Essay
'Estampes' Debussy. A* Essay plan.
A* Essay Plan about Debussy's 'Estampes', with Wider Listening Examples
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Debussy- EstampesContext
Claude Debussy was born in 1982 and died in 1918
He was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris at the age of 10
He rejected the music of Wagner and other composers of the German musical tradition- he regarded
symphonies as ‘out of date’ and therefore wrote many symphonic sketches
He was influenced by composers such as Bartok and Messiaen
Is viewed as one of the most influential composers of the late 19 th and early 20th century
Seen as the first impressionist composer, though he often rejected this
Impressionism was firstly a movement in art in the late 1800s, dominated by Monet, Renoir and others
Impressionism in both art and music is focused on creating an atmosphere
Debussy’s first piece of impressionist music is thought to be ‘Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune’
Estamples (Prints) is a set of 3 pieces for solo piano, composed in 1903
Both of the titles are descriptive- this is a starting point for the musical style
Romantic composers tended to compose pieces of great length, however Debussy moved away from this and
wrote short pieces such as the pieces as part of Estampes
It was inspired by different forms of world music that Debussy heard throughout his lifetime- Indonesian
Gamalan, Arabic scales
La Soiree dans Grenade has African influence- title translates to an ‘Evening in Granada’
Instrumentation and dynamics
Both pieces use a large range of the piano
Md- right hand
Mg- left hand
Both pedals used throughout
Sounds similar to a metallophone (metal instrument)
Melody
Pagodes
Melody based on a slendro scale (Javanese pentatonic scale)- one of the most prominent scales in Gamelan
music
Accompanying ornaments- trills in bars 50-52
Use of contrary motion
The melody in the B section explores the whole tone scale
Demisemiquaver ostinato decoration in Coda
La Soiree dans Grenade
Dissonance
Moorish melody- chromatic and dissonance
Accicaturas
Prevalent use of augmented 2nds and semitones
Whole tone scales- Ravel’s String Quartet in F major (I)
Harmony
Pagodes
Open 5th drone at starts acts a pedal- it is inspired by a gong from the Javanese Gamalan- Godowsky Java Suite
Lack of 3rds create tonal ambiguity
Use of a triplet ostinato from bar 15
Descending bassline from bar 19
Quartal harmony- Hovhaness’ ‘Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints’ cadenza chords in viola and violin
Use of dyads
La Soiree dans Grenade
Lots of pedals- tonic, inner, inverted- help to establish the tonal centre
7th chords in parallel motion- unconventional harmony
Parallel triadic chords
Arpeggiated chords- written to sound like a Spanish guitar (flamenco influence)
Texture
Pagodes
Sections of polyphony
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