Matthews 1

Devin Matthews
Dr. Bauer
Music History
Term Paper
Estampes
By Debussy
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers,

introducing entirely new techniques and sounds to the field of traditional composition with his

innovative, Impressionistic style. Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, he was a child

prodigy and entered the Paris Conservatory in 1872. His compositions include orchestral,

chamber, and vocal pieces, but the largest portion of his works are for piano. Estampes for solo

piano is a collection of three pieces, each a vivid and atmospheric depiction of a place or idea

that had a special significance to the composer. Pagodes, La soirée dans Grenade, and Jardins

sous la pluie are prime examples of Impressionism and represent the height of the development

of Debussy’s compositional style; this analysis will focus primarily on the first piece, Pagodes.

Estampes, meaning “prints” or “engravings,” was completed in 1903, during a very

happy period of Debussy’s life—“a time of spring”— when he produced some of his greatest

works.1 The first performance of the work was in January 1904, at the Société Nationale in

Paris; Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes premiered the piece.2 A staple of the Impressionist

repertoire, Estampes has been described as being “…one of the revolutionary works in

Debussy’s output and the keyboard literature, which it divides into what came before and after.

In fact, Western “classical” music has not been the same since the 1903 composition of these

three short pieces.”3

1
Roger Nichols, Debussy Remembered (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1992), p. 34.
2
E. Robert Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy (Mineola: Dover Publications, 1950), p. 81.
3
Victor L. Lederer, Debussy:the Quiet Revolutionary (New York: Amadeus Press, 2007), p. 64.
 Matthews 2

These three Impressionistic pieces are prime examples of this twentieth century musical

style, which bears much in common with Impressionistic art; there are many parallels between

the works of Manet, Monet, and Degas and the music of Debussy. This style is characterized by

a vagueness or haziness, suggesting a certain emotion or tone without being overly specific; it is

“music that describes how people perceive the world.”4 A fascination with dreams, water, and

the mythological are often themes associated with Impressionism. Music in this style is often

without a firm tonal center in the traditional sense, abandoning conventional harmonic and also

formal designs. Although motives are used and expanded upon, there is not a sense of

development as in a sonata form; melodic ideas often change as if on a whim, moving on to the

next idea without the need for careful transitions. Above all, Debussy was a master of conveying

poignant emotions and atmospheres in his music, painting colorful musical images that transport

the listener to a different place; Estampes is the embodiment of this idea in its content as well as

its name.

Pagodes

Debussy had a great fascination with Eastern culture, which can be seen through the

influence of the Javanese gamelan in many of his pieces. After experiencing the music of these

unique instruments at the Paris International Exhibition of 1889, Debussy was inspired to bring

elements of gamelan music into his works.5 Perhaps none display this influence more than

Pagodes. Pagodas are ancient, tiered structures of religious significance, found throughout

Eastern Asia: “Their architecture exhibit the same general tendency as do oriental dances. A

4
Victor L. Lederer, Debussy: the Quiet Revolutionary, p. 64.
5
E. Robert Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, p. 82.
 Matthews 3

stabilized and sober base gives rise to movemented [sic], ornate, sinuous, and shimmering

superstructures.”6 This description is quite true of the piece Pagodes as well.

The primary compositional element that gives Pagodes its characteristic Oriental flavor is

Debussy’s use of the five note pentatonic scale. Though the pentatonic scale can be found in

nearly all folk music around the world, it is especially prevalent in the musical traditions of

Eastern Asia. The three pentatonic scales used in the piece are those built on B, F sharp and C

sharp. The key of B major, with five sharps, is well suited to the piece because the pentatonic

scale is conveniently oriented on the black keys of the piano. The melodies throughout the piece

are derived from these five note scales, as well as the underlying harmonies (although there are

times when notes outside of these scales are used); however, these sonorities can be simplified

into individual contrapuntal lines with “no supporting chords whatsoever.”7

Measures 1-6 introduce the first scale, starting on B. The second scale (built on F sharp)

is introduced with the line in contrary motion to the augmented melodic content from measure 3,

beginning with measures 11-14. The third scale, built on C sharp, is not introduced until the

arrival of a contrasting section, at Sans lenteur, measure 33. One author, Manuel Jose Pasquil,

observes that Debussy effectively captures the sound of bells through his use of the major second

interval between C sharp and D sharp and F sharp and G sharp; these two intervals occur

throughout the entire piece and are woven throughout the melodic and chordal content.8

6
Manuel Jose Pasquil, Descriptive Analysis of Pagodes from Estampes pour le piano by Claude Debussy
(Manhattan: Kansas State University, 1966), p. 1.
7
Ibid, p. 8.
8
Ibid, p. 4.
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The form of Pagodes is quite simple; it is a basic ternary ABA’ or ABA with a coda. The

A section is from the beginning through measure 32, and the contrasting B section extends from

measure 33 through measure 52. Here the A section returns until measure 78, when the melodic

ideas from A are embellished with soft sixteenth note runs in the upper register of the piano,

giving a gentle, chime-like quality to the denouement of the work.

The melodies in Pagodes are “floating” and static, partly because of the pentatonic scale

lacking the harmonic direction of major or minor scales.9 Author Victor Lederer describes them

as such:

Melodic cells, rather than themes, appear and depart, some displaying greater
activity, others more stilly floating in gentle succession, subject only to
decoration, never dissected or placed into conflict as in a sonata development.
One melody rises majestically in volume above the rest, but in no sense is it the
winner in some kind of thematic battle; it functions as merely another character in
a grand procession of Asian-inspired themes.10

These “cells” are small melodic ideas that occur throughout the piece. The A section has

five key figures. The first of these is in the treble clef of measure three, illustrated in Example 1.

The second cell occurs in measure 4 (Example 2). The third is in measures 7-8, a simple step-

wise descending and ascending pattern. The fourth figure is in measures 11-14, in octaves. It

returns in an embellished form at Animez un peu, measure 19. The final motive of the A section

is in the right hand, from measures 15-18. This small melody section (Example 5) contains the

most accidentals of the entire work.

The shorter B section of the piece begins at Sans lenteur, measure 33. Though it shares

some similarities with the A section in its rhythmic content, it contains two melodic ideas that
9
Victor L. Lederer, Debussy: the Quiet Revolutionary, p. 65.
10
Ibid.
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are separate. The first of these is four measures long, beginning on an altered pitch, E sharp

(Example 6). This motive begins and concludes the B section. The second idea is one measure

long, and repeats four times in its build to the climax of the piece in measures 41-44 (Example

7). The strong rhythm of this motive helps emphasize this arrival point (the relative lack of

syncopation here is notable, as it is one of the only places in the piece where the meter of 4/4 is

more clear), as well as the dynamic marking of fortissimo (mm. 41-44).

Indicated to be played Modérément animé and délicatement et presque sans nuances

(delicately and almost without nuances), the rhythmic aspects of Pagodes are a key part of the

atmosphere that it creates. A part of the drifting, floating quality of this song can be contributed

the offset, unaccented rhythms that appear throughout. These syncopations, usually occurring in

one or both of the staves, serve to obscure the beat; this can be seen in the very first two

measures of the song, with the right hand entering on the upbeat of count three. This gives the

opening a spacious, suspended quality. The offset rhythms throughout the work (for example,

motives one and two from the A section, and motive one from the B section) give the music a

sense of freedom that can be compared to the sound of wind chimes or tinkling of bells.

Debussy was incredibly effective at conveying this sense of spacious drifting to the listener while

notating it strictly for the performer. Pagodes is perhaps one of Debussy’s greatest works for

piano, and certainly displays his fascination with Asian culture and music as well as his aptitude

for conveying a beautifully vivid atmosphere to the listener.

La soirée dans Grenade

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Although Debussy never visited Spain aside from a brief trip to San Sebastian,11 he

possessed a remarkable understanding for its musical history, character, and traditions. The great

Spanish composer Manuel de Falla claimed that La soirée dans Grenade shows “in a

marvelously distilled way the most concentrated atmosphere of Andalusia.”12 De Falla further

elaborated in the Revue Musicale:

The power of evocation integrated in the few pages of the Evening in Granada
borders on the miracle when one realizes that this music was composed by a
foreigner guided by the foresight of genius. There is not even one bar of this
music borrowed from the Spanish folklore and yet the entire composition in its
most minute details, conveys, admirably Spain.13

Although notated in the keys of F sharp minor and F sharp major, much of the piece is

centered in the dominant key of C sharp and the mediant key of A. The structure of the piece is

ABCA’B’ with a coda from measures 109-121. The piece opens with the sultry, tense rhythm of

the habanera, soft but intense at the opening with the dynamic marking of ppp. Continuing

throughout, the habanera rhythm is a cohesive element that ties the work together through its

transitions. A “sinuous and passionate”14 melody begins at measure 7. Author Victor Lederer

provides this description of the melody: “Based on the cante jondo (deep song) of the southern

province of Andalusia, it is rich with eroticism, despair, and ululating Moorish accents.”15 A

new theme, which mimics the strumming of a guitar—the instrument most essential to Spanish

music—is introduced at measure 17. It is interesting to note that De Falla, who so admired this

piece, quoted this specific motive in his work for solo guitar, Homenaje pour le tombeau de

Claude Debussy. Debussy’s tremendous, emotionally charged, and “smoldering”16 Soirée dans
11
E. Robert Schmitz, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, p. 86.
12
Ibid, 85.
13
Ibid, 85-86.
14
Victor L. Lederer, Debussy: the Quiet Revolutionary, p. 66.
15
Ibid.
16
Victor L. Lederer, Debussy: the Quiet Revolutionary, p. 66
 Matthews 7

Grenade is a staple of the piano repertoire, and once more displays the composer’s skill for

musically depicting an atmosphere.

Jardins sous la pluie

The final piece of Estampes is Jardins sous la pluie or “gardens in the rain.” Technically

similar to a toccata in its rhythm, showiness and difficulty, it is in 2/2 time with the indication of

Net et vif, meaning “clear” or “sharp” and lively. Though all three pieces from Estampes provide

the listener with incredible imagery, it is perhaps this third piece that is the most vivid. One can

truly picture a summer rain shower, with the piano creating sounds evocative of wind, thunder,

and raindrops. This work is especially representative of Impressionism in its subject matter of

water, its pointillistic rhythms, and its colorful images.

Jardins sous la pluie has a form which is best described as narrative. The beginning of

the piece is during a rain shower; towards the middle of the piece, however, the composer quotes

two French nursery songs—Dodo, l’enfant do (“Sleep, child sleep”) and Nous n’irons pas au

bois (“We will not go to the woods”). Once the listener is cognizant of these quotations, the

image of children watching the storm seems to come to mind.17 The quick, lively, and at times

playful character of the work also brings a childlike sense of wonder to the interpretation of the

music. The bright, fantastic conclusion to the piece seems to depict the sun shining through after

the storm.

Debussy’s work Estampes is a staple of the piano repertoire and is one of the composer’s

finest musical achievements. Pagodes gives listeners a glimpse of the beautiful serenity of the

pagodas of Eastern Asia, while Soirée dans Grenade evokes the soulful and passionate music of

17
Ibid, p. 67.
 Matthews 8

Andalusia and Jardins sous la pluie concludes the set with a stunning and vivid depiction of a

rain storm. These three pieces are wonderful examples of the colorful and dreamlike

impressions, emotions, and atmospheres that Impressionists were known for creating.
 Matthews 9

Musical Examples
Example 1 Example 2

Example 3

Example 4 (Example 4 cont.)

Example 5 (Example 5 cont.)

Example 6

Example 7

Bibliography
 Matthews 10

Jarocinski, Stefan. Debussy: Impressionism and symbolism. London: Eulenburg Books, 1976.

Lockspeiser, Edward. Debussy: His life and mind, Volume I. New York: The MacMillian

Company, 1962.

Lockspeiser, Edward. Debussy: His life and mind, Volume II. New York: Cambridge University

Press, 1965.

Lockspeiser, Edward. Debussy. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1963.

Lederer, Victor L. Debussy: the Quiet Revolutionary. New York: Amadeus Press, 2007.

Nichols, Roger. Debussy Remembered. Portland: Amadeus Press, 1992.

Nichols, Roger. Debussy. London: Oxford University Press, 1972.

Pasquiln, Manuel Jose. Descriptive Analysis of Pagodes from Estampes pour le piano by Claude

Debussy. Manhattan: Kansas State University, 1966. Accessed December 16, 2015.

https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/handle/2097/17936?show=full.

Schmitz, Robert E. The Piano Works of Claude Debussy. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1950.

Accessed December 17, 2015. Google Books.