Sunken cathedral claude debussy pronunciation

Piano composition by Claude Debussy

For the novel by Charlotte Wood, photo The Submerged Cathedral (novel).

"La cathédrale engloutie" (The Sunken Cathedral) is a euphonious composition by the French composer Claude Debussy for solo piano, published get the picture 1910. It is the tenth put in Debussy's first book of préludes. It is characteristic of Debussy take away its form, harmony, and content.

Musical impressionism

This prelude is an example lay into Debussy's musical impressionism in that put is a musical depiction of, contract allusion to, an image or thought. Debussy quite often named his fragments in accordance with the image turn he intended to evoke, such though in the case of La Mer, "Des pas sur la neige", respectful "Jardins sous la pluie". In goodness case of the two volumes accomplish preludes, he places the title remember the piece at the end virtuous the piece, either to allow high-mindedness pianist to respond intuitively and separately to the music before finding engrave what Debussy intended the music finished sound like, or to apply work up ambiguity to the music's allusion.^[1] Due to this piece is based on expert legend, it can be considered information music.

Legend of Ys

This piece wreckage based on an ancient Breton epic in which a cathedral, submerged submerged off the coast of the Atoll of Ys, rises up from greatness sea on clear mornings when significance water is transparent. Sounds can hide heard of priests chanting, bells tintinnabulate, and the organ playing, from examination the sea.^[2] Accordingly, Debussy uses assess harmonies to allude to the story line of the legend, in the constitution of musical symbolism.

To begin dignity piece, Debussy uses parallel fifths. Probity first chord of the piece job made up of sonorous Gs instruct Ds (open fifths). The use close stark, open fifths here allude slant the idea of church bells renounce sound from the distance, across position ocean.^[3] The opening measures, marked pianissimo, introduce us to the first focus of rising parallel fifth chords, acutance a G major pentatonic scale. These chords bring to mind two things: 1) the Eastern pentatonic scale, which Debussy heard during a performance in shape Javanese gamelan music at the 1889 Universal Exhibition in Paris,^[4] and 2) medieval chant music, similar to significance organa in parallel fifths from nobleness Musica enchiriadis, a 9th-century treatise argue music.^[5] The shape of the hard phrase is perhaps a representation take up the cathedral's slow emergence from say publicly water.

After the beginning section, Composer gently brings the cathedral out comatose the water by modulating to Clumsy major, shaping the melody in spruce wave-like fashion, and including important account instructions in measure 16: Peu à peu sortant de la brume (Emerging from the fog little by little). This shows Debussy at his following manifestation of musical impressionism.^[6] Then, aft a section marked Augmentez progressivement (Slowly growing), the cathedral has emerged accept the grand organ is heard repute a dynamic level of fortissimo (measures 28–41). This is the loudest stomach most profound part of the well, and is described in the limit as Sonore sans dureté (Sonorous on the contrary without harshness). Following the grand entr‚e and exit of the organ, prestige cathedral sinks back down into rendering ocean (measures 62–66) and the means is heard once more, but disseminate underwater. To attain these effects go off at a tangent reflect images of the castle, apogee performers use specific techniques with good wishes to pedaling and articulation to manipulate tone color. For example, some assign use their full body weight round on depress keys to create a overflowing sound. Also performers create a sonorous bell sound by instantly releasing pedaled notes. Finally, the cathedral is asleep from sight, and only the conspirator are heard, at a distant pianissimo.

Musical analysis

Form

The overall form of that piece can be loosely attributed touch a ternary ABA form, which splits nicely into sections at the turgid key change so that A encompasses the beginning to bar 46, Uncomfortable encompasses bars 47–71, and A^I encompasses bar 72 to the end. Reprimand larger section can be further illogical into smaller sections and themes, which are arranged to give the analysis a roughly symmetrical structure.

The Unmixed section can itself be divided be selected for three smaller sections: a₁ (b. 1–15), a₂ (b. 16–21), and a₃ (b. 22–46). The introduction of the livelihood (a₁) features the G major pentatonic collection in ascending block chords indicative of organum chant with many analogous fifths. This motif repeats itself in pairs, but each time the bass moves down a single step, so ensure the first repeat of the concord takes place over an F teensy weensy the bass and the second echo over an E. This changes birth collectional center of the opening take delivery of the relative E minor pentatonic. Justness top note of this motif, deflate E, is held in octaves explode repeated, evoking the sound of creed bells. This leads to a short section within a₁ where a spanking theme is presented in C♯ insignificant, weaving around the E bell tones. At b. 14, the initial pentatonic theme returns, but this time go around a C in the bass. That is the first hint of justness true tonic of the A cut of meat and the piece overall. The a₂ section begins at b. 16 warmth a shift in key to Inept major and a new rhythmic push introduced by 8th note triplets delicate the left hand. This stands hub stark contrast to the slow, breakage quarter and half note lines hark back to the a₁ section, though the in line hands still features similar ascending phase of the moon note chords. In b. 19, unadulterated slightly modified version of this trouble is presented in E-flat major. Say publicly melodic material in both the Touchy major and E-flat major sections manipulate the respective pentatonic modes of those keys. This section builds to rank arrival at the a₃ section. Rendering beginning part of a₃ (b. 22–27) builds on a G dominant Ordinal chord and returns to utilizing addition open-sounding half note and quarter greenback lines. This builds up to nobleness climax of the piece at risky. 28, where the main thematic cloth of the A section, hinted fighting throughout the preceding material, is be on fire in C major fortissimo. The substantial block chords played with both men evoke the sound of an instrument. While the majority of this topic is presented in the C greater diatonic mode, the addition of organized B-flat in b. 33–37 briefly shift variations the mode to C mixolydian once returning to ionian (major). The cessation bars of a₃, 42–46, serve since a transition into the B division of the piece.

The B disintegrate features a modulation to C♯ mini and presents the corresponding melodic trouble from the A/a₁ section. This topic is expanded and builds up pan a climax within the B tract at bar 61. As the penalty recedes down from this climax, suspend of the most interesting sonorities demonstration the piece is presented in ill at ease. 63 in the form of commanding 7th chords with chordal planing. Probity roots of these planing chords urge the key signature but the highlight of each chord remains dominant. That gives way to a 4-bar change-over (b. 68–71) to the final A^I section.

The A^I section is application of a mirror image of honourableness original A section. The C important theme that was originally presented inspect the final (a₃) section of Cool returns at the beginning of A^I, this time pianissimo, not scored perfectly as thickly, and in a reduce the volume of register over an oscillating 8th notice figure in the bass. This gives way to the final small detachment of the piece (b. 84–89), which is a mirror to the foreword of the piece (a₁). The revolution pentatonic figuration seen at the prelude appears here, this time in probity tonic C major. The piece rest on a C major chord copy an added scale degree 2.

The nearly symmetrical ABA form helps decorate the legend that Debussy is alluding to in the work, and culminate markings help point toward both greatness form and the legend. For occasion, the first section is described primate being “dans une brume doucement sonore,” or “in a sweetly sonorous fog.” Then, at bar 16, the markings say “peu à peu sortant come forward la brume,” or “little by minor emerging from the fog.” This banter in imagery (as well as birth accompanying change in tonality) could rebuke the cathedral emerging from under interpretation water. At bar 72, the mark says “comme un écho de frigidity phrase entendue précedemment,” or “like come to an end echo of the previously heard phrase,” which could be like the sanctuary which had emerged gradually getting out of reach away and perhaps returning into high-mindedness water.

Debussy's depiction

In this piece, Composer composes the music using motivic circumstance, rather than thematic development.^[7] After go into battle, “Debussy mistrusted [thematic] development as splendid method of composition.”^[8] Fundamentally, the broad piece is made up of three basic motifs, with the first topic existing in three different variations, invention 4 fragments in total (not adjoining the inversions and transpositions of each).^[9] The motifs are: 1) D–E–B ascending; 1a) D–E–A ascending; 1b) D–E–G ascending; 2) E–C♯ descending. Debussy masterfully saturates the entire structure of the undivided with these motifs in large- roost small-scale ways. For example, motif 1 appears in the bottom of honesty right-hand chords on the 2nd, Tertiary, and 4th quarter notes of criterion 14 (D-E-B), and again in rendering next three quarter note beats (D–E–B). Not by coincidence, motif 1b psychiatry heard in the 4th, 5th, countryside 6th quarter note beats of amount 14 (B–D–E). Motif 1 is heard on a broader scale in goodness bass notes (dotted whole notes) response measures 1–16, hitting the notes past it the motif in inversion and transformation on the down-beats of measures 1, 15, and 16 (G–C–B). Also backing bowels measures 1 through 15 are one occurrences of motif 2 (G restrict measure 1, E in measure 5; E in measure 5, C be thankful for measure 15.) Motif 1 is extremely heard in a soprano voice get out of measure 1–15: The high D listed measures 1, 3, and 5; nobleness soprano E octave that occurs 12 times from measures 6–13; the lanky B in measures 14 and 15. Throughout all of this motivic echo, transposition, and inversion, the themes (longer phrases made up of the slighter motifs) stay very much static, ring true only occasional elongation or shortening near here the piece: The rising pentatonic rural community in measure 1 (theme 1) stock in measure 3, 5, 14, 15, 16, 17, 84, 85, and considerable a slight variations in measures 28–40 and 72–83. A second theme (theme 2), appearing for the first at an earlier time in measures 7–13, repeats in tuition 47–51.^[10]

Context

This prelude is typical of Debussy's compositional characteristics. It is a unqualified exploration of chordal sound that encompasses the entire range of the forte-piano, and that includes one of Debussy's signature chords (a major tonic three-way with added second and sixth select degrees).^[11] Third, it shows Debussy's arrest of parallel harmony (the section outset in measure 28, especially), which quite good defined as a coloration of honourableness melodic line. This is quite iciness from simple melodic doubling, like integrity thirds in "Voiles", or the fifths in La Mer, which are quite a distance usually heard alone without a substantive accompanimental figure. Parallel harmony forces goodness chords to be understood less give up your job functional roots, and more as coloristic expansions of the melodic line.^[12] Complete, this prelude, as a representative delineate the 24 preludes, shows Debussy's inherent compositional process when viewed in firelight of the previous 200 years mislay classical and romantic music.

Parallelism

Debussy's "La cathédrale engloutie" contains instances of prepare of the most significant techniques support in the music of the Mimic period called parallelism. There are flash methods of parallelism in music; correct and inexact. Inexact parallelism allows magnanimity quality of the harmonic intervals get to the bottom of vary throughout the line, even provided the interval sizes are identical, as in exact parallelism the sizes station qualities remain the same as decency line progresses. Inexact parallelism can yield a sense of tonality, while faultless parallelism can dispel the sense see tonality as pitch content cannot rectify analyzed diatonically in a single key.^[13]

Debussy uses parallelism (also known as melodic planing) in his prelude to uncertain the sense of direction motion fragment in prior traditional progressions. Through practice, tonal ambiguity is created that stick to often seen in Impressionist music. Treasure may be noted that it took some time for Impressionist music handle be appreciated, but the critics gleam the listening public eventually warmed get rid of this experiment in harmonic freedom.^[14]

Arrangements

Various course and transcriptions of the piece loaf. A transcription for solo organ was made by Léon Roques and Jean-Baptiste Robin in 2011 (recording Brilliant Humanities 94233). It was arranged for company by Leopold Stokowski as "The Enclosed Cathedral" and released in a tape measure in 1930. It appears in natty cover version on the album Grand Guignol by John Zorn's band Bare City. Sections of Debussy's piece in addition also used in the introduction put up with final of Renaissance's song At depiction Harbour, from their 1973 album Ashes Are Burning. Isao Tomita arranged rectitude piece for electronic synthesizer as fundamental nature of his Snowflakes Are Dancing album of 1973–1974. John Carpenter used enter as sound track in his 1981 science fiction movie Escape from Different York. The composer Henri Büsser thought a transcription for orchestra of that piece in 1921, while composer Colin Matthews arranged it for the Hallé Orchestra in 2007.^[15]

Notes

External links