Estampes No. 2 La Soiree dans Grenade Flashcards
Debussy
In the 8th century, Grenada was…
invaded by Moors
Melody is generally composed of…
Repeated pitches with ties over bars
Spanish influence…
Improvisational feel
Tempo marking
+ AO4
Mouvement de habanera
A habanera is a traditional slow, and graceful Spanish dance in simple duple metre, originating in Cuba
Wider listening for Habanera rhythms
Bizet: “Carmen, habanera”
What does the performance markings want at the beginning of the piece in regards to tempo
Begin slowly with a nonchalantly gracious rhythm
The extremely low pedal note in the beginning moves to… in b. 7
The highest register
(this note (C#) is NOT the tonic as the harmony is still ambiguous)
What does the staccato replicate
The double finger picking of flamenco guitar
1st 6 bars (harmony)
Bare 5ths
Octaves
Wider listening for bare 5ths, octaves and pedal notes moving registers
Ravel: “Habanera”
The 1st melody is…
Conjunct
Arabic scale (known as the double harmonic scale)
Dissonant -> Minor 2nd
Arabic scale AO4
Moorish lament
Arabic scale wider listening
Debussy: “La puerta del vino”
Habanera rhythm established
instantly. From the very beginning of the piece
b. 10 tonality
Phrygian mode
Wider listening for phrygian mode
Saint Saens: “Samson and delilah”
Extreme range AO4
Mimics the harmonics played by the classical guitar
Ornament heard in b. 12
+ AO4
Acciaccatura
Typical feature of Arabian music. Used in traditional prayer chants
b. 12 (straight after the acciaccatura) rhythm
Cross rhythms
Tempo marking in b. 15
Retenu
What tonal centre do we move to in b. 15 when there is retenu
C#
The expansion of tempo (retenu) is…
commonly used by Spanish musicians for expressive effect
In b. 15 the habanera rhythm is now of a…
G#
After the tempo marking of retenu (b. 15), the tempo marking now says…
Tempo guisto
Meaning: Unsettled, agitated
b. 17 texture
Homophonic
Homorhythmic
At the end of b. 20 (harmony)
+ AO4
Tertiary harmony shift
Typical of Spanish music
What is absent in this piece (rhythm)
A clear, regular metric pulse
Structure
Sectional
Harmony in general
+AO4
Parallel chords of 7ths
6 notes
Mimic guitar
In b. 22 something happens in terms of “melody” what is it?
+ AO4
Arpeggiated octaves
Flamenco guitar
When the tempo marking says rubato, what happens…
(melody, rhythm, harmony)
new idea. Languid triplet reveals whole tone harmony
What usually occurs in terms of rhythms
+AO4
It repeats
Spanish trait
b. 29 - 33 (harmony)
Repeated idea from b. 17-20, only a perfect 4th higher.
Implies F# phrygian mode
TONAL AMBIGUITY
Why is b. 33-35 highly dissonant
because of the parallel motion of major and minor chords
b. 33-35 (rhythms)
Internal habanera rhythm
Syncopated
Descending sequence of interlocking 3rds
Cross rhythms
b. 37 before tres rythme (texture)
Monophony
In b. 38 (tres rythme section), what happens in terms of structure
There’s a 4 bar intro
Tonal centre in b. 38
A
Arpeggiated chords in b. 38…
distort the pulse and add a sense of rubato
First chord in b. 38 is missing a…making it a…
+ AO4
3rd
Bare 5th
It is meant to resemble the foot stamping on the downbeat in flamenco dance
In b. 43 the melody is
Conjunct
Repeated notes
Frequently plays appoggiaturas on the downbeats
Harmony in b. 45
FALSE RELATIONS
Harmony in b. 49 after the false relation
1/2 diminished chord
During the codetta the melody…
chromatically descends and winds down over the habanera ostinato
b. 61 is created from the same melody heard from b. 23 (6 bar unit). In terms of harmony, there is a…
C# pedal
Chromatically altered, no longer whole tone harmony
Arpeggiated octave punctuated
There are…(sharps/flats/double sharps) in b. 67 which act as…(ornament)
Double sharps
Chromatic appoggiaturas -> Typical of Andalusian violin music
In b. 67 when there are double sharps…(rhythm)
Lombardic rhythms
Tonality in b. 67
F# (remains ambiguous)
Texture in general
Stratified polyphony but also melody dominated homophony
There is an…chord in b.74
Augmented chord
The chromaticism in b. 75 leads…
to greater harmonic variety with added 9th chords -> warmth
Pentatonic linking section (b. 77) is significant because the rhythm is later used in…
“Golliwog’s catwalk”
Harmony in b. 78
Parallel triadic chords
C# habanera pedal
Harmony in general
Whole tone
b. 82-84 harmony (chords)
B# dim. 7th chord leads to 1/2 dim chord with added 9th
In b. 91 there is a monophonic statement of repeated…
G#’s
How does Debussy separate ideas in b. 96 for the pianist
Musical layers are on 3 staves
In b. 96 there is (texture)
Parallel homophony
b. 96 harmony
Tertiary harmony
In b. 109, the tempo marking is “Leger et lointain”, what is the tonality of this section
C mixolydian
b. 109 feels like…
Toccata and fugue like configuration depicting the rain
-> Link: 3rd estampes
Wider listening toccata section
“The Sunken cathedral”
In b. 119, when we go back to familiar territory after the “rain section”, the 2 bars of habanera rhythms, lead to an…
expansive arpeggiated major 9th chord. Where the middle part plays the Moorish lament melody again
As the music fades, there is a…(chord)
F# add 7th and 9th played
Warm, rich sonority full of the…
summer heat of Granada
