Noah Schlottman

MUSC 1050
02/17/15
Estampes: Pagodes
Claude Debussys Pagodes was heavily influenced by Javanese gamelan music
performed at the Universal Exposition of 1889 in Paris. Gamelan ensembles mainly consist of
tuned percussive instruments, from gongs of varying size to a variety of mid- and high-range
metallophones. The gongs keep the beat with the longest notes, layered over with melodies and
patterns that increase in complexity and speed in the higher-tuned instruments, with the softest
style percussion instruments being able to play quicker, more intricate patterns. The Central
Javanese gamelan at the Paris Expo performed in slndro tuning, which divides the octave into
five roughly equal notes. Gamelan music has a tight rhythmic structure, with the great gong
articulating the largest phrases (acting as a pedal of sorts), mid- and higher- range instruments
subdividing those phrases in half and quarter length respectively. The end of a phrase is marked
by slowing the music (akin to our ritardando), with the new phrase beginning in the original
tempo.
Debussy used a well-known Western form to convey his Oriental impression. Pagodes
appears to be in modified rondo, with sections delineated thus: A: mm. 1-33; B: mm. 33-40; C:
mm. 41-44; B: mm. 45-52; A: mm. 53-72; C/transition: mm. 73-79; Coda: mm. 80-98. It could
also be a more simplistic ABA form with a coda (A: m.1; B: m.33; A: 53; coda: 80), as the C
section (under the rondo definition) does not really provide new material, but is distinct in its
fortissimo dynamics. Both the A and B sections do, however, have multiple distinct themes
that are developed or recycled throughout the piece, especially in the coda, where the B appears
after the A theme, suggesting the more ternary structure.
Starts in B Major, allowing the convenient use of the pentatonic scale on the black keys
of the piano, which imitates the non-diatonic slndro scale of Gamelan music. Although there
is a main 2-bar theme introduced in the top voice of mm. 3-4, which is developed and
fragmented throughout the piece, there are many melodies across different voices that retain their
distinction in rhythm and contour, separated in register and syncopation. A good example of such
independence is mm. 23-26. This polyphony is pervasive, with mm. 15-18 being the main
exception to the rule in its harmonic approach. Otherwise, the distinction of line is evident,

allowing one to hear each part clearly and recognize reiterated themes throughout, to the extent
that often a theme repeated in an entirely different register sounds as though it were also coming
from a different instrument. By distributing motivic fragments throughout the voices, Debussy
achieves the effect of an ensemble from a single piano. The introduction of new melodic
material, as late as the coda, also provides a sense of development and build as we progress
through the piece, while repeated motives act as anchor points that are re-ornamented rather than
re-harmonized.
Instrumentation is essential to achieve this polyphony as well as to distinguishing phrases
and form. Debussy structures the music such that there are 3 distinct voices in three well-defined
registers. The independence of voices is accentuated by the difference in note length and motion
in each of the different registers, similar to the musical structure of a Gamelan ensemble. The
dynamics throughout also help define phrases, with significant dynamic changes always
accompanied by changes in the note of the gong pedal and its dismissal or introduction.
Especially powerful is the first louder than piano in measure 41. These changes in dynamic are
necessary for giving shape to the piece as well as character, as there arent really tonal changes to
express development and resolution Debussy is drawing on expressive elements beyond the
harmonic vocabulary to provide coherence and satisfaction in Pagodes.
As mentioned before, rhythmic syncopation and note length difference between registers
adds to independence of individual lines. Debussy also does some other things in the manner of
Gamelan music, like reigning in the tempo multiple times throughout the piece (mm. 27, 53, 80,
etc.). Also, in the A section there are three phrases that begin a Tempo after a ritardando,
prepared like Gamelan phrases are, even down to the gong (eighth note in the last beat of mm. 4,
6, 8) signaling the start of the new phrase.
Looking vertically at the music, it is clear that much of the harmony is not created by the
lines meeting functionally in the manner of counterpoint, but instead by building upon each other
to create pentatonic cluster chords. The most notable exception occurs in measures 15-18. These
chords do not seem to function either but are dyads and triads with smooth voice leading that
hint at different pentatonic groupings, thereby staying in the same aural space and allowing them
to retain an Oriental quality. By choosing to use static harmony and avoiding major and minor
modes, Debussy capitalizes on other compositional tools and expressive techniques to capture
the nuances of Javanese ensemble music, presque sans nuances.