Literary Symbolism in Mélodie: An Analysis of Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy’s Settings of the Poetry of Paul Verlaine

Elizabeth Bemis Dr. Rebecca Mindock, mentor University of South Alabama, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Music Abstract Selected Musical Comparisons

This paper uses musical settings of four poems by French poet Paul Verlaine to illustrate the differences and similarities Claude Debussy Gabriel Fauré between Claude Debussy’s and Gabriel Fauré’s mélodie and their settings of Symbolist text. This will include an analysis of the literary aspect of the pieces, focusing on the composers' choices in setting of the text of Verlaine’s poems, and specifically, literary Symbolism in mélodie. It will also deal with the composers’ individual styles of composition as demonstrated within the pieces, including the interaction between the piano and vocal lines, melody, harmony, and rhythm. Thesis • Uses score markings, tempo changes, • The act of becoming calm is illustrated repeated phrases, and chromaticism to dynamically with a decrescendo from portray sleepiness and exhaustion forte to piano and with the downward Debussy and Fauré had different approaches to composing indicated in the text direction of the vocal line song, particularly when it came to their method of text setting. • Emphasizes the already musical qualities • Strays far from tonal center Though Debussy more frequently seizes the opportunity to of Verlaine's poetry through techniques illustrate text with his music, Fauré also shows skill in text such as strategic metrical placement of setting. Debussy’s mélodie are often stylistically disjunct due alliterated words and tenuto articulations to his emphasis on portraying text, while Fauré’s fluid and over luxurious vowel sounds metrical compositions have stylistic unity, and reflect the overall atmosphere and mood of the poem. Characteristics of Claude Debussy’s Mélodie

• Emphasis on illustrating text through musical devices, such as text painting • Whole tone, pentatonic, and other foreign influence on • Simplistic and repetitive raindrop theme • Raindrop theme and the eventual dissonant harmonies not only portrays water, but contributes to harmonic changes on the downbeat • Lack of metrical beat, avoids strong pulse to correspond with the feeling of boredom within the songs, emphasize meter the unstressed French language which Debussy indicates in his marking of • Creates the feeling of a lilt, helping illicit • Associated with Impressionism, a movement that placed triste et monotone (sad and monotonous) the image of a rocking boat, therefore emphasis on tone color and fluidity • Lack of feeling of meter • The later juxtaposition of the raindrop emphasizing the theme of water theme and musical motives create a • Design allows the musicians to shape dissonant composition smaller phrases

Characteristics of Gabriel Conclusions

Fauré’s Mélodie Debussy and Fauré’s settings of Paul Verlaine’s poetry are vastly different due to their individual approaches to setting text in Literature Cited music. While Debussy focuses on illustration of text by use of • Emphasis on illustrating the overall mood and atmosphere of imitation of inflection, text painting, and independent piano and Debussy, Claude. “Green,” in Ariettes Oubliées, 19-21. New York: Dover the poem vocal lines, Fauré aims to portray the overall atmosphere and Publications, 1981. • Allant (forward movement) mood of a poem by using the general tools of composition, Debussy, Claude. “Il Pleure Dans Mon Coeur,” in Ariettes Oubliées, 4-9. New • Arpeggiation in piano accompaniment including tonality, modality, rhythm, and the counterpoint York: Dover Publications, 1981. • Modal influences between piano and vocal lines. These four examples of Fauré’s mélodie provide evidence that that Fauré was equally as capable • Frequent modulation to distant keys Fauré, Gabriel. “Green,” in Five Mélodies, Op. 58, 11-14. Paris: J. Hamelle • Often strophic as Debussy of brilliant text setting and illustration, but often 1891. chose his signature fluidity and allant over a more disjunct, text- focused setting. In contrast, Debussy’s mélodie contains a clear Fauré, Gabriel. “Spleen,” in 4 Songs, Op. 51, 11-14. Paris: J. Hamelle, 1888. vocal narrative, often sacrificing stylistic unity in favor of text illustration.