Transcript File - Dyatmika Music

Clair de Lune
Claude Debussy
Debussy was a French composer. He
and Maurice Ravel were the most
prominent figures associated
with Impressionist music.
• Looking at these 3 impressionist
paintings
• What are some of the
characteristics of this period?
• Not exact
• Used many short brush strokes,
applying paint thickly, to create the
idea, or impression of a subject
rather than its details
• Vague and hazy outlines
• Emphasis on light and the changing
qualities of it
• Creates a mood a spirit
When listening to Debussy, it
helps to keep Impressionist
paintings in mind. Debussy’s style
was in the same vein, only on
piano instead of on a canvas.
He was opposed to the Romantic style of playing with
themes and chord patterns.
Suite Bergamasque is one of the most famous piano suites by
Claude Debussy. It was first composed by Debussy around 1890, at
the age of 28. (Bergamasque is a folk dance of the Bergamo region
of northern Italy popular mainly in the sixteenth century) .
Clair de Lune is the third movement of the four-movement suite.
The title is French for “Moonlight”, and is based on a poem by Paul
Verlaine. A lot of composers took inspiration from poetry, and
Debussy was no exception
Clair de Lune, like an impressionist painting, is really all about
capturing the essence of something – not so much the details, but
the spirit.
Clair de Lune
Claude Debussy
What imagery and feelings does a
moonlit night evoke in you?
Clair de Lune
Claude Debussy
Brainstorm
Clair de Lune
Moonlight
Votre âme est un paysage choisi
Que vont charmant masques et
bergamasques
Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi
Tristes sous leurs déguisements
fantasques.
Your soul is a select landscape
Where charming masqueraders and
bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.
Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune,
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur
Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,
All sing in a minor key
Of victorious love and the opportune life,
They do not seem to believe in their happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,
Au calme clair de lune triste et beau,
Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres
Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau,
Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les
marbres.
With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
That sets the birds dreaming in the trees
And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,
The tall slender fountains among marble
statues.
Paul Verlaine (1844 – 1896)
Clair de Lune
Moonlight
Votre âme est un paysage choisi
Que vont charmant masques et
bergamasques
Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi
Tristes sous leurs déguisements
fantasques.
Your soul is a select landscape
Where charming masqueraders and
bergamaskers go
Playing the lute and dancing and almost
Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.
Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune,
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur
Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,
All sing in a minor key
Of victorious love and the opportune life,
They do not seem to believe in their happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,
Au calme clair de lune triste et beau,
Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres
Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau,
Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les
marbres.
With the still moonlight, sad and beautiful,
That sets the birds dreaming in the trees
And the fountains sobbing in ecstasy,
The tall slender fountains among marble
statues.
Paul Verlaine (1844 – 1896)
•Different notes hiding in-between
•Synchronicity between dynamics and rhythm/tempo
•Harmonies create a gentle tone
•Scales and patterns contributed to the dreamy sound
•Legato, calm and slow tempo
•Use of the pedal makes it more resonating
•High notes highlight of the piece, low notes providing the dark
surroundings, it is vague, but also plays a strong role
•Lower notes are sad notes and trying to intrude on the beauty
of the moonlight
•Tranquil – decorative notes
•Serene – Long sustained notes
•Euphoric – High pitch notes coming in
•Mysterious – choice of key
Clair de Lune
Claude Debussy
Clair de Lune
Opening Section 0:00-1:02
• What makes Clair de Lune interesting is the way in which the
piece builds from being dreamlike and almost formless to
something a bit more solid and almost tangible
• Almost as if we are about to take a walk in the moonlight
• We are finding our way, it feels uncomfortable at first
• We are unsure of the landscape surrounding us
• Gradually more movement and animation - things start to feel
more comfortable we are becoming part of the landscape
• Opening melody line – very simple and sparse
• Curious notes and pauses, long held notes
• Has several places where it is tied across the bar lines which gives the effect of blurring
the meter of the piece
• 2 notes in the space of 3 in bar 3, rest of the piece uses 3
• In the first 8 bars the melody starts off the downbeats of each bar
• This slow, syncopated rhythm in which the motif is played makes it difficult for the
listener to grasp. It’s almost as if we hear a hint of a melody as opposed to the fullyformed melody itself
• Con sordina - With damper pedal – Pedalling was very important in the playing of
Debussy although he almost never marked it in his score
• When a note is struck on the piano while the damper pedal is down, the vibrations
from the strings of that note cause other strings to vibrate as well. These new
vibrations are called sympathetic vibrations
• Since the resonance of the entire instrument is called into play, the chief effect of
the damper pedal is a change in the sound quality of the piano.
TONALITY
• Db major although it never feels that secure – tonal ambiguity
•Debussy begins without the tonic note
•Also no dominant Ab major chord, which also would play a role in establishing the key
•Dissonance
Unexpected points of curiosity
1:02
•
•
•
•
•
Magical moment
Movement increases in this section
Lover octave of the piano and then reaching upwards
Uses the bass line to increase the intensity of the music
Descending phrases in the A section, and then reaching higher in the
response
• The rhythmic ambiguity of the piece continues throughout the first fifteen
measures, although the rhythm does get stronger here. As the rhythm
becomes stronger and the phrases become clearer and easier to
comprehend, we finally hear the strong yet hauntingly beautiful melody
1:40
• Harp like chords
1:49
• Forward moving motion – un poco mosso
• Shorter note values
• As if the moonlight is shining on the rippling waves with the RH melody
peaking above
• More relaxed
• Use of whole tone scales
2:28
• Notes tumbling down like a waterfall – refer back to the poem!
2:35
• Sense of anticipation in the left hand – something is going to
happen
3:04
• Part 3 sees a return to the opening theme, but it’s not an exact replica
• An interesting change from the beginning is that, though the beginning
implied a Db major chord, and a “happier” sound because of it, the third
part, echoing the first part, takes it in a minor, “sadder” direction, implying
an F minor harmony. It’s still peaceful like the beginning, but maybe a little
more mysterious and melancholic.
• Very soft – use of dynamics to portray peacefulness
• Ascending figure in the bass line almost as if we are looking up to the
moonlight
• Arpeggio fragments continue in the left hand, creating a fluid and changing
harmony.
4:36
• Return to waves which gradually fade out as chords are played in harp – like
manner
• A last a perfect cadence with resolution Db major
Tonality –whole tone scales
The whole-tone scale, true to its name, has no semitones, and if it
started on C, the rest of the scale would follow as D-E-F#-G#-A# (or
Bb)-C. It has no tonal center, so to speak, and so is often used in
dream sequences in movies as well as underwater scenes.
• Structure- long phrases
• Pitch- use of different/unconventional harmonies i.e. whole
tone scales and dissonance
• Rhythm – how does the rhythm change and enhance the ‘feel’
of the piece and build the music to the climax
• Texture- how do the 2 parts, right and left hand work together
to create change throughout, are more ‘parts’ introduced?
• Tone colour- what instrumental techniques are employed;
expressive techniques- dynamics and phrasing, use of pedal?
Useful Sites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_49YGGZhkQ
http://www.pianotv.net/2016/05/analysis-of-clair-de-lune/
Janelle Monáe - Say You'll Go / Debussy - Clair de Lune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n06NfuYi_w from 3:30