Debussy: Estampes, No. 1, No. 2 Flashcards
When was Debussy around?
1862 - 1918
Romantic to 20 - 21st century
What did he compose in defiance of/against?
How?
Romanticism of 19th-century German music
By composing his own distinctive style
What is his music often associated with?
Impressionism: a movement which suggests the atmosphere and environment of a subject rather than descriptive and programmatic
What 4 things did his piano-writing use?
Extreme registers
Widely spaced chords
Parallel movement
New approach to pedalling, produced subtle blending effects
What was Debussy influenced by?
Non-Western scales and instruments
What sound did Debussy aim to capture in No. 1 ‘Padoges’?
How?
Javanese gamelan sound
Pentatonic scale (to emulate the slendro scale in Javanese gamelan music)
Ostinatos
Shimmering layered textures
Interlocking rhythms
What is an example of the use of the pentatonic scale in No. 1 ‘Padoges’?
Melody line in bars 4-5
In No. 1 ‘Padoges’, how is a feeling of underlying stillness created?
Where?
Long pedal points
Slowing the rate of harmonic change (rit)
Bars 61 - 64
What Spanish elements are in No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’?
Habanera rhythm
Imitation of strummed girar chords by they piano
The permeates all of No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’?
The ostinato habanera rhythm
When does the guitar strumming effect first appear in No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’?
What is used in bar 18?
Bars 17 - 18
Arpeggio
What do many of the chords use in No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’ and is common in Debussy’s music?
Parallel movement (movement of two or more parts use the same interval in the same direction)
Where is the pentatonic scale in No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’?
Bars 23 - 28
Why does Debussy use long pedal points in No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’?
Example
To provide a tonal centre
C# in bars 5 - 14
What opens at bar 38 of No. 2 ‘La soirée dans Grenade’?
It is marked as ‘Très rhythmé, mf en augmentant beaucoup’ what does this mean?
A dance-like section
Very rhythmic and getting a lot louder
