The Cambridge Companion to Debussy (Cambridge Companions to Music)

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Contributors......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 15
Chronology of Debussy’s life and works......Page 16
Note on the text......Page 21
Introduction......Page 23
PART ONE Man, musician and culture......Page 29
1 Debussy the man......Page 31
Paris: the importance of geography......Page 47
Debussy and the Conservatoire: conformity and innovation......Page 49
Roman exile: imagined communities......Page 50
Artistic formations and patterns of allusion......Page 55
Official institutions......Page 59
Paris and the construction of national traditions......Page 61
3 Debussy as musician and critic......Page 65
Wagnérisme......Page 68
Symphonic music: tradition versus innovation......Page 70
Debussysme......Page 72
Debussy the reluctant interviewee......Page 73
Renewal through simplicity: Debussy and d’Indy......Page 74
Conservative and revolutionary: musicien français......Page 75
The war years: French and ‘Boche’ music......Page 76
Last works and last words......Page 78
PART TWO Musical explorations......Page 81
4 Debussy on stage......Page 83
5 The prosaic Debussy......Page 106
Words and structures......Page 107
Debussy as poet-composer......Page 114
Free morals: free metre?......Page 118
Rappel à l’ordre......Page 120
‘Vague impressionism’?......Page 123
Nocturnes......Page 125
Seascapes: metronomes and Monet......Page 128
‘Ibéria’–expressive precision......Page 134
‘Plein-air’ music and the limits of expression......Page 137
7 Exploring the erotic in Debussy’s music......Page 139
The seductive power of Debussy’s music......Page 141
An erotic music......Page 143
The desire of The Blessed Damozel......Page 145
Pan and his flute; Bilitis and her memories......Page 148
A voyeur, a hair fetish, and the elusive and mysterious Mélisande......Page 153
From ‘languorous ecstasy’ to sensual nightmare......Page 156
8 Debussy and nature......Page 159
Nature and imaginative reproduction......Page 161
Nature and the arabesque......Page 165
Clouds, water and Debussy’s musical imagination......Page 169
Conclusion......Page 171
PART THREE Musical techniques......Page 175
Debussy as a tonal composer: reception and stylistic evolution......Page 177
The tonic-dominant relation......Page 178
Non-functional diatonicism......Page 179
Arabesque and chord progression......Page 180
Analytical approaches to Debussy’s tonality: a selective survey......Page 183
Large-scale formin Debussy’s instrumental music......Page 185
Tonal-structural diversity in the Préludes......Page 187
‘Brouillards’......Page 188
‘Danseuses de Delphes’......Page 191
‘Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’ air du soir’......Page 194
Formal expansion: piano triptychs, orchestral music......Page 199
Debussy’s earliest instrumental style......Page 201
The heterophonic orchestra......Page 202
Piano sound: block chords and arpeggios......Page 207
Harmony as sound: Debussy’s characteristic sonorities......Page 210
Debussy’s later heterophony......Page 213
Introduction......Page 219
Analytical method......Page 220
Harmonic materials......Page 221
Durations between successive attack points......Page 222
Melodic contour......Page 224
Instrumentation......Page 227
Complex textures formed of ostinatos......Page 228
Form......Page 229
Repetitions......Page 235
Successive attack points......Page 236
Harmonic language......Page 237
Melodic contour......Page 238
Register......Page 239
Form and dynamic structures......Page 240
Form......Page 241
Texture density......Page 245
Form......Page 247
Ostinatos......Page 251
Conclusions: the performers’ dance......Page 252
Introduction......Page 254
A temporal dichotomy......Page 256
Pulse/beat......Page 257
Metre......Page 258
Metrical units/hypermeasure and beyond......Page 263
‘Jardins sous la pluie’......Page 268
‘Des pas sur la neige’......Page 270
‘Gigues’......Page 272
Etude No. 3, ‘Pour les quartes’......Page 274
PART FOUR Performance and assessment......Page 279
‘I have never heard more beautiful pianoforte playing’......Page 281
‘One must forget that the piano has hammers’......Page 284
‘Forget, I pray you, that you are singers!’......Page 289
‘When I have to conduct I am ill before, during and after!’......Page 292
Don’t change anything…'......Page 295
Claude Debussy......Page 296
Ninon Vallin......Page 297
Pierre Monteux......Page 298
Walther Straram......Page 299
14 Debussy now......Page 300
1 Debussy the man......Page 310
2 Debussy’s Parisian affiliations......Page 311
3 Debussy as musician and critic......Page 314
4 Debussy on stage......Page 316
5 The prosaic Debussy......Page 319
6 Debussy and expression......Page 320
7 Exploring the erotic in Debussy’s music......Page 321
9 Debussy’s tonality: a formal perspective......Page 325
10 The Debussy sound: colour, texture, sonority, gesture......Page 328
11 Music’s inner dance: form, pacing and complexity in Debussy’s music......Page 329
12 Debussy’s ‘rhythmicised time'......Page 332
13 Debussy in performance......Page 333
14 Debussy now......Page 335
Select bibliography......Page 337
Index......Page 340