Nuages

• Chromatic melodies


  • Motif x in the lower part contains chromatic melodies to the B octatonic scale in bars 1-4
  • Link passage with updated version of bar 1 – 2 alongside chromatic ascending minor 3rds around bar 11 (R2)
• Chromatic chords


  • Chromatic ascending minor 3rds in bar 11 (R2)
  • Bar 5 - Y material octatonic using tones and semitones, can be considered two diminished 7th chords which are chromatic
• Added chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths)

  • Use of 7ths/9ths for dissonance and used not to fit in the traditional functional harmony such as at bar 51
  • Bar 9 - Parallel Dominant 9ths
  • Bar 19 - Eb9 chord
• Parallel movement


  • Bar 9 - parallel Dominant 9ths
  • The homophonic parallel motion in the strings at bar 14
• Subtle syncopations and use of complex rhythms and cross rhythms

  • Bar 46 –47 - Use of syncopated quavers in the strings - maximum immobility
  • Music is set in 6/4 working against 4/4 creating metric dissonance at bar 5 in the cor anglais
• Sensitive exploration of instrumental sonorities

  • Bar 95 –96 - Tremolandos in the Cellos
  • Sonorities like parallel dominant 7th/9th chords which affects tonality
  • Muted strings at the opening
• Choice of playing techniques (tremolo strings, muted horns, etc.)


  • Bar 46 – 47 - use of syncopated pizzicato quavers in the strings
  • The strings are muted (con sourdines) at the opening
  • Bar 23 - cellos are played as basses to play over the fingerboard (sur la touche) which makes for an even lighter a delicate sound
• Use of exotic and/or delicate sounds (harp, celeste, antique cymbals, etc.)

  • Bar 64 - Pentatonic Scale in D# minor in the Gamelan from Indonesia
  • No clear sense of the tonic
  • Use of the B Octatonic Scales
  • percussion instruments are another source of unusual timbre for Debussy, such as the use of antique cymbals in the "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune"
• Sonorities/timbres from other cultures, such as the Indonesian Gamelan

  • Bar 64 - Pentatonic Scale in D# minor in the Gamelan from Indonesia
  • percussion instruments are another source of unusual timbre for Debussy, such as the use of antique cymbals in the "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune."
• Use of non-diatonic scales


  • Octatonic and whole tone scales used throughout the entire piece from bar 1-4 all the way to the end (e.g. bar 76) with different variations each time/ rotation
  • Bar 68 - impression of Dorian Mode
  • Bar 65 - Pentatonic Scale D#
• Nuages


  From Three Nocturnes No1
• Background to Debussy's style

  • Attended the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 10 – his pianistic talents were spotted early!
  • Won the Prix de Rome (the conservatoire's most prestigious prize) at the age of 22.
  • Met Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, whose musical style had a profound and lasting effect on Debussy's harmonic style.
  • In 1889, Debussy attended the Paris World Exposition, where he was introduced to Javanese Gamelan. He incorporated pentatonicism into his own music.
• Debussy's position in musical history

  • Positioned on the transition between Romanticism and Modernism.
  • Commentators considered Debussy as impressionist, but he hated that label.
  • "I'm trying to write something else, what imbeciles call impressionism!"
  • His music required an imagination (symbolism), as opposed to the naturalism and realism of music of the romantics.
  • Symbolism – "A sensuous world of ambiguous and evocative psychological experiences and intense sounds in order to evoke rather than depict"
• Debussy's musical style


  • "Emancipation of Dissonance" – His harmony tended not to avoid harmonic progressions typical of those that were commonplace in Western Classical Tradition.
  • Chords were used for their sonorities rather than for their harmonic function.
  • Conventional harmonic devices weren't ditched completely, but cadences became rare and dissonances 'resolved' to other dissonances
  • A Debussy cadence – the final chord acts as a final point of repose, not because it's diatonic, but because it's less dissonant than what came before.
• Breaking the Tonal System down


  • Chords are chosen for sonority, in conjunction with pitch, scoring (choice of instrumentation) and timbre.
  • Most chords are based on 3rds (Tertian Harmony), with added 7ths and 9ths commonplace.
  • Debussy often omits the third, leaving a bare (perfect) 5th
  • Parallel 5ths and 8ves – a practice prohibited under traditional rules of Harmony
  • Pedal notes created dissonance with chords above them, but also as a means of creating tonal stability in passages of harmonic ambiguity.
• Breaking the Tonal System Down

  • Modality is an important feature of Debussy's music – particularly Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian or Mixolydian instead of Major and Minor
  • Pentatonicism – inspired by Javanese Gamelan
  • Octatonic Scales, but only in short passages
  • Whole Tone Scales (Debussy's favourite) restricted the notes available to him.
  • Subtle harmonies required complementary timbres, with winds used for colouring of sound, whilst strings were often muted and marked sul tasto.
• Features of Impressionism present in the Music

  • Chromatic melodies, often moving by step, to give the melodic line a blurred image
  • Chromatic chords used to give a blurred or colourful effect
  • Added chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), often written in parallel movement
  • Subtle syncopations and use of complex rhythms and cross rhythms to blur the metrical line
  • Sensitive exploration of instrumental sonorities – either by Selection of register (high/low strings, high/low woodwind, etc.) Choice of playing techniques (tremolo strings, muted horns, etc.) Use of exotic and/or delicate sounds (harp, celeste, antique cymbals, etc.) Sonorities/timbres from other cultures, such as the Indonesian Gamelan
  • Use of non-diatonic scales to blur the sense of tonic/dominant (i.e. traditional functional harmony); use of modes in place of major/minor scales; use of whole-tone (or hexatonic) and octatonic scales (made of a T - S T - T - S T - T - S T pattern) shown below
  • Notice that, in the whole-tone scale the distance from the middle note is a tritone (Aug 4th) apart. Music written using the whole-tone scale tends to feature augmented intervals and augmented chords.
• Whole Tone Scales


  A scale of six notes where each interval is a tone. Debussy used this with the sustain pedal (in piano music) to allow natural harmonics to resonate.
• Pentatonic Scales


  This was a technique that Debussy learnt from Javanese Gamelan music, whereby he copied the Slendro Scale – a pentatonic scale in western classical music. Uses the first, second, third, fifth and sixth degrees of the scale. A pentatonic can be played by simply using black keys only. 5 flats in key sig implies black keys only (pentatonic)
• Octatonic Scale


  This is a dissonant scale that uses the interval format:- ST – T – ST – T – ST – T – ST - T
• Parallel Chords


  Impressionist composers often chose chords (and intervals) for the colour of the sound, rather than sticking to the rules of the classical/baroque period. These are simply chords of the same interval one after the other. Parallel augmented triads (4STs + 4STs) avoids a sense of tonal centre
• Melodic Fragments


  Impressionist music avoids long, expressive melody lines commonly found in Classical and early Romantic music. Instead, they would use small fragments of melodies that repeat throughout the piece.
• Dissonant Chords


  As mentioned earlier, impressionists chose chords for their colour of sound, rather than for their relationships with other chords. Cluster chords were often used – notes close together with small intervals. Augmented, diminished, extended chords are also common.
• Analysing the manuscript "Nuages" from 3 Nocturnes No1

  • Figure X (b1-4)
  • Figure Y
• Other than tonality, identify the differences in the music of X (bars 1-4) and Y (bars 5-10)

  Orchestration, texture, rhythm/metre, harmony and any other features
• The timpani entry, b. 7 is the lowest note in the chord, it is used for colouristic effect being played pianississimo
• The choice of pitch suggests the home key of B minor
• Motif X returns but this time presented in

  • Divisi Violins
  • Rising Minor 3rds
  • Descending 6ths
  • Descending 5ths
  • Descending Major 3rds
  • New Sonority - Pizz Double Bass
• 6th and 5th oscillations evoking X. Imagery – floating clouds
• Y


  • Pentatonic Harmony
  • Dominant 9th Chord on Bb
  • Bb Dorian Mode
• Bb Dorian


  Scale that influences the tonality at bars 19-20
• 3 techniques used by the strings in Rotation 2


  • Divisi
  • Sourdines
  • Pizz.
• Divisi


  Strings playing in multiple parts
• Sourdines


  Strings playing with mutes
• Pizz.


  Strings playing pizzicato (plucked)
• Harmony at bars 11-20


  • B.11 and 12 2 note chords; b.13 - 3 note chords, a new version of bar 1 & 2 with ascending chromatic minor 3rds
  • Bars 14-19 consist of three different 9th-type chords.
• The chords have slight differences from one another.
• New material appears in bars 21-28


  • Consecutive 6ths
  • Consecutive 5ths
  • Tritone motif in French Horns
  • Oscillations continue the floating imagery of clouds
  • G Acoustic scale
• Rotation 3 begins b29


  • Tritone motif in French Horns
  • Oscillating Perfect 5ths and Perfect 4ths
  • Parallel minor 3rds
  • Variation of X
  • Descending melodic line accompanied by triadic harmony – parallel triads
  • C Major Triad across the orchestration
• Bars 32-36


  • Ascending Whole Tone Harmony
  • Ascending Chromatic Harmony
  • C Major Triad
  • Two-part orchestral texture.
  • Harmonically ambiguous "Emancipation of Dissonance". Deliberately avoiding any sense of tonal centre