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A Critical Analysis of the Harmonic Idiom of Songs Of A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE HARMONIC IDIOM OF SONGS OF CLAUDE DEBUSSY AND ITS INFLUENCE ON COMPOSITIONS OF CHARLES LOEFFLER AND JOHN ALDEN CARPENTER THESI S Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State Teachers College in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF MUSIC By 9O49i Patricia Connor, B. F. A. Wichita Falls, Texas June, 1941 90495 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST FILUSTRATONS ,,..... 9 . iv Chapte r t 1 I A I HAND DESCRIPTIONS OF DEBUSSY, .9 4 III. T IINFLUENCE OF THEL IMPRESSIONISTS AD TH SYKBOLISTS - - - - . 20 IV. AN ANALYSIS OF DEBUSSY'S STYLE AND TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS. .. 31 V. DEFINITION OF DEBUSSY'S POSITION AID EFFECT ON CARPENTER AND LOEFFLEA AND SUMMARY OrIVPRESSIONISTIC TECEIQhUESS. 54 Vi. BIOCRAPRY, DESCRIPTIONS, AND COMPOSITIONS CARES MARTIN OF LOEFFLER . .67 VII, BIOGRAPHY AND OMPOSITIONS F JOHN ALDEN 9 9. 9 -9 9 .9 .9 .. CARPENTER . 34 94 BIBL-I ONPH * . .. -. .. - - .96 iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS re Fiu Page 1.9k Chords Built on Open Qifths. 0 . 42 Unresolved 2. Seventh Chords. 42 Unresolved Seventh * *A 96 9p 9p 9p 9 Chords. , . 42 p * p p p Shifting Tonalities, 4. , , , . 42 A d d S cono - , - . -t 42 Jaln Toti . - - - - - - . -. 46 Chromatics , , , , - , , , . 46 7. Sustained 3. Tonalities . .,.ma. .p .p .p b * 9 p p. p. p. 46 9. Moif I catWon of Main , i~ioti . .b .p .p 46 15.0 hythic Triation-, . - , , , , 48 IlL, Rhythmic Variation . - - , 48 12. hromatic and Rhythmic Change, , 48 13.,is, Duple and Triple Rhythms . 48 Sus taned Tonalities , . - . - * * * p * 9 9 48 Mo a Usage. - - - . 48 hromatic 16. Turn . , . - , , ,* - 0 9 0 . 51 17. SeacodInterva .9 , -- -, + . .e . 51 18. aral Motion, Chords, Unrelated * 9, 9 9e0, 51 9 9 9 . 9 .9 19, Duple and Triple JRhythmvs.-. * 9s * 9A 51 on. .9 7 ole-tone Scale Usage - - . 51 21. Unresolved Sevenths and Parallel Octaves . .". 51 22. Unaccompanied Voice , Part - * , . * . 9 . 51 iv Fgure Page 23. Lydian Mode. m . t ft . ft 75 24. Unresolved II Chords . 75 25. Whole-tone Scale . 75 26. Unresolved Chords. 75 27. Unresolved Sevenths. ft ft 4 ft f ft f 77 23. Dissonant Chords in Atonality. t ft .t f . 77 29. Rhythmic Variations, . .. t .t . 77 30. Harmonic \otif. Material or iain . t t ft ft f 77 3 hole-tone UTage *.+ . .t . .. ft f f 77 c.. , . f. t ft 32. Pentatonic Scale . , t ft . ft f 77 33. Open Fifth Usage . t t ft ft f 79 34. Rhythm . , . t f ft ft f 79 . ". ". 0, ". ". 35. Modulation and Sustained Tonaliti 79 e" ." ." ." ." ." ." 36. Parallel Motion.. b . * . " 79 . ." ." ." ." ." ." 37. Second Intervals . 79 . ." ." ," ." ." ." 38. Unresolved Sevenths. 80 . ." ." .4 ." ." ." o9. Unaccompanied voice Part . 80 . ." ." ." ." .4 ." 40. Chord of the Added Sixth-. 80 41. 7hol e-tone and Chromatic Usages. ft ft ft ft 80 f ft 42. Whole-tone Chord Succession. t t . ft f .0 82 43, Duple and Triple Rhythms . , ft f . ft 82 44. Ipr essicnist Rhythm and Harmony . t ft . ft f 82 45. Unresolved Seventh Chords. .t .t ft ft ft ft ft 83 4o, Pedalpoint and Unresolved Seventh Chords 88 ft . ft.t. ft 47. Pain Motif . , , . ., . 88 V F7gyr4 Page t 48. Second In ervals . .* . 9 .9 . 88 49 Sustained Tonalities and "Escaped" Chords. 88 50. Cross-relationships. 90 e.eodic and Harmonic Material, Motif . , . 90 Mc.odification of Motif . * . * .. * , , 90 53. Sustaining Toality and Modification . * . 90 :4. Parallel Motion and Pedalpoint . 90 55. Modlation in Parallel Motion. , . , 90 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION An acoustical phenomenon which interests both students of physics and philosophers in a sic aesthetics is the in creasing ability of the twentieth century man to hear tonal beauties that the fifth century man was incapable of hearing! Whereas the primitives could only hear octaves and unisons, the present day sophisticate is hearing and enjoying inter vals of the seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth, with their corresponding chords. This is only a step in the lad der of progress, for before us lies a new vista, a feast of aural beauties. Music writing is in a constant state of change, always progressing forward. For progress there must always be a prophet, a leader hearing music we cannot hear, who will guide us and show the way. He may not be received well, may be ill-treated, but he will be courageous in his fight for improvement. His prophetic insight makes him aware that the obstacles in his way are merely hills, there is al ways the mountain ahead to be scaled. At the turn of the century such a prophet arose in France. This modest one who signed himself "Claude Debussy, French musician," opened the door to many of the dissonances we hear today. His was a broad step forward; he became a 1 _ 2 potent influence on most of the leading composers of this century. Debussy was intensely interesting; he lived in a fascinating city at a very vital period in its musical history. He knew almost every outstanding musician living on the continent. In spite of his knowledge of the past and present in composition, he was an innovator, a force felt by composers the world over. Much has been written of "Claude of France." Some writers minimize his Influence; others give him too mach credit. There are literary poseurs who have written volumes of too wordy material concerning his music. Debussy loathed the endless discussions which went on during his lifetime concerning him and his compositions. But he has definitely become an influence in the composing field. The main purpose of this study will be to analyze the i>pressionistic style and techniques of Debussy, how the idiom came to'be, and the influence of this particular idiom on two American composers. For thorough understanding, the poetic and artists backgrounds of impressionism must be brought out; the biography of t he man who originated the idiom, as well as his aesthetic theories, must be briefly covered. More objectively, from biographies and various other studies the techniqes peculiarly impressionistic will be listed, and analysis will be made of several of the Debussy songs from various periods of his composition. Debussy's innovations had a broad effect on many 3 composers; for obvious reasons mention will be made of only the more important aspects of his influence, and specifically, of his influence on the two outstanding impressionist in America. Charles martin Loeffler, "the first Impressionist in America,"1 and JohnAlden Carpenter, "the first American impressionst, are chosen for this study not only because their works are obviously influenced vitally by Debussy's style and technical innovations, but because the compositions of these two are extremely individual and interesting in their own right, representing American song writing at its best. A brief biography of each and analysis of some of their songs will be given. From the analysis of song ma terial belonging to these men, comparisons can be drawn. That the reader can get his bearings and be prepared for future developments; that he can understand the label, "imn pressionism, " as used in this thesis, he must go back to the literary and poetic world of Paris from 1870 to 1890. In Paris the technique of impressionism found its first recog n 2 zable beginnings, Marion Bauer, Twentieth Century Music, p. 166. 2 lbid., p. 167. CHAPTER II BIOGRAPHY ANr DESCRIPTIONS OF DEBUSSY Cliude Achille Debussy, "native of Saint-Germain, half ar hour from Paris,"i was born of riddle class folk of pure French descent on August 22, 1862. He lived most of his life as "Parisian from tip to toe, a typical gamin de Paris, very witty and an excellent mimic." 2 His parents were not partic Ularly successful as business people or as parents; their four other children besides Achille were given into the care of their paternal aunt. Achille, shy and sensitive, was his motherVfavorite. He did not go to school; his mother taught him all she knew of reading and writing, neither of which skills he used with much accuracy until he was well into his thirties. His ambitions at this early period of his life were those of his father, who very much desired for his son to become a sailor. It was his aunt who arranged for his first piano lessons under an old Italian who was not impressed by young Debussy's ability. In 1871 Claude was fortunate in attracting the at tention of Madame Maute de Fleurville, who was a former pupil 1 Leon Vallas, Claude Debussy, His Life and Works, p. 215. 2 Oscar Thompson, Debussy Man and Artist, p. 47. 4 - . -- 5 of Chopin. She taught Debussy so well that in his eleventh year he was able to enter Paris Conservatoire in 1873. Here he "alternately toiled and slacked for eleven contention filled years. "3 It was during these years that he was em ployed for two summers as the household accompanist of the eccentric millionairess, Madame Von Meek, whose sponsorship of Tschaikovsky is a matter of musical history While in Russia, Claude Debussy was undoubtedly influenced by Eastern musical culture, which was so entirely different from the Bayreuth craze that had Western Europe in its grip. In 1884 came the reward for his labors at the conserva toire. He won the Prix de Rome for his setting of "LtEnfant Prodigue," by Edouard Guinaud, Debussy was not much inspired by the Villa Medici, for three years his home in Rome as a winner of the Prix de Rome. He did not like his room or the food, thought his fellow artists stiff since they had won the "Prix," thought the Romans snobbish, and firmly stated that there was no music worth hearing in that part of the world.
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