Miljana Tomić The role of harmony and timbre in Maurice Ravel’s cycle Gaspard de la Nuit in relation to form A thesis submitted to Music Theory Department at Norwegian Academy of Music in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master’s in Applied Music Theory Spring 2020 Copyright © 2020 Miljana Tomić All rights reserved ii I dedicate this thesis to all my former, current, and future students. iii Gaspard has been a devil in coming, but that is only logical since it was he who is the author of the poems. My ambition is to say with notes what a poet expresses with words. Maurice Ravel iv Table of contents I Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Preface ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Presentation of the research questions ..................................................................... 1 1.3 Context, relevance, and background for the project .............................................. 2 1.4 The State of the Art ..................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 8 1.6 Thesis objectives ........................................................................................................ 10 1.7 Thesis outline ............................................................................................................. 10 1.8 Clarification of important terms ............................................................................. 12 Functional and coloristic uses of harmony ....................................................... 12 Sonority .................................................................................................................. 12 Timbre ..................................................................................................................... 12 II Different aspects of Gaspard de la Nuit ................................................... 14 2.1 Preface ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 Purpose of analyzing ................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Interpretation of Gaspard de la Nuit ......................................................................... 18 2.4 Relationship between Bertrand’s poems and Ravel’s piece ............................... 20 III Structural role of different musical components in Gaspard de la Nuit ...................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Interrelation of elements within structural plan .................................................. 23 3.2 Interrelation of different elements in Gaspard de la Nuit...................................... 26 Role of dynamics ................................................................................................... 27 Role of rhythm ....................................................................................................... 28 v IV Formal/thematic analysis of Gaspard de la Nuit .................................. 29 4.1 Preface ......................................................................................................................... 29 4.2 Formal and thematic structure of “Ondine“ ......................................................... 31 Exposition ............................................................................................................... 33 Development section ............................................................................................ 38 Recapitulation ........................................................................................................ 39 Summary ................................................................................................................ 43 4.3 Formal and thematic structure of “Le Gibet“ ....................................................... 43 The first section of “Le Gibet” ............................................................................. 45 The middle section of “Le Gibet” ....................................................................... 47 Recapitulation of “Le Gibet” ............................................................................... 49 4.4 Formal and thematic structure of “Scarbo“ .......................................................... 52 Exposition of “Scarbo” ......................................................................................... 54 Development section of “Scarbo” ....................................................................... 59 Recapitulation of “Scarbo” .................................................................................. 62 4.5 Elements of thematic unity of the cycle ................................................................. 66 4.6 Macro-form of the cycle Gaspard de la Nuit ............................................................ 71 V Role of harmony in Gaspard de la Nuit ................................................... 73 5.1 Harmony in “Ondine”.............................................................................................. 78 Summary ................................................................................................................ 84 5.2 Harmony in “Le Gibet” ............................................................................................ 85 Summary ................................................................................................................ 91 5.3 Harmony in “Scarbo” ............................................................................................... 92 Summary .............................................................................................................. 102 VI Role of timbre in Gaspard de la Nuit ....................................................... 103 6.1 Timbre as a form-constituting element in music ................................................ 103 General definition of timbre .............................................................................. 103 Timbre perception ............................................................................................... 105 Timbre as a musical parameter ......................................................................... 108 Relationship between timbre and texture ....................................................... 112 6.2 Timbre’s effect on form articulation in Gaspard de la Nuit ................................ 116 Methodology of timbre analysis ....................................................................... 116 vi Timbre in “Ondine” ............................................................................................ 119 Timbre in “Le Gibet” .......................................................................................... 123 Timbre in “Scarbo” ............................................................................................. 125 6.3 Summary .................................................................................................................. 130 VII Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 131 7.1 Summary and reflection ......................................................................................... 131 7.2 Answering research questions .............................................................................. 132 7.3 Contribution............................................................................................................. 134 7.4 Proposal for further research ................................................................................. 134 VIII Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 135 Appendix………………………………………………………………………………146 vii List of musical examples Example 4.1: First subject within the exposition of “Ondine” ..................................................... 35 Example 4.2: The first subject within the exposition - continuation ........................................... 36 Example 4.3: The second subject within the exposition of “Ondine” ......................................... 37 Example 4.4: Introductory module within the development of “Ondine” ................................ 38 Example 4.5: New (episodic) subject in the development section of “Ondine”........................ 39 Example 4.6: Recapitulation; second subject in “Ondine” ........................................................... 41 Example 4.7: Recapitulation; first subject in “Ondine” ................................................................ 42 Example 4.8: Unit a within the binary form ................................................................................... 46 Example 4.9: Segment of b unit within the binary form ............................................................... 47 Example 4.10: Unit a within the simple binary form .................................................................... 48 Example 4.11: A segment of unit b within the simple binary form ............................................ 49 Example 4.12: Unit a within a simple ternary form .....................................................................