Musical Profile of Claude Debussy

Welcome to the special online exhibit for the 150th anniversary of the birth of Claude Debussy! In an effort to breath some life back into the glorious works Debussy completed during his life, The Smithsonian has completely revamped our old collection to showcase some of Debussy's less heard of masterpieces while still incorporating some of the classics. For this collection we have chosen twelve pieces that represent all the different areas that Debussy composed for such as orchestra, voice and piano, and solo piano to name a few. The collection has been organized into the different areas he composed for, so feel free to listen to a beautiful rendition of Mandoline sung by a beautiful sparkling soprano, or a riveting rendition of his most well known solo work Claire de Lune from the Suite Bergamasque. Please join us for a wonderful celebration of the father of Impressionist music, and how he changed the world so we can have the music that we cherish today.

As a vocalist, I find many of Debussy's solo voice and piano literature to be among some of the most impressive sounding collaborations between the vocal solo and piano accompaniment. Time and time again Debussy wrote vocal pieces as set to poems by many famous and controversial poets of the time such as Paul Verlaine and Theodore de Banville. Using such poems, Debussy was able to create sensual and promiscuous music that left the audience wanting more and more.

Pierrot is a widely popular piece often done for recitals of Coloratura sopranos. In 1888 Debussy composed this piece from the poem written by Banville about a theatrical character named "Pierrot." Pierrot was a famous French mime that many poets, composers, and playwrights wrote about during the Impressionist movement. When listening to the piece, you can hear the playful banter between the soprano and piano. The piano jumps and embellishes and jumps around as well as the soprano. The soprano line itself has occasional coloratura where she does quick runs that sound much like she is doing miming techniques to try and impress a crowd of people.

Another playful song set to a poem is his spunky Mandoline. It is one of the firsts texts by Paul Verlaine that Debussy set to music in 1883. Verlaine's poems were a very controversial topic at the time due to their "authenticity" so naturally Debussy decided to set many of them to music, sometimes even revisiting the same poem which he had never done before. It was also on of the first songs the Debussy wrote for the male voice. He wrote this piece while he was dividing his time at the conservatory of music and also trying to appease his Russian Patron. He wrote many small character pieces that were not expected to be a part of his final legacy, however they have survived to modern time today!

This piece has a very chaotic feel to it as the piano starts off with a rushed compound duple meter and the male voice comes in strong with quick rhythms. The poem makes fun of relationships vows and the luxuries of choosing a fun non committed lifestyle, which Debussy was accustomed to, and his patron though to be wildly entertaining.

Another notable vocal piece that had a large impact on his life was his only Cantata, L'enfant Prodigue written in 1884. It premiered in Paris immediately to great success and won Debussy the coveted Prix de Rome prize which won him a scholarship to cadémie des Beaux-Arts which gave him a 4 year residenct at the Villa Medici in Rome. He was very hesitant to take this position, however, due to an affair he was having at the time.

The piece is essentially a One-Act opera portraying the story of the prodigal son leaving, and returning home and being welcomed back by his two loving parents. While it was not originally meant to be staged, it has in fact been performed with choreography as a one-act opera.

Many of Debussy's Orchestral works also brought a theatrical aspect to the musical composition world. His signature style of creating scenic effects brought him international success with such pieces like La Mer and Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune. He also wrote many orchestral works to accompany Ballets although some ended up being staged orchestral pieces, and other orchestral pieces being re-set for ballet.

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune is a symphonic poem that Debussy set music to from Mallarme's poem, which eventually was the setting for the ballet of the same name in English Afternoon of a Faun. Mallerme was not very happy with this poem being set to music and thought his music was enough for the poem. This piece is considered a turning point in music due to the increasingly modernized sounds that the orchestra produces, all led by the flute that portrays the Faun.

Musically the piece never really grasps onto tonality, and Debussy uses many of his signature compositional motifs such as whole tone scales, abruptly changing keys, and fragmented melodies and harmonies. His ability to voice the different instruments so that there is a melody moving from flute to oboe, then back to the flute is simply brilliant. Unlike many of his compositions, the melody is clearly discerned in the higher tessitura instruments.

After the Afternoon of a Faun's wild success, you would expect all of his Orchestral pieces to be well received, however that was not the case. Debussy's other symphonic masterpiece La Mer was not initially well received. The orchestra who premiered the piece did not have enough rehearsal time, but also because the French people were outraged that he left his first wife for Emma Bardac. Soon enough the piece because one of his most popular and regularly performed pieces.

Debussy's knack for creating scenic effects did not come close to falling short. In the 3 movements of La Mer Debussy explores the different sounds of the sea. The first movement, From dawn to noon on the sea, and last movement, Dialogue of the Wind and Sea, are two powerful movements that frame the light and agile middle play of the waves, which is why many consider it to be a symphony. His amazing depiction of the sea without the use of humans, ships, or mythology was a strange thing for the Impressionistic time period, however his "normal" whole tine scale, quirky impressionist harmonies, and scenic effects kept it very much in the impressionistic style.

Debussy's final orchestral work, Jeux, was another piece that was not well received by the public. This time, unfortunately, it was not due to his personal choices or lack of orchestra preparation, but mostly because Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring overshadowed it by its premiere a week later. It was originally meant to accompany a ballet, but to the discontent of Debussy became more of a "danced poem."