Claude Debussy Musical Style and Contributions

Question 1

Which places did Debussy influence?

Answer 1

France and internationally

Question 2

How did <b>Impressionist painters</b> influence Debussy?

Answer 2

choice of subject matter
instrumental color
understated nuances
obscuring metric pulse

Question 3

To which <b>Symbolist poets</b> did Debussy set poetry to music?

Answer 3

<b>Charles Baudelaire
Stéphane Mallarmé
Pierre Louÿs
Paul Verlaine</b>

Question 4

How did Debussy experiment with unorthodox approach to grammar and syntax?

Answer 4

through formal structure and phrasing,
evoking rather than narrating,
suggesting rather than depicting

Question 5

Which Western and non-Western scale systems did Debussy explore?

Answer 5

Whole-tone,
pentatonic,
modal scales

Question 6

What Debussy’s innovative approaches to harmony?

Answer 6

parallel chord streams; open fifths and octaves
reminiscent of earliest polyphonic practices (<i>organum</i>)

<b>quartal harmony</b> (chords built on fourths)

Question 7

What varied rhythms did Debussy use?

Answer 7

free-flowing and rhapsodic,
motoric,
dance character,

Question 8

What programmatic elements did Debussy use?

Answer 8

pastoral,
water imagery,
sunlight,
moonlight

Question 9

what kind of theme was Debussy drawn to?

Answer 9

mythical themes

Question 10

How was Debussy’s music clever?

Answer 10

it was witty and satirical

Question 11

What form did Debussy return to in later works?

Answer 11

sonata form