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PENTATONIC ORGANIZATION IN
TWO PIANO PIECES OF DEBUSSY
DavidKopp
I
The innovativeaspectsof Debussy'sharmonicpracticehavebeen commonly attributedto his use of nontraditionalscales and of familiartonal
materialin unfamiliarsuccessions. In this view, the characteristicresult
is an exotic andorder-independentharmonicvocabularybest describable
as color. This definition hinges on an implicit distinction between directed,colorless tonalityon one hand,and static,colorful successions of
in-the-momentharmoniesdrawingwhat coherence they display largely
from immediatecontext on the other.Harmonicfunction and harmonic
color are picturedas mutuallyexclusive, fundamentallyopposed qualities. Thus Arnold Schoenbergwrote of Debussy's "non-functionalharmonies,"operatingwithout reference to a single tonic; these, "without
constructivemeaning,often servedthe colouristicpurposeof expressing
moods and pictures"(Schoenberg 1984, 216). Debussy himself wrote of
the need to transcendthe stricturesof form andthe limits of conventional
harmonicprogressionin order to create music based more directly on
color and beautyof sound.I
But of course there are colors to the familiar tonal progressionsas
well. It is just that we are so inuredto them thatwe tend to perceive and
261
think of them as black and white. Debussy's colors may be lush, but it
may well be their complex and unusualaspect along with an attenuated
sense of goal-directedness,ratherthan any ultimatelack of orderedcoherence,thatpromptsthe conclusion thatthey act withoutreferenceto a
harmonic system. Systems may exist in which at least some of these
sonoritiescan be understoodto relatein coherent,meaningfulways. Perhaps the usage of the term color merely signifies the absence of names
and concepts by which to differentiatethese processes of change, or a
tendency not to ascribe coherence where familiarteleological qualities
are not easily felt. Schoenbergmay relate the diminishedperceptionof
conventionaltonic-centerednessto a lack of "constructivemeaning,"but
the latterneed not necessarily follow from the former.As ArthurWenk
has observed,"Debussysought to revitalizetonalityratherthanto abandon it" (Wenk 1983, 68).
Earlier studies of Debussy's use of the common alternativescales
(whole tone, octatonic,pentatonic),epitomizedby ConstantinBrailoiu's
exhaustive treatmentof Debussy's pentatonic music (Brailoiu 1958),
focused on purely melodic aspects of pitch organization.2More recent
work speculateson harmonicaspects. PhilippeCharru,drawingon theories of ClaudeBallif, has tracedthe interactionof the differentsourcecollections in Debussy'sPreludesby meansof analysespredicatedon invariant three-notemotives which, acting melodically and as harmonicfocal
points,underliedisparatesurfacemanifestationsof key andmode (Charm
1988, Ballif 1968).3Wenk(1983) has summarizedseveralacknowledged
aspects of Debussy's harmonic practice beyond the use of alternative
scales and modes: his "replacement"of harmonicprogressionby elaboration of static harmonies;his utilization of tritone relationshipsalong
with fifth relationships;his predilectionfor nonfunctionalparallel harmonies anddissonantjuxtapositionsof semitone-relatedchords.4Richard
Muellerhas tracedinteractionsof whole-tone and pentatoniccollections
in Debussy's Javanese-influencedmusic (Mueller 1986, 157-85).
Analyses based on set theory have more formally modeled ways in
which the collections definedby these scales may each serve as sources
for a complex of relatedsubsets.The smallersets, actingmelodicallyand
harmonically,may conversely be understoodto invoke their source collections, deriving contextual sense throughtheir relation to controlling
harmonicentitiesandtheircharacteristicsounds.Thus a type of harmonic
coherenceis demonstratedwithoutexplicitreferenceto tonalprocess.The
teleological aspect associated with tonal relationships is not strongly
evoked by this approach,in accordancewith the widely-recognizedlack
of goal-directednessin much of Debussy's music. This is not to say that
set relationshipsare presumedalways to operateindependentlyof tonality. Familiartonal relationshipsconsistentlycoexist with alternativeharmonyin Debussy,andit is commonknowledgethathe regularlyemployed
262
IL,
'
T I
I-I"
B
C
A:Soft
A: Soft
B:Middle
B: Middle
C:Hard
C: Hard
23
Name
Interval content
Mode invoked
PT1
2-2-3-2 [0, 2, 4, 7, 9] 1
Major
1, 2, 3, 5, 6
PT2
2-3-2-2 [0, 2, 5, 7, 9]
Major
1, 2, 4, 5, 6
PT3
PT4
3-2-2-3
PT5
[0, 3, 5, 7, 10]
3-2-3-2 [0, 3, 5, 8, 10]
Dorian
Natural minor
Nat. minor / Phrygian
1,2, 4,, ,
1,3,4, 5 ,
1,
34, 6, ,
=.
I0w ,r,~,
,,
Soft
Medium
,H-d
.;
Hard
IL
;II
"II
i,
Soft
i
if
Iediurn
irI
dp
1Hard
=_11
Hard
Vi
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(=
en
quitte,
laissant rihrrr
soft -
En
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rI
.
eerrant
mode6r6
40
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of
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middle -
(B drops out)
App
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aproY
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hard -
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id I
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? (II
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; I
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IJ
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141-
ppp
glue tones
soft ..
___
p expressij
octatonic
(dissonant D ii)
C~de~z/l
transition to diatonici
transition
to
_.
distonicism
Example 1 (continued)
After the returnof the opening music, which reinforcesthe soft pentachordsound,the rolled chordwith dissonantA# returnsto framean animatedtransformationin mm. 8 and 9, initiatinga shift to a new harmonic
area.22This shift entails the firstchromaticmotion in the prelude,limited
to exactly those two voices which can mediate a passage from the soft
pentachordto the middle pentachord.For this harmonicshift to happen,
269
E must disappear,while DOmust take its place. And this is what occurs:
in one voice, E moves throughE# to become F#, while in anothervoice,
C#, by way of Cx, becomes DO(refer to Example 1). Confirmingthis
process, the descendingmelody of mm. 3 and 4 returns,transposedup a
fifth.This time, E is the diatonicpitch excludedfromthe melody.E is the
identitypitch of the soft pentachord,the tone which belongs to no other
collection in this system, and its absence underscoresthe harmonicmotion of the last few measures.This appearanceof the descendingmelody
is followed not by a dissonant chord, but by a repeated falling-fourth
motive derivedfrom the pitches occurringon the melody's beats, all of
which lie in the tonic pentachord.23
At this point the opening music is
clearly understoodas other-than-tonic,taking place in the soft pentachord. This new pentachord,clearly based on B, confirms PT1 as the
ordering active in Les collines.
I
IIk+
r
L
ji
forces the impressionof an opening soft pentachordbased on E, imparting an even "softer"sound.26The firstof the two plagal progressions,in
mm. 63-64, looks behind to the diatonic music that precededit: it ends
on the tonic triad.The second, in mm. 65-68, looks ahead and breaks
back into pentatonicterritory:it ends on the middle pentachord,which
entersthe picturein the left handat mm. 66 while the soft pentachordis
still active above in the right.
This tonic episode is even more short-livedthan the one at m. 9. Immediately after its appearancein m. 68, the middle pentachordis supplantedby the hardpentachord,which revives the melody first heardin
m. 14. The first section's gradual rise through the pentachordsis recounted here at breakneckspeed. The anticipatedmove back to the soft
area begins in the left handat mm. 71-72, with the additionof B, while
E is approachedchromaticallydownwardthroughE#,and is arrivedat in
m. 73. Measures 73-74 continue the condensed reiterationof the harmonic process of the firstsection.The soft pentachord,as expected,reappears in the right hand. Simultaneously,the left hand highlights D?, a
pitch which is by now a familiar,strong signal of impendingchromatic
motion and a probablemove to diatonicmusic.
At this moment Debussy checks the headlong harmonicdrive. The
"hard"melody returnsin m. 74 and persistsall the way into m. 80. Meanwhile, the left hand, conserving the content of the previous measures,
alternatesbetween the opening "soft" melody and a simmering chromatic potentialitythatemerges with the upperhand in m. 77. This chromatic line eventuallytraces a fourth,moving from D? to G0. This is the
only appearanceof the pitch G0, which in this context is as highly dissonantas D?, in the entirepiece. Along with the thickly chromaticline, the
presence of these two dissonancesgives a heightenedsense of transition
and expectation,abettedby the dramaticseven-measuredelay, leadingto
the final expected step in the transitionto diatonic music, arrivalat D#.
This arrivalis truncatedinto a single octave in the middle of m. 80, at
which point the music plunges into the melody thatbeganthe middle section. This spot is a high point of the piece and the epitome of its dual harmonic nature.While the righthandplays a melody which, as in the middle section, is pentatonicin content yet diatonic in context, the left hand
underscoresthis dramaticallywith a descending B major scale. This is
followed by the V-I cadenceemployingpentachords,firstheardin m. 42.
It is a momentof sublime integration.
The closing section follows, consisting of yet anotherdirected rise
throughthe three pentachords.After a last flirtationwith diatonicismin
mm. 84-85, the opening soft pentachordmelodies return,bringingwith
them the AMacquiredin m. 63, impartinga particularlylow, even softer
sound. As if to directly portraythe upwardharmonicprocess, the music
twice literallyrises, then falls. On the thirdattemptit achieves the high
273
soft -
middle-hard-
meas.
soft -
middle- diatonic - - - - - - - - - - - - --
12
20
32
sof
m
64
-S---------------------------------------
CYCLE1--------------------------------------I------------
soft -
middle-hard-
meas.
12
soft 20
so
m
64
--------------------------------------B---------------------------I------------------A---------------
TONIC(MIDDLE)------------------------------ HA
64
32
directed
rise
Onelarge-scale
c: One large-scaledirectedrise
register,intensifies and, in m. 94, is transformedinto a brightlyunfolding middle pentachord.At the very end, the dynamicclimax of the piece,
the rise is completed by three highly emphasizedpitches from the hard
pentachord,includingits identitypitch, A#. Here is the realizationof the
potential of the first A# in m. 4: this final A# is fully liberatedfrom its
accustomedrole as leading tone. Its appearancehere, while technically
within the compass of B major, is as a member of a harmonic group
which excludes the pitch B.
III
We arenow in a positionto look at the harmonicstructureof the entire
prelude. The foregoing discussion suggests at least three ways to conceive it. The first,shown in Figure7a, is a three-partcyclic organization,
in which each cycle grows progressivelyshorter.The initial cycle lasts
for the firsttwo thirdsof the piece, from measures1 to 64. It begins in the
soft pentachordand rises by way of chromaticmotion throughthe middle and into the hardpentachord.It then returnsto the soft pentachord
and, once again through chromatic motion, moves to the middle, this
time subsumedinto diatonic B major.This series of events is repeated
muchmorequickly in the second cycle, which extendsfrommeasures65
to 84. The thirdcycle, from measures84 to 96, is incomplete,consisting
only of the initial rise throughthe threepentachords.
Another,associated view, displayed in Figure 7b, identifies two distinct types of harmonicprocess operatingin the piece. The firstis the rise
from soft pentachordthroughmiddleto hard.The second is the shift from
pentatonicismto diatonicism,which happensas a move from soft pentachordthroughmiddlepentachordto diatonicscale. This view producesa
symmetricalrepresentationof Les collines. If we call the firstprocess A
and the second process B, the form of the piece is A B A B A, with pentatonicism framing diatonicism, and the rises throughthe pentachords
framingarrivalsto the tonic.
The third conception of Les collines' structureworks at the deepest
level, yet ironicallyframesthe piece in the threeequalpartsit displayson
the surface.It is shown in Figure 7c. Recall the conclusion that the first
section of the piece is governed primarilyby the soft pentachord.The
middle section, on the otherhand,is governedby the tonic, since it is in
diatonicB majorand only the middle pentachordappears.The final section can be seen to be governedmore by the hardpentachord.The "hard"
melody lasts for a significantamountof time (mm. 68-72 and 74-80);
moreover,the hardpentachordis the ultimategoal of the final, climactic
gesture.In this way the harmonicmotion of the piece as a whole can be
seen to mirrorthe process which repeatedlyguides the progress of its
275
IV
Coexisting with Les collines' pentatonicunderstructureis the apparent diatonicityof its surface.While the outer sections do not projectthe
straightforwardharmonicrelationshipsof the interiorsection, they have
a tonal sound. Conventionalanalysis can help to specify these different
tonal characters,and, further,to show how tonal and pentatonicaspects
of this music may fortify or undermineeach other.I will treatonly the
first section.
With the exception of m. 9, the first twenty-four measures of Les
collines arecompletelydiatonic,suggestinga circumscribedrangeof harmonic motion.HarmonicelementsareDebussy-typicalseventhchordsor
largerstacksof thirds,appearingeithercomplete or in part.In mm. 1-10,
harmonicactivityestablishesa plagalrelationshipbetweentwo pitchcollections:the majorseventh/ninthchordon tonic B, and the minorseventh
chord on neighboringC#. At the outset, the B collection is represented
only by the bare fifth B-F# at the beginnings of mm. 1 and 5, while the
C#collection is complete, controllingthe rest of the harmoniccontentup
throughm. 7. The balancebetween the two shifts over the course of mm.
8-10. Withthe B-F# intervalpersistingin registeras a pedal, the C# collection becomes the firstelement in a cadentialprogressionwhich leads
to and establishes the dominance of the B collection, both throughthe
directednatureof the cadence, and by providingit a D# for the firsttime.
This tonic arrivalis prolongedas a single harmonythroughmm. 11-17,
although the pitch B itself is relegated to passing-tone status in the
melodicline, leaving a D#minorseventhchordas the controllingelement.
In mm. 18-20, the C# collection is reintroduced,framinga local oscillation between membersof the two collections. This gives way to the C#collection melody in m. 21, now redefined:the F#, heardas a dissonance
in m. 3, becomes a pedal tone to which C#is heardto resolve by descending fifth. The presence of the F# fundamentalfrom here throughm. 24
would seem to signal an arrivalto the dominant,which has yet to figure
in the piece. But a clear dominantperceptionis underminedby two factors. First,the arrivalis a half cadence at best, since the C#minorseventh
chordcan signify only ii, not V/F#. Second, there is no thirdavailableto
276
ground the FK,only the open sound of the conjoined fifths F#-C#-G#.
Whatthis settlingon F#does seem to signify is neutralterritory,a respite
from the dramaof the shiftingdominanceof the B and C#collections. As
the music continues, the dominantsense of F# is furtherdiluted by its
redefinitionin mm. 25-28 as partof a dead-enddiminishedseventhchord
(brieflyas thirdof a relateddominant4), and by the reductionof the texture to an isolated D#. Only at the beginningof the middle section is the
F#is pickedup in registerandredefinedas dominant,usheringin a stretch
of conventionalharmonywhich lasts throughm. 62.
Most of the elements of the B and C# collections are sharedwith the
pentachords.The C# minor seventhchordcontainsfour pitches from the
soft pentachord,while the B majorninthchordcontainsfourpitcheseach
from the middle and hard pentachords.Thus tonal analysis may seem
simply to restate some of the observationsof the foregoing pentatonic
analysis in more familiarterms. However,pentatonicanalysis captures
essential aspects of the music which escape tonal analysis. First, it furnishes more meaningfulspecificity, differentiatingtwo differentcollections (the middle and hardpentachords)and their spheres of influence,
where tonal analysis can see only one (the tonic ninthchord). Second, in
doing so it allows for the importantconceptual separationof A# from
the harmonic field defined by the tonic. Third, it neatly explains the
F#-C#-G# collection as glue tones, whereas tonal analysis lacks the
means to characterizethe collection's non-dominantquality.Moreover,
pentatonicanalysis betteraccounts for more of the pitches in the music.
And while both approachescontributeto an understandingof the perception of change at the beginning of the middle section, tonal analysis
simply reveals the contrastbetween the total absence of the dominantin
the opening section and its preponderancein the middle section, which it
initiates at m. 32. Pentatonicanalysis shows why, disclosing the largescale switchoverbetween systems of harmonicorganization.
V
Since instances of extended pentatonicorganizationare rare in Debussy, it is doubtfulthat Debussy used this system with any regularity.
Charruhas identifiedthe three embeddedpentachordsin anotherpiano
prelude, Bruyeres, but their presence is intermittentand superficial.27
Anotherhighly pentatonicwork,the piano piece Pagodes, fromthe 1903
collection Estampes,book I, does employ an organizedapproachto pentatonic harmony.Like Les collines, Pagodes is in B major, and it also
involves subtle harmonic shifts occasioned by individual pitches. But
Pagodes is considerablymore static: a single pentachordbased on tonic
B controlsthroughoutthe piece. Harmonicvarietyandintereststemsfrom
progressionsoccurringwithinthe pentachordandfromotherpitches sim277
11
"-100"
11
soft
cI
so
TI
TIi
ar
hard
At
meas.
5-6
FO
COt Gt
DO
A#
comments
B
S1-4basic
6pentachord
7-10
11-14
15-18
chromaticlines
19-26
27-28
tetrachord
29-32
33-36
37-45
46-52
53-54
55-56
57-60
61-64
hardpentachord
chromaticlines
65-68
69-77
78-79
hard pentachord
tetrachord+ A
80-81
82-83
84-85
full diatonic
86-87
88-98
-Y x
Y'
oil113
O o
eOo
*o4--
..
19
11
-----------------------------
1...19
1
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27
33 .................6
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33 3.
46
37
53
6.
61
---
--
.........................................
69 73
80
88
98
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" ,"
meas.
* X4
11
27
53
"4
40
44
53
6v_0_7____0
61
70
75
80
98
to
dominant chord.The arrival
centrl
to the
the centralphraseof the section at m. 37
follows throughto an extent. F# finally appearsin the bass, while the 3
melody,returningtransposedup a fifth,furthersan effect of displacement
to the level of the dominant.31Nonetheless,F#supportsonly an open fifth,
failing to give a definitesense of F#major.Variationof the 3melody,producing 12, leads away instead to the plagal arrivalto D# in m. 40. The
ensuing repetitionof 12 with a new textureimmediatelyaddsA#, but the
now-completeF#majorchordacts as a secondaryharmonyon the way to
the arrivalat D# in m. 44.32The relegation of melody y to the bass at
mm. 46-52 transformsits harmoniceffect into an alternationbetween C#
majorandthe full B pentachord,both in root position,pavingthe way for
the dominantlesselided returnto the opening music at m. 53.33
The remainderof the piece revisits and rearrangesearlier material.
Measures53-72 recapitulatethe beginningbut halt the bass descent on
the antepenultimatenote, C#.This low C# facilitatesan elision into mm.
73-79, which interpolatethe 132melody and enhance its arrivalto D#
minor. Motion by another diatonic third at m. 80 introducesthe final
passage of the piece, anchoredby a gapped descendingbass line which
spans the octave defined by B, expanding the major-sixthdescent of
mm. 19-33. As at mm. 46-52, this passage begins with a repriseof the
openingmusic, exchanginga pedalpoint for a dynamicbass line. The expectedtonicizationof the subdominantis weakenedby the absenceof the
pitch B in mm. 82-83, in which context the added pitch AMin the bass
creates exceptional dissonance with the x motive ratherthan a sense of
to E introducesthe full diatonicset and the tritoneA#
V2/IV. Progression
as the highest pitch, promotinga sense of transitionthroughits dissonance.This deftly preparesa finalelision at m. 85: E as the subdominant
recalling m. 7 becomes E in a linearbass-descentrecalling m. 20. From
this point on the music is completely diatonic, containingfor the most
partthe pureB pentachordwith an occasionaladdedA#.34The 12 melody,
echoing throughthe middle of the texture,settles in with the arrivalof B
in the bass yet never terminates.This combinationof elements from the
principalsections of the piece reestablishesthe complete B majorpentachord with a root-positiontonic triad in the lowest voices, producinga
subtle yet comprehensivearrivalto end the piece.
In this way Debussy exploits the morerestrictedharmonicrangederivable from a single pentachord.The foregoing analysis demonstratesthat
the stronglydeterminedrelative-modechordsbased on G# and D# serve
as Pagodes' focal points of harmonicoppositionto the tonic throughout
the piece, while the less complete dominantsfunctionas subsidiaryharmonies. Addedpitches which could strengthenthe role of the dominants
are used sparinglyand often in neutralways. This reversalof the conventional roles of diatonic third relations and fifth relations is a direct
282
resultof the pentatonicorganizationof the piece, generatinga novel harmonic space from the traditionaldiatonic set.
Despite their structuraldifferences, Les collines and Pagodes show
similaritiesattributableto theirpentatonicism.Bothpieces remainin tonic
B majorthroughout,generatingharmonicactivity from shifts within the
diatoniccollection. Both relegatethe dominantto secondarystatus,using
otherchordsin primaryoppositionto the tonic-plagal harmoniesin Les
collines, relativemodes in Pagodes.But wherePagodesmodifiesthe tonal
hierarchy,Les collines goes beyond, delimitinga quintessentiallypentatonic system. Ultimately,both provide thoroughgoingexamples of Debussy's creative response to pentatonicism,respecting its limits while
fully realizing its potentials,yielding music whose distinctivecolors result from novel yet eminentlyquantifiableharmonicrelationships.
283
NOTES
1. Wenk (1983; 13, 19) quoting from letters of Debussy.
2. Brailoiu's dozens of examples invariably show melodies and melodic fragments
quoted without reference to even immediate musical context. He does briefly
describe chords built from the pentatonic collection, but true to his melodic focus
does not discuss pentatonic harmony nor the relationship between the pentatonic
and diatonic collections.
3. Charru borrows Ballif's term metatonality to describe a harmonic framework in
which the various scale systems may freely interconnect and alternate. His invariant trichords may occur at different pitch levels.
4. Rather than proposing a unified model of Debussy's musical style and harmonic
system, Wenk identifies distinctive "masks,"each having its own harmonic character.
5. Since the pentatonic scale is completely contained within the diatonic set, Parks
does not treat it as an independent genus. As an independent scale system with distinctive melodic and harmonic identity, though, pentatonicism shares the potential
of the other genera for interconnection and interrelation.
6. The term anhemitonic is usually used to identify the [0, 2, 4, 7, 9] pentatonic collection, owing to the absence of semitones in its interval content.
7. This model also informs Brailoiu's analytic approach.
8. This property of the diatonic set is well acknowledged-for example both by
Parks and Bryan Simms (1986, 46)-with reference to Debussy. However, neither
cites an actual instance in Debussy's music in which the three naturallyembedded
pentatonic sets operate in a diatonic context.
9. Ethan Haimo (1978, 4) has described the process of generating the pentatonic set
from the perfect fifth.
10. Parks' approach leads him to focus on the complement relationship between the
two collections, although he does mention in passing the three different sc 5-35
pentachords which are subsets of the complete diatonic. His comments on Les
collines (1989; 138,144,147) serve principally to furnish an instance of the complement relationship, and to bolster his claim of Debussy's preference for the allblack-key pentatonic set. While he notices appearances of the soft pentachord at
m. 1 and the hard pentachord (all black keys) at mm. 18-20, Parks, who does not
aim to treat the entire prelude, does not relate these collections to each other, nor
does he identify the presence of the middle pentachord, so melodically prominent
in the middle section and elsewhere.
11. Arnold Whittall (1975, 261-71) outlines a simpler, similarly configured system in
which two whole-tone collections at a distance of a fifth together comprise the total
chromatic. This system cannot interact with diatonic harmony to the degree possible with the pentatonic system I outline here, owing to the chromatic nature and
equal interval-content of whole-tone collections, but Whittall does align the fifth
relation in his system with a correspondence to diatonic processes.
12. Brailoiu documents single, fifth-related shifts from one pentachord to another
(1958, 419-20), but only with reference to their occurrence in specific melodic
passages, without any connection to the music accompanying these melodies, to a
governing diatonic collection, or to sections or pieces as a whole.
13. This property can also be seen as integral to the set's anhemitonic nature, since
284
scale steps 4 and 7 normally resolve by semitone to pitches contained in the tonic
triad.
14. This latter ordering was also used by Debussy; Simms (1986, 64) notes its presence in another prelude from book I, La Cathidrale Engloutie.
15. The five orderings can be considered either melodically, independent of context,
or (as here) as scale overlays. Wenk (1983, 101) describes three of the five overlay possibilities (PT 1, PT3, and PT4), calling PT 1 "the normal form of the pentatonic scale in major mode." Mueller associates the symmetrical PT3 overlay
(notably in the early song Clair de lune, in D# minor), as well as symmetrically
arrangedsubsets of the other orderings, with the influence of symmetrical Javanese
scale patterns on Debussy (Mueller 1986, 172-75).
16. Table 1 identifies PT1 and PT2 as major-mode overlays; they can overlay Lydian,
Ionian, and Mixolydian, the three white-key modes containing a major third. Both
pentachords are also triply embedded in each mode, though of course at different
locations. The right-hand column of Table 1 gives scale-degree overlays for Ionian, the mode of Les collines.
17. In contrast, the PT2 ordering is vaguer and less centered: it contains a complete
subdominant major triad, but only open fifths for tonic and dominant.
18. This multiple-embedding property is special to PT1 and PT2; PT3, PT4, and PT5
can only overlay at the tonic of their associated modes.
19. This suspended, ambiguous melody exemplifies the monophonic formula for opening lines identified in Debussy's music by James Hepokoski (1984, 45).
20. Compare this with the accompanied opening theme of the Tarantelle styrienne of
1890, which employs exactly the same pitches and register, but is clearly a PTI
overlay in E major (see Mueller 1986, 173).
21. Brailoiu also recognizes this pitch as a passing tone.
22. This A# is, of course, soon taken up and momentously resolved in register. But this
event cannot erase the original impression of A# left hanging in m. 4, which remains available for later exploitation.
23. The arrivalto B can be perceived multivalently, both as arrivalto the middle pentachord and, behind that, to tonic B major, since the pentachord contains the complete tonic triad.
24. Charru's metatonal analysis of this prelude (1988, 77) presents another view of
this section, tracing an alternation between pentatonic and diatonic modes every
few measures. Charru does not identify the different pentachords, though, nor
does he show how the different systems interact, as he does in his more detailed
analyses.
25. This one of the three possible octatonic collections is named "Collection I" by
Pieter van den Toorn (1983, 50-51).
26. While AMcould conceivably serve as the root of a fourth, "extra soft" pentachord
located a fifth below the soft pentachord, this does not occur here. The entire soft
pentachord is always present and active when AMappears, so I prefer to think of
theAMas a nonharmonicinflection of the soft pentachord,helping to set it off aurally
from the other pentachords. This is similar to Debussy's method in Pagodes; see
below, section V.
27. Charru's analysis of Bruyeres (1988, 82), from book II, identifies the presence of
all three pentachords embedded in the piece's diatonic set. Indeed, Bruyeres's
opening is similar to Les collines: a monophonic pentatonic line, drawn in this case
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from the hard pentachord. But Bruyeres's pentatony is more superficial than Les
collines's. Pentatonic episodes either temporarilydisplace the prevaling diatony or
reinforce it. With the exception of the opening, the three pentachords usually act
as added-sixth versions of the three primary diatonic functions. Bruyeres's interaction of pentatonic and diatonic organization more closely resembles that of La
fille aux cheveux de lin than Les collines, despite its full complement of embedded
pentachords.
28. The scalar line heard against melody a at mm 7-11 and 57-60, reappearingalone
in an inner voice in mm. 84-87, is an accompanimental figure at most.
29. Both tonic B (m. 5) and goal G# (m. 11) are approached locally by bass motion of
a descending fifth. At m. 5, F#, along with the notes above it, does give a brief
impression of dominant ninth above a tonic pedal. At m. 11, though, D# is less
forceful as a dominant. The third above it is minor, and its harmonic potential is
compromised by the presence, at the end of the measure, of all seven diatonic
pitches. Instead, the arrivalto G# exhibits a modal quality, the result of the first real
bass motion away from B and the local harmonic motion from E.
30. Although these are not the glue tones of the B minor pentatonic system, they
define the same [0, 2, 7] set. This set, which can also be generated non-contextually as the result of two conjoined fifths, is triply embedded in the anhemitonic
pentachord,just as the pentachord (four conjoined fifths) is triply embedded in the
diatonic set (six conjoined fifths). Its availability at multiple pitch levels and its
non-triadic sound make [0, 2, 7] a hallmark of pentatonic harmony. [0, 2, 5], the
source of the y motive, is of course also multiply embedded in the pentatonic set,
as its many transposition levels in Pagodes's melody demonstrate.
31. The appearance of F# would also counterbalance its conspicuous absence in the
earlier bass descent at mm. 19-33.
32. The overall harmonic effect throughout mm. 37-44 is less definite than before; a
diffuse pentatonic sound permeates the texture, overshadowing individual events.
The relative incompleteness of most of the focal chords promotes this effect. There
is, however, a strong structuralcorrespondence between this section and the opening. The opposition of relative mode chords F# major/D# minor recounts, at the
transposition of a fifth, the earlier opposition between relative chords B major/
G# minor. The added tones E# and A#, on the hard side of the B pentachord, further contribute to the dominant character of the section. Despite this, the teleological sense invoked by prominent harmonic fifth relations and leading tone resolution is largely absent.
33. This alternation between C#and B recalls the similar process at the outset of Les
collines.
34. The presence of A# as the highest note invites comparison with its role at the end
of Les collines. Here, though, the pitch gives way to G# in the highest register at
m. 87, well before the end, and disappears completely from the last three measures
of the piece; thus it serves to reinforce the centricity of the tonic pentachord.
WORKSCITED
Ballif, Claude. 1968. "Points, Mouvements." La Revue Musicale, (special ed.) 263:
53-76.
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