Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy was considered one of the most influential Impressionistic composers of his time, along with his contemporary Ravel – ironically, Debussy himself very much disliked the term ‘impressionism’ and believed that he was simply trying to do “something different”. The piece Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is based on a poem of a similar name, and is also known as a ‘tone poem’ – It tells the story of a faun in a dreamy like state who has encounters with several nymphs. There are many different impressionistic aspects of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, including Debussy’s creative use of melody. Rather than the development of many motifs, Debussy uses plenty of melodic and rhythmic variation with different textures and
harmonisations.
An example of this is at bar 21 when the first note of the flute solo is lengthened, while further on the melody is decorated with demi-semi-quaver triplets. Also, Debussy makes use of the whole tone scale when the clarinet takes on the melody part, as well as a chromatic scale which creates an idea of no tonal direction. Along with this, there is use of an augmented fourth (devil’s interval) in the main melody from a C# to a G. Another element developed is the rhythm (and metre). There is no clear sense of pulse, which allows the music to flow freely (like the faun from the poem). Partially responsible for this lack of pulse is the use of complex rhythms that disguise this. There are variation of different groupings of notes, including triplets, quintuplets and sextuplets. The time signature changes frequently between different compound times, including 9/8, 12/8 and 6/8. In earlier eras such as the classical and romantic periods these changes would not have been
as frequent. Debussy also makes interesting use of harmony in this piece. Instead of using chords conventionally like composers such as Mozart would have done, he used chords for colour and character. Debussy uses dissonance freely resulting in many chromatic chords – all of these factors often obscure the idea of keys; a very impressionistic and 20th century feature. Texturally, the music consists of melody-dominated homophony. Some aspects that are considered interesting and impressionistic include the monophonic opening flute solo, the use of pedals in bars 106 to 110 as well as the extensive use of doubling of instruments (including octave doubling). Homorhythms are also heard. All of these ideas are quite experimental. Debussy also develops structure in this piece. As mentioned before, the prelude can also be called a ‘tone poem’, but it should also be noted that it is in ternary form with the three sections: A, B and the return of A (a shorter version), as well as a coda. There are three smaller sections within the first ‘A’, including a flute theme, transition (a bridge based on opening theme) and an oboe theme – Debussy uses the structure to develop his ideas greatly and experimentally. Finally, Debussy makes great use of performance forces and their handling. A rather small orchestra is used, although Debussy uses instruments in a very diverse way to help create the colour and character of his prelude. A quite unusual aspect of the orchestra is the use of two harps, as well as the brief use of antique cymbals towards the end of the piece. Unusual instrumental techniques and effects include the pizzicato and arco on strings in rapid succession, harp glissandi (to create shimmering effects) and the muting of horns (sourdines).