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Transcript

Debussy - Pour le Piano: Sarabande (Pt. 1)

Tonality (Pt. 1)

Background

  • not based on major or minor scales and has non-functional harmony
  • MODALITY
  • Aeolian on C# minor - same notes as the descending melodic minor
  • we lack the A# of the ascending melodic minor and also the raised leading note (B#)
  • TONAL AMBIGUITY
  • bars 1-2 - could represent E major, whereas the harmonisation is closer to C# sharp minor
  • BARS 1-22
  • mainly in C# Aeolian minor
  • clear tonal contrast in the middle, with A# often replacing A natural
  • tonality in the middle is often ambiguous (suggesting G# Aeolian minor or D# Aeolian minor

Structure (Pt. 1)

  • Composed in 1894 by Claude Debussy
  • 3 movements in the Pour le Piano: Prelude, Sarabande, Toccato
  • Neoclassical: reflects his interest in Baroque musical forms
  • A sarabande was usually a slow dance piece, with emphasis on the second beat of the bar
  • Does not fit any single traditional form (binary, ternary, rondo)
  • BINARY
  • Section A (1-22) - ending on C sharp with quite low passage
  • Section B (23-72) - includes modified repeat of opening at 42-49 (characteristic of rounded binary)
  • TERNARY
  • Section A (1-22) - broadly ternary because the opening comes back towards the end (15-18)
  • Section B (23-41)
  • Section A^ (42-72) - this section is a varied repeat of the first section

Tonality (Pt. 2)

  • BARS 23-41
  • melody suggest C# Aeolian minor to begin with, together with the very low I-V-I outline (24-25)
  • shift up a minor 3rd (bars 27-28), which suggests E Aeolian minor
  • very strong tonal contrast in bars 29-30 (possibly A# Aeolian minor)
  • Modal F# minor is featured later (very low outline C#)
  • F# in bars 35-38
  • BARS 42-77
  • repeat of the opening (42-45) - could expect the key to be C# minor Aeolian again, but the D major chord doesn't help make it clear
  • C# Aeolian minor is clearer (46-49)
  • new material that follows is tonally complex and ambiguous (50-55)
  • most of the music after that is in or close to C# Aeolian minor

Texture

Structure (Pt. 2)

  • Almost entirely homophonic
  • Bars 9-12: melody dominated homophony
  • Homorhythm (chordal writing) throughout most of the piece
  • Parallelism: where parts move in the same direction by the same intervals.
  • 6 note chords at the beginning
  • 4 note chords underlying the melody (bars 11-12)
  • 8 note chord streams (bars 35-41)
  • Three short octave passages provide contrast (bars 5-6)
  • Piece sounds sonorous (full, heavy, deep)
  • RONDO
  • Theme A - variations at 1-8, 15-22, 42-49
  • Section B - bars 9-14
  • Section C - bars 23-41
  • Section D - bars 50-55
  • Rondo interpretation breaks down at 56 - instead of Theme A, B returns and leads on to a coda (63)
  • Immediate repetition - characteristic of Debussy's approach to small-scale structure
  • bars 1-2 are repeated in bars 3-4 with slight embellishment
  • bar 9 is repeated as bar 10 (with slight variation)
  • emphasize the sensuousness of the harmony
  • Periodic phrasing - 2 bar units
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