a few years before this was felt (Hugh). The most widely accepted explanation which resonates with the perception of Debussy as a musical genius as well as reflective individual is that he does not as mentioned above simply copy and match aspects of Gamelan and western music. Even after he heard it, he took his time to reflect and contemplate its impacts and the implications of combining it with mainstream music before he commenced the assimilation process. Despite this, the question posed by several scholars about the gamelan influence has been that, is it possible that the elements of gamelan could have been influenced by non-oriental sources? Granted that the oriental sounds were not the only ones he was exposed to, this sounds like a logical query. However, studies have shown little correlation between other sounds and his overall composition and based on the evidence in the scores examined, it is unlikely that he could have derived his style from any other place except the oriental gamelan. The fact that he used a series of gamelan elements such as ostinato, static harmony, symmetrical forms exotic scale as well as exotic timbres makes it quite evident where he drew his inspiration. Ultimately, there is little doubt that Debussy journey to oriental sounds in western music was started by his early exposure to gamelan, which he greatly admired and found their way in his later more prominent works. Conclusion Based on the above analysis, there is no doubt that Debussy was significantly influenced by the oriental gamelan and although some elements of it are identified before, he shifts he introduced to the genre, they appear to be mostly incidental. The five elements Tamagawa uses are therefore only dimly evident before 1890 but are much more dominant in his later works although it is hard to distinguish when they occurred or were deliberately applied. However, what sets him apart from his contemporaries who tried to merge different genres is the fact that he did not simple attempt a transfer of gamelan into western music. On the contrary, he selected and internalized some of the ideas in both genres, and applied them based on their resonance with his personal esthetic predispositions. In his own singular way, he was successful in creating a new kind from two existing ones without making it appear as if he was only patching them together like so many composers before and after him have attempted. His musical genius is evident in his endeavor to create new music especially in view of the fact that he has a very strong personal attachment to the oriental music as evinced by the quotations appearing above. Works Cited Day-OConnell, Jeremy. Pentatonicism from the eighteenth century to Debussy. Rochester, N.Y : University Rochester Press, 2007.Print Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1962, Print François Lesure and Roy Howat. "Debussy, Claude." Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. 2009.Web. Dec. 17, 2014. Hugh, Brent. "Claude Debussy and the Javanese Gamelan." Brent Hugh Website (2003). < http://brenthugh.com/debnotes/debussy-gamelan.pdf > Mark McFarland, "Transpositional Combination and Aggregate Formation in Debussy,"Music Theory Spectrum 27 no. 2 (Fall 2005): 187–220. Print Tamagawa, Kiyoshi. Echoes from the East: The Javanese Gamelan and its Influence on the Music of Claude Debussy. D.M.A. Texas: The University of Texas.1988.Print Thompson, Oscar, Debussy: Man and Artist, New York: Tudor Publishing Company, 1940.Print Read More