Debussy Pagodes Flashcards
What kind of music is estampes 1&2 inspired by:
- Javanese Gamelan music
- Spanish Flamenco
What was the general theme of Impressionism, and what were some foreign influence on the related art movement at the time?
Impressionism was about nature and were somewhat inspired by Japanese prints
1) What was a component of impressionist music that relates to the length of the piece and Melodies.
2) Who shared these ideas with Debussy
Brevity, pieces were often shorter as well as individual melodic ideas, seen as a backlash to the extreme lengths of romantic pieces.
2) Webern
What types of scales did Debussy use which were influenced by Eastern Melodies?
Pentatonic and modal Melodies
What technique created the effects of gongs to replicate Javanese gamelan
Open fifths, and pedal notes
Why were chord extensions used, and what did Debussy try and avoid when composing chords?
Chord extensions like in BAR 1 (g# added 6th) and avoidance of triads to recreate gamelan music
What was the pentatonic melody trying to replicate? And what bar does it happen?
The Javanese slendro scale
Bar 3
What happens to the tempo, and why?
It changes, mirroring the fluidity of Javanese music
Give a related work as an example of Javanese gamelan
Pelog Barang - sings Nebah
What happens in bar 7 in the middle of the texture, and what is this a reference to?
There is a Scalic countermelody, reference to common countermelodies found in Javanese pieces
What rhythmic feature happens in bar 16?
A cross rhythm with left triplets two against three
What did Debussy avoid when making chords to make an unclear key, and why?
He mainly used fourth and fifths and made sure to avoid tonal thirds. He makes it unclear in order to create a new and mysterious sound to a western listener
At what bar is there a fortissimo climax, what does theme form earlier does it bring back?
Bar 41, the parallel chords
Name another related work and composer influenced by gamelan music
Henry cowell - fairy bells (1928)
1 Plucks strings inside the piano to recreate metallic sounds from gamelan
2 parallel chords to recreate gamelan bell sounds.
