A Comparative Study of Harmonic Features in String Quartets by Debussy and Ravel

3-19
1Va. 2 33
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE HARMONIC EQUIPMENT
AND FORMAL FEATURES IN THE STRING QUARTETS
BY CLAUDE DEBUSSY AND MAURICE RAVEL
THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
North Texas State Collese in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
MASTER OF MUSIC
by
211824
Robert E. Jenkins, B. Mus.
Fort Worth, Texas
August, 1952
29.3.24
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I Page
LIST OF TAILES ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .*. . .# iv
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. vi
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION: OBJECTIVES AND PROCEDURE . 1
.
II. THE INFLUENCE OF PREDECESSORS AND
CONTEMPORARIES ON THE WORKS OF DEBUSSY
AND RAVEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4
The Rise of Impressionism in France
Influence of Predecessors and Contemporaries
on Debussy
Influence of Predecessors and Contemporaries
on Ravel
Counter Influences of Debussy and Ravel
III. HARMONIC ANALYSIS AND COMPARATIVE STUDY

OF THE DEBUSSY AND RAVEL QUARTETS . . 31
Analysis of the Debussy String quartet
Harmonic equipment: structure and

function
Formal features
Analysis of the Ravel String Quartet
Harmonic equipment: structure and

function
Formal features
Summary and Comparison of the Debussy

and Ravel Quartets
IV. CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
.
BIBLIOGRAPHY .,.$ ... ... ... 88
iii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Harmonic Material in the Debussy juart . . . 31
.
2. Seventh Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
.
3. Inversions of Seventh Chords . . . . . . 33
.
. * . . . . *. . . . . . . . . 4* Triads #
35
.
5. Inversions of Triads . . . . . . ...... . .. 35

6. Ninth Chords. . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
.
7. Inversions of Dominant Ninth Chords . . . . 38
.
8. Tonal Centers in First Movement of
Debussy Quartet . . . . . . . . ... .. 47
9. Tonal Centers in Second Movement of
Debussy Quartet . .-. . . . . 50
10. Tonal Centers in Third Movement of .
Debussy Quartet . . .a... . . . .. .# . . . 53
11. Tonal Centers in Fourth Movement of
Debussy uart#t . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
.
12. Harmonic Material in Ravel Quartet . . . . ... 57

13. Seventh Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .*... 58
14, Inversions of Seventh Chords . . . . . . 58
.
15. Triads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
.
16. Inversions of Triads . . . . . . . . . . 61

.
17. Ninth Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

.
18. Inversions of Ninth Chords . . . . . . * .... 62

19. EleventhChords . . .. . .. . . . . . 63
.
iv
Table Pale
20. Tonal Centers in First Movement of
Ra e uarteo . . .. ... * a . . . 70
.
21. Tonal Centers in Second Movement of
Ravel Sucartst . . . . ,. . . . . a a a a 74
.
22. Tonal Centers in Third Movement of
RavelQuartet . . . . . . . a . a a .a 76
.
23.N Tonal Centers in Fourth Movement of
Rav l Quartet#.#.!. . . . . . . . a a . a 80
.
24. Comparative Interpretation and Tempo
aa Indications . . . . . . . a ap a . 80
.
25. Comparative Tonal Centers and Formal Aspects . a 82
V
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1. Debussy, Chansons de Bilitis, p. 12, m. 8 9
2. ioussorgsky, "Elegy" from the Song Cycle
Sunless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * 17
.
3, Debussy, "Nuages" from the Nocturnes " 17
.
4. Rimeky-Korsakof, Scheherazade, Violin Solo
in Second Movement . . . . . . ... 0 . 18
5. Debussy, 2'Aprs-midi un fauna . . . .18
.
6. Borodin, Strin uatet No. 1 . .. 19
7. Chabrier, Trois Valsas Romantiques. . ..22
.
8. Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales . . . 23
.
9. Ravel, "Toccata" from the Tombeau de

Couperin . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
.
.
10. Chabrier, gBourre flaasqu . . . 24
.
11. Faur, quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola

and Cello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
.
12. Debus y, Strin uare~t .. . . .. 28

13. Ravel, 8rnguartet ... . . . . 28
.
14. Debussy, "Pagodas" from Estampes . . 29

.
15. Ravel, Jeux d'Eau . . . . . . . . . . 30

.
16. Debussy, Strin Quartet,. p. II, mm. 7-8 34

17. Debussy, Strin Quartet,, p. 34, m.. 10 37
18. Debussy, Striom uartet, p. 33, mm. 15-19 39
19. Debussy, String quartet, p. 35, mm. 1-3 40
.
20. Debussy, Strin Quartet, p. 26, mm. 2-5 41
vi
Figure Page
21. Debussy, Strin Quartet, p. 1, mm. 1-2 . . 42
.
22. Debussy, String Suar... Lt, p. 1, M. 13; p. 2,
m. I ... . . . . . . . . . . . 43
.
.
.
23. Debussy, Strip Quartet, p. 3, m. 15; p. 4,
m* 1-3 . . . .. . . . . . . 43
#
.
.
24. Debussy, Strin quartet, p. 4 m. 12; p. 5.
,
m. 1 . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . 44
.
25. Debussy, String Quartet, p. 5, mm, 10 -11 . . . 44
26. Debussy, String Quartet, p. 5, mm. 12 -13 . . . 45
nl Quartet, 27. Debussy, S s p. 6, mm. 10 ~-11. .. 45
28. Debussy, String Quartet, p. 15, m.4 0 . . . . . 46
29. Debussy, str Quartet, p. 16, mm. 3-4 ... 47
30. Debussy,. String Suartet, p. 16, mm. 9-10 . . .. 48
31. Debussy, p. 18, mm. 16-19 48

32. Debussy, String Quartet, p. 20, mm. 11-12 49
33. Debussy, String Quartet, p. 22, mm. 1-3 49
Strin uarte
,
34. Debussy,, p. 22, mm. 13-16 50

35. Debussy, String Suartt, p. 24, mm. 5-6 . . 50
36. Debussy,. St Quartet, p. 27, mm. 5-6 51
37. Debussy, p. 27, mm. 11-12 52
38. Debussy,, String Quartet, p.. 28,. mm. 11-14 52
39. Debussy, String Suartet, p. 29, mm. 11-14
Stringquartet,. 52
40. Debussy, StromgQurtt,. p. 33, mm. 1-2 53
41. Debussy, p. 33, mm. 15-16 54
42.. Debussy, Strin Quartet, p. 35, mm. 4-5 54
43. Debussy, String Quartet,, p. 36, mm. 1-3 55
vii
Figure Page
44. Debussy, String quartet, p. 39, mm. 15-1 n . . 55
.
45. Debussy, Str Quartet, p. 40, mm. 10-a 2 ." . 55
.
46.. Debussy, Strin& Quartet,, p. 42, mm. 11-15 . . 55
.
47. Debussy, String Quartet, p. 46, mm. 1-2 ." . 56
.
48.. Ravel, String Quartet, p. 10, mm. 12-13 . . 64
.
49. Ravel, String iartet, p. 1, mm., 1-4 ... . . ., 65
50. Ravelf stin juaftt, p. 2, mm. 7-9 . . . 66
.
.
51. Ravel, Strin Quartet, p. 4, mm. 9-11 .. . . 67
.
52. Ravel, String Quartet, p. 4, mm. 17-18 . . 67
.
53. Ravel, Str Quartet 5, mm. 8-9 .. . . 68
.
.
54, Ravel, Stri uart p. 6,. mm. 2-m8 . . 68

.
.
55. Ravel, String Quartet, p. 13, mm. 6-9 . . . 69
.
56. Ravel, fljrin 3uarlt, p. 14, mm. 1-2 . . 71
.
.
57. Ravel, String Quartet, p. 14, , mm. 13-16 . .
.
71
58. Ravel, stflna Suartet, p. 18, mm. 20-24 . . 72
.
59. Ravel, Stin Qurt p. 21, mm. 1-2 . . 73

.
60. Ravel, Strin5 Ppartet.

26, mm. 14-17 . . 74
.
61. Ravel, Strom Qartet,. p. 27, mm. 9-12 .. . 75

.
62. Ravel, String juart, p. 29, mm. 6-8 , . ., 75

.
63. Ravel,. St Quartet,,p.. 34, mm. 1-2 . . . 77

.
64. Ravel, String Quartet, p. 36, mm. 2-3 ... . . 77

.
65. Ravel, Str nQuartet, 36, mm. 12-14 . . 77

.
66. Ravel, $tr 4ngQuartet, ps 37, mm. 18-21 . . 78

.
67. Ravel, Strn uartt, P_ 42 mm. 11-13 . . 78

.
68. Ravel, String Quartet,. p.. 47, mm. 16-18 . . 79

.
vii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION: OBJECTIVES AND PROCEDURE
The single flg Quartet by Claude Debussy (1892-3)
and the one t Quartet by Maurice Ravel (1902-4) did
much toward shaping their composer's mature musical person-
alities and prepared the way for their acceptance as French
composers of the first order. Debussy's uartet marked the

beginning of the most productive years of his creative
activity, the years between 1892 and 1900. The Ravel Quartet
designated the onset of his mature second period, and the
composition stands among his most distinctive works.
This thesis proposes to determine the construction of
the two quartets and to reveal through the study of the
quartets the similarities and contrasts of the creative
musical characteristics of Debussy and Ravel.
Biographical data concerning both composers are
excluded except in instances of direct relation to the
music being discussed. In the same manner critical im-
pressions and opinions of the works of each composer by
various writers are not contained in this study except in
cases of particular importance.

Chapter II is a study of the important influences to
which Debussy and Ravel were subjected. Whenever possible
1
2
and necessary for the clarification of adiscussion con-
cerning influences,, examples and references are cited in
both the works of the composers being studied and the
sources of the influences.
Chapter III presents a study of the aesthetic and
technical principles employed in the two quartets and
analyses of the modes of presentation of these principles
in terms of harmonic structure and function. In most cases
the clarity and formal symmetry of both quartets make ex-
tended note-for-note analyses unnecessary. However, it is
here believed that detailed study, if not allowed to obscure
the total effect of the work, will unravel passages which at
first sight, or first hearing, may seem obscure. Representa-
tive sections of the works are considered in most instances
to illustrate adequately the item or style feature being
discussed.
In the analysis of harmonic equipment it is most logi-
cal to study and present writing habits which appear in
sufficient quantity to be recognized as the principal fear
tures of that particular style. A survey of the vertical
sonorities in the quartets is therefore presented in order
of relative frequency.. In most cases the chords appear in
actual vertical structure; however, since some of the music

in both works is monodic,, the successive melodic tones which,,
when grouped together,, comprise chords, are accorded harmonic
identity.
3
Chapter IV is comprised of conclusions which are drawn
directly from the materials presented in Chapter II and
Chapter III. It is shown that few additions to the melodic
and harmonic. vocabulary of the preceding period in music
were made by either Debussy or Ravel. But their importance
is to be found in their manner of employing the compositional
devices already in existence, It will also be found that
their novelties of idiom are principally extensions, rather
than contradictions, of the musical practices of the
Nineteenth Century.
CHAPTER II
THE INFLUENCES OF PREDECESSORS AND CONTEMPORARIES
ON THE WORKS OF DEBUSSY AND RAVEL
The Rise of Impressionism in France
The word "Impressionism" was originally coined in

1863 as a term for "opprobrium in a derisive criticism" 1
of a painting exhibited in Paris by Claude Monet,, called
"Sunrise; an Impression." The term was then applied to
certain anti-academic and anti-romantic tendencies in late
nineteenth century painting, advocated and carried into
effect by Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir,
Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and a number of others who
followed the example set by these leaders.2
The technique of impressionism in painting followed
the theory that color, as a defined quantity, does not
exist, but is only the result of the play of light upon
form. Shadows are considered to be an altered form of
light,, rather than the absence of it. By the exclusion
from the palette of all but the actual colors contained
in the spectrum,, and by the placing of alternating colors
1P. G. Konody, "Impressionism," Encyclopedia Britannica,

Vol. XII, 14th ed., p. 125.
2lbid.
4
5
upon the canvas, instead of mixing the colors, the impres-

sionist painters "invested their works with a degree of
vibrant quality suggestive of atmospheric vibration that

had not previously been obtained by any other method." 3
As applied to sculpture, impressionism refers to model-
ling forms by planes of light and shade with
bosses and hollows, which do not describe form with

anatomical accuracy or reveal the essential structure
of form, but which reflect light inpuch a way as to
create the illusion of natural form.
Impressionism in sculpture developed later than impression-
ism in painting and was influenced greatly by the movement
in painting. Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) is the chief repre-
sentative of impressionistic sculpture, but the sculpture
of Degas and some of the modelled works of Carpeaux, Barye,
Epstein, George G. Barnard, and Gutzon Borglum,, are also to
be considered impressionistic. 5
As has been previously stated, the term impressionism
was initially and generally applied to painting, but,, as is
usually the case,. music,, poetry,. and the thinking and acting
of the entire period reveal similar tendencies. Impression-
ism, or symbolism (as it is more accurately termed in poetry),
follows a philosophical pattern similar to that of the
k1b., p. 126.
L. D. Longman,, "Impressionism," 4nylopedia of the
Ars, (1946), p. 256.
5 lbid.
6
painters. The expression of "a free conception of life" 6

was the principle adhered to by the symbolist poets. They
endeavored to render the reflection of their subject, rather
than the actual position and structure of it. Their careful
arrangement of consonants and vowels were intended to con-
tain the same general effect as the contemporary impression-
istic techniques in music and painting. Symbolism in poetry

is treated in greater length in the next section of this
chapter, "The Influence of Predecessors and Contemporaries
on Debussy and Ravel."
Impressionism,. as most new movements, was rooted

in antagonism. In music, the dramatic dynamism of
Beethoven, the heated atmosphere and exhibitionism of
Wagner, and the introspective emotionalism of the
Romantic composers in general was replaced by a new
type of music (eminently French in character) which
seems to hint rather than to state; in which success-
sion of colors take the place of dynamic development,
and "atmospheric" sensations supersede heroic pathos.
This new "style, evolved from the disintegrating national
and postromantic schools, drafted certain style features
found in the music of Wagner, Bizet, Franck, Grieg, Borodin,
and Moussorgsky, and reacted sympathetically to influences
emanating from contemporary poetry and painting. The

crystallization of these new theories in the Impression-
istic movement led to the

abandonment of such typically "German" achievements
as sonata, symphony, thematic material, development
6 Leon Vallas,, Claude Debussy

(1933), p. 51.
7 Willi
Apel, "Impressionism, " Harvard Dictionary of
Music (1947), p. 350.
7
technique, and resulted in the introduction of various

novel devices which are antithetic to the principal
features of classical and romantic harmony.
Musical impressionism shares many traits, even

technical ones, with literary and pictorial impres-
sionism. It exhibits the same disinclination toward
a logical compositional grouping of ideas, the same
pictorial-planar preference for the juxtaposition of
different colors and sonorities which are not held
together by definite lines. The unifying effect is
no longer achieved through grouping and building but
through the similarity of the sections, their char-
acter and mood. Thus it is not the order but the mood
of the particular sections which achieves "form," for
it calls not on memory, but only on a faculty of sen-
sory impressionability. The chief component of this
music is a programmatic atmosphere; amystic, opaline
quality, dreaminess, mood-impressions, instead of
causal continuity or logical relationship of ideas.
Now music becomes illustration, the illustration of
a mood announced in the title. It no longer counts
on form in the conventional sense; it is held together
by the suggestive mood announced by the poetic--that
is, extramusical--title, Still, this is not program
music, nor is it descriptive music it is, rather,
poetry translated into music, the landscape poetry"
of French literature and painting.9
"Claude Debussy identified himself with the impression-
ist movement in French art and produced a.highly original
style." 1 0 Debussy's so-called innovations (later termed

"Debussyism") became the commonplace tools of impressionist
technique. Impressionism in music is characterized by the
following general devices and elements (a more detailed
treatment of the impressionistic methods in music will be
9 Paul Henry Lang, Musicnin Western Civilization (1941),

p. 1018.
1 0 Hugh
Milton Miller, An Outline History af Music
(1947), p. 184.
8
made in Chapter III and Chapter IV): the use of open fifths,
usually in parallel motion; the employment of neomodality;
extensive parallelism; chord progressions not in accordance
with those of the preceding period; extensive use of seventh
and ninth chords without preparation or resolution; internal
harmonization; the whole tone scale; less prominence of bar-
line regularity; long, flowing melodic lines and general
vagueness of form; the employment of pseudo-Oriental and

Spanish color effects; use of short appoggiaturas on the
strong part of the measure; and, in piano works, simulta-

neous usage of the extreme registers of the instrument. 1 1
Maurice Ravel,, the second great exponent of the impres-
sionist movement in music, is less atmospheric than Debussy.
His style consists of all of the general impressionistic
devices employed by Debussy with the following considera-
tions:. sparing use of the whole-tone scale; wider use of

the eleventh chord than Debussy; greater clearness of style
and less complex in form than Debussy; predilection for
baroque forms and styles influenced largely by the works
of Couperin and Rameau; and wide usage of Spanish rhythms
and harmony. 1 2
The extensive employment of parallel progressions
throughout the works of both Debussy and Ravel are the
most prominent aspect of their impressionistic techniques.
i zi
Ibido 1 2
-
"am bid., p. 185.

9
Consecutive fifths,, fourths,, and major thirds proceeding
by whole tones and by semi-tones, are widely used in the
works of Debussy and Ravel. Successions of seconds, sevenths,
and ninths in parallel movement are also found in the works
of both composers, but they are not used so frequently and
extensively as. the consecutive fifths, fourths, and thirds.
The following quotation from Debussy's Chansons de
Bilitis (.897) is an example of compact and extensive employ-
ment of parallelism:
Fig. 1--Debussy, Chansons de Bilitis, p.. 12, m. 8
major thirds,, fifths, sevenths, ninths, and the whole-tone
scale are all present in this passage.
Influence of Predecessors and

Contemporaries on Debussy
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) entered the Paris Conserva-
toire in 1873 at the age of eleven,, remaining there until he
was twenty-two. He went through the established curriculum,

enrolling first in Albert Lavignac!'s solfege class,. for which
the school was famous.. At the same time he studied the piano
10
with Marmontel and entered the harmony class of Emile Durand.
In 1876 Debussy won first prize in solfbge and second prize
in piano at the annual Conservatoire competitions. The

first prize for score-reading in. 1880 enabled him to enter
the competition class of Ernest Guiraud.
Debussy studied organ and improvisation. for a short
time in 1880 under 0sar Franok.. He abhorred Franck' s

"harmonic vagueness due to his mania for modulating," and
later termed him a "modulating machine."13 However, the

influence of Franck's employment and expansion of "cyclical"
form (i.e., the appearance of a defined theme in several
movements, with rhythmic,. melodic, and harmonic transforma-
tions, but with the theme always recognizable as to its
relation to the initial source) may be found in Debussy' s
Fantasie for P4an d orchestra. (1889) and in the String
juaj four years later..
Predilection for harmonic freedom caused Debussy to
appreciate Chopin from the earliest years at the Conserva-
toire.
Long before the Russians, and perhaps in an equal
measure, the Polish master played an important part
in revealing to him the rich possibilities of the
Oriental scales, an. the melodic and harmonic vari-
ety they afforded. 1 4
Debussy admired Grieg for much the same qualities as
1 3 Leon Vallas,, Claude Debussy (1933), p.. 11.
14Ibid. , p. ,62.
11
attracted him to Chopin. Grieg's unorthodox successions of
chords with unresolved sevenths and ninths,, and his alter-
nating of major and minor modes in accompaniments to his
songs particularly impressed Debussy.
Under the careful guidance of Guiraud, Debussy gained
the second Prix, de Rome in 1883 with his cantata Le
Gladiateur,. to the text by Emile Moreau. Paul Vidal won
the first prize,, having "evolved the smoother and more
skilled composition, technically," however, "Debussy was
recognized as having the more personal,. temperamental, and
individual talent." 1 5
Between Le Gladiateur and his cantata for the Prix de
Rome competitions the following year came an interval of
diverse influences which proved invaluable to Debussy' s
development: frequent conferences with his teacher, Ernest
Guiraud, an experienced master of instrumentation; -long
discussions with Gounod every week after the meetings of
the Concordia Society; intense study of the works of Edouard
Lalo, whom Debussy admired throughout his life; thorough
analyses of the works of certain classical and romantic com-
posers recommended to him by his professors; and detailed
study of the instrumentation of Weber's masterpieces.

Debussy was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome in 1884
with his setting of the prescribed cantata L' Enfant prodigue,
1 5 Oscar Thompson, Debussy, an and Artist (1937),

p. 64.
12
from the poem by Edouard Guinand. Among the twenty-two

out of the twenty-eight judges who gave Debussy their
vote, the principal voice was that of Gounod.A 6
Several years later Debussy wrote the following con-
cerning his impressions upon. learning that he had won the
Grand Prix de Rome:
I was on the Pont des Arts. awaiting the result

of the competition and watching with. delight the
scurrying of the little Seine steamers.. I was quite
calm, having forgotten all emotion due to anything
Roman, so seductive was the charm of the gay sunshine
playing on the ripples,, a charm which keeps those
delightful idlers, who are the envy of Europe, hour
after hour on the bridges. Suddenly someone tapped
me on the shoulder and said breathlessly: "You've won
the prize!" Believe me or not,, I can assure you that
all my pleasure vanished I saw in a flash the bore-
dom, the vexations inevitably incident to the slight-
est official recognition. Besides, I felt I was no
longer free. 1 7
With such a pre-conceived attitude, it is understand-
able that Debussy's residence in Rome was a period of dis-
satisfaction to himself. Visits to Liszt, Bolto, Leon-

cavallo, and Verdi partly relieved his boredom, but as to
his task of composing an annual work to show his progress,,
Debussy has written to Smile Baron: "The work I have to
send to Paris is giving me a lot of trouble and causes me
to lead a life compared to which convicts have a leisurely
16 Vallas, Claude Debussy, p. 27.

1 7 Edward Lookspeiser, PDebusy (1936), p. 22.
13
time." 18 Debussy left Rome and returned to Paris before his
three-year tenure at the Villa Medici was completed.
Literary influences.--Concerning the literary influ-
ences on Debussy, Oscar Thompson has written:
More than the Conservatoire, more than of Rome, more

than of Moussorgsk , more than the Gamelang, the
rising composer DebussyJ with whom we now have to
deal was the product, spiritually and aesthetically,
of the literary movement called Symbolism. . . .19
On his return to Paris from Rome (and during the yearaw
1887-1892) Debussy was attracted to the limited circles of
the artists and poets of the impressionist and symbolist
movements. He was among those attending the Tuesday evenings
at Ste'phane Mallarm 4 's literary salon in the back room of the
Literairie de l'Art Independant. These symbolist poets were
never unified to the degree of being considered school.
Among them were adherents of widely varying personal aims
and beliefs.. At MallarmC's salonDebussy met Paul Verlaine
and was brought into contact with such well-known symbolists
as Gustave Kahn, Jules Laforgue,. Jean Mordas, Remy de
Gourmont, and Henri de Regnier..

. poets who assembled there Jat Mallarm 6 ' s
.:..the
salons endeavored to banish from poetic inspiration
subject, development, and composition.. They wanted
to break with the inherited forms, to save the purity
of sentiment in its literary expression, to condense
in it the elusive mobility of life. To achieve this
aim the school did away not only with the rules of
18Ibig., p. 31.
1 9 Thompson,, Debussy, M and Ar t, p. 97.

14
traditional prosody,, but also neglected the require-

ments of syntax and disregarded the habitual usage
of the language itself. They did not seek in their
language the intellectual and objective function. of
words; they sought their sensuous, musical,, and plastic
functions.. Debussy transplanted into music the aes-
thetics of this new poetry. 20
Paul Dukas, who met Debussy in the autumn of 1885, has
written:
Verlaine, Mallarme,, and Laforgue used to provide

us with new sounds and sonorities. They cast a light
on words such as had never been seen before; they used
methods that were unknown to the poets that had pre-
ceded them; they made their verbal material yield
subtle and powerful effects hitherto undreamt of.
Above all,. they conceived their poetry or prose like
musicians,, they tended it with the care of musicians
and, like musicians,, too,, they sought to express their
ideas in corresponding sound values. It was the writers,
not the musicians, who exercised the strongest influence
on Debussy. 2 1
Bayreuth Festivals.--Debussy made two visits. to Bayreuth
to attend the Wagner festivals of 1888 and 1889. He heard
larsifal and Die Meistersinger at the 1888 festival, and
Tristan und Isolde when he returned the following summer.
Debussy told Guiraud that music should "express the other-
wise inexpressible," and that he "did not feel tempted to
imitate what he admired in Wagner. The very; boldness and
bigness of Wagnerian utterance" was
antithetical to Debussy's own reticence and his.

craving for subtlety in the expression of the
20Lang, Musicin Western Civilization, p. 1023.

2 1 Vallas,. Claude Debussy, p. 52.
15
emotions.. Debussy responded to Wagner's sensuousness,

the while he built up a feeling that the French needed
a different order of lyrical clarity.2 2
Exposition niverselle..--In the company of Paul Dukas

and Robert Godet, Debussy visited the Exposition Universelle
of 1889-1890 in Paris. In booths, tents, and in the open
air along the Champs de Mars and the Esplanade des Invalides
of Paris, native Far Eastern musicians performed their music.
Debussy was reportedly fascinated by the Annamite and Javanese
orchestras, and he was particularly attracted by the Gamelang,
an instrumental group which accompanied the undulatory dancing
of the Bedayas. Except for a two-stringed instrument similar
in appearance to the viola, this small orchestra consisted
entirely of percussion instruments clappers,, rattlers, a
variety of bells and gongs, and tuned drums. The Oriental
pentatonic scale was the scale basically used by the Gamelang,
and successions of ninths in long tremolos were played on the
tuned percussion instruments,2 3

Debussy also attended two concerts of Russian music
during the Exposition Universelle at the Trocadero. These
two programs,. under the direction of Rimsky-Korsakoff, in-
cluded Cesar Cui's Marche Solennelle; Borodin's "Polovtsian.
Dances" from Prince Ior, and his symphonic sketch On he
Steppes of Central Asia; Balakiref' s Overture on Russian
2 2 Thompson,, Debussy, Man and Artist,, p. 89.

23Ibid., p. 92.
16
Theme; Moussorgsky' s Night on Bare Mountain; Glazounof' s

tnka zin; works by Glibka and Dargomijsky; and Eimsky-
Korsakof' s Antar mphony and Caprice &sanl.
It is not possible to cite accurate examples of the
influence of the Exposition Universelle,. the Gamelang, and
the Russian concerts on Debussy's works. But it is unques-
tionable that they did much toward hastening the revision of
Debussy' s musical aesthetics and opening new vistas for him in
terms of rhythm,, melody, and harmony.
Russian influences.--Saint-Sagns brought the piano edi-

tion of Moussorgsky's Boris odounoff back to Paris from a
concert tour in Russia in 1874. Being uninterested in the
work, Saint-Sagns passed it on to Jules de Brayer, manager
of the Lamoureaux concerts. Debussy acquired Boris from
de Brayer in 1889, but he is recorded to have taken little
interest in the work (the text being in Russian) until 1893,

the year in which he read the score through completely in
the home of Ernest Chausson at Lusancy.2 4
Moussorgsky's fBoris Godounoff served as a model or
formula in the construction of Pelldas et Mlisande, which
Debussy worked on between 1892 and 1902.. The influence of
Moussorgsky's "Elegy" from the song cycle Sunless (1869):

24 Vallas,, Claude Debussy, p. 60..
17
A ida4t io eo ro 3
r w gal
' ~ ~~ ~ MOM-
341-a 'low
AZ
r
r
Fig, 2--oussorgsky, "Elegy" from the son cycle

Sunless,
is seen in the first measures of "Nuages, " from Debussy's

orchestral Nocturnes (1899):
2
P? se r e .r:3
~~-~~V
.L ._.
P-1 b'z -
@m 1
"
1~e+
dpiw
wo
Fig. 3--Debussy, "Nuages" from the Nocturnes
Moussorsky influenced Debussy' s use of the church

modes and.
extensive harmonic freedom.. Debussy has written concerning
18
the freedom of Moussorgsky' s art: "His art is free from arid
formulas. . *.a . It is like the art of an inquiring savage dis-

covering music step by step through his emotions.«" 2 5
Rimsky-Korsakof exerted a profound influence on Debussy

in terms of orchestration and instrumental contour. One of
the best examples of this influence is shown by comparing the
violin solo in the first bar of the second movement of Rimsky-
Korsakof' s Schehera~ade (1888):
Fig. 4--Rimsky-Korsakof, Scheherazade, violin solo in

the second movement.
with the following quotation of woodwinds in unison (page 17,
mm. 3,4) from Debussy's L'Apr;s-midi faune (1892):
Fig. 5--Debussy, L pres-midi d' faune
25Thompson, Debussy, Man and. Artist, p. 195.

19
The strength of Borodin' s influence on the music of
both Debussy and Ravel is clearly revealed through comparing
the opening measures from the slow movement of Borodin's
String Quartet No. (1884):
1. H;
!-I r L u'
Fig. 6--Borodin, String rI
with the third movement of the Debussy Quartet (p. 27, mm. 5-
10), and the slow movement of the Ravel Quartet (p. 26, mm.
14-18). The references cited from the Debussy and Ravel
Quartets are similar to the above example from Bor&din as
to their dreamy, meditative moods and softness .of texture.
The following quotation from J. G. Prod'Homme is prob-
ably the best summary of the general influences on Debussy
and the original character of his music:
Debussy's music breaks with accepted traditions,

like every new and liberating movement, with classic
tradition,. as goes without saying; then, aa little less,
with romantic tradition, for it bears traces of the
20
influence of Chopin and Liszt, and finally with the

Wagnerian system which it claims to repudiate, although
Pelleas is not wholly free of lgitmotiv. It takes its
authority from the influence of the Russians: Moussorg-
sky, Borodine, and, to a less degree, Balakireff.
Debussy had found in Moussorgsky,. not mode, but a=
formula which evidently was to conform to his tempera-
ment. "All the system of Pelleas existed already in
Boris Godounoff a quarter of a century earlier,"
1. Aarnold has written,, "and with this system a-new
lyricism freed from forms and formulas; this lyricism
expressed through similar sensibility, came to flower
in the work of the later Frenchman in a natural harmony
which is marvellously original,"26
The Influence of Predecessors and Contemporaries

on the Works of Ravel
Roland-Manuel,. Jean-Aubry. Andre Suars, and Emile

Vuillermoz have emphasized in their writings the extent to
which Spanish influence has pervaded Ravel' s music.2 7 Ravel' s
birthplace was the village of Ciboure, in the department of
the Basses-Pyrendes close to the Spanish border and the Basque
Coast. The early "Habanera" for two pianos, later included
in the Rapsodie Esaole for orchestra, the Pavane pour une
infante defunte, "Alborada del Gracioso" from the Miroirs,
the Chanson Espagnole, the opera L'HeureEsainiole, and his
song cycle Don jpichotte flQcine all illustrate the per-
sistence of Spanish influence on Ravel.
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was not less characteristically

French because of his southern descent, since upon this Spanish
2 6 J. G. Prod'Homme, "Debussy," Musical Quarterly, IV

(October, 1918), p. 559.
27Hommage h Maurice Ravel," La Revue Musicale (December,
1938).
21
foundation was constructed his education at the Paris
Conservatoire, supplemented by contact with French music,
art, and literature..
Ravel's father,, an engineer and an amateur musician,
encouraged Maurice to take lessons in piano and harmony. He

began to study the piano at the age of seven with Henri Ghis,
and later he studied harmony under Charles-Rend, who recog-
nized the individual musical qualities of his student.
Following this period of preliminary musical training, Ravel
entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1889, at the age of four-
teen, remaining there for fifteen years. He was first ad-

mitted to Anthiome's preparatory piano class and two years
later graduated into Charles de B4 riot's class. He also

studied harmony under mile Pessard, . and,, from 1897,, counter-
point and fugue under Andrd Gedalge and composition under
Gabriel Faur6. 2 8
The chief factors in the formation of Ravel's creative

personality, aside from the regional stimulus of his native
Ciboure, have been the influences of Debussy and Faur6, to-
gether with Chabrier and Satie, upon Ravel's general com-
positional method. However, at the age of twenty Ravel al-
ready possessed a highly personal and harmonically independent
style.. This assumption is clearly illustrated in the Minuet

Antique (1895) for piano,, followed by the Sites Auriculaires
28 Oscar Thompson,, "Maurice Ravel," The International

Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1939), p.a 1500.
22
(1895-1896) for two pianos, containing the "Habanera" which

was later incorporated into the Rgpdie Espan.tle,. he
Paie pour une Lfante defunte (1889), and J dEau (1901).
While Ravel was a young student at the Paris Conserva-
toire, he made the acquaintance of Erik Satie. Ravel was

affected by Satie's spirit of non-conformity and harmonic
exploration. Gedalge has reported that Ravel was an out-
standing student of counterpoint, but that he showed an incli-
nation for unorthodox harmonic combinations and delighted in
playing the unconventional works of Chabrier and Satie. Ravel

shocked his fellow-students in Pessard's harmony class by
playing Satie's "Sarabandes" and "Gymnopedies" when their
teacher was tardy. 2 9

In 1892 Ravel and Ricardo Vines, one of Ravel' s fellow-
students and life-long friend, visited Emmanuel Chabrier to
play Chabrier's Trois Valses Romantiques (1883) for two pianos.

The following phrase appears at the beginning of this work:
Fig. 7--Chabrier, Try QVags Romantiques
29Madeleine Goss, Bolero: The Life of Maurice Ravel

(1940), p. 42.
23
In Ravel's Valses nobles Q entimentales (1911), written on

the model of Schubert's waltzes, this similar phrase is found
(p. 21, mm. 7,8):
U
1 90 It 11
Fig. 8--.Ravel, Valses nobles et sentimentales
It is quite evident (in comparing the examples quoted above)
that besides the example of Schubert, Ravel also had Chabrier

in mind.
There is also an obvious connection between the hard,
dry staccato in Ravel' "Toccata" in the Tombeau _de pCoupein

(1917):
I t:T
I-j______t______I_
Fig. 9 -Ravel, "Toccata" from the Tombeau

de ouperin.t
and the beginning of Chabrier' s Bouree fantasque (1891):

24
{ nowI 4 4
Fig.. 10--Chabrier, Bour e fantasque
Chabrier's influence is also found in several earlier
works by Ravel. Sernade grotescue, written in 1893 (the
same year that Debussy completed his String Quartet), reveals

a strong resemblance to Chabrier's harmonic style. Ravel
stated that "Chabrier's music had had a definite effect on
the Pavane une Infante defunte and was one of the most
important factors of his early development.'30
It was to Gabriel Faure that Ravel owed the most posi-
tive influence of a permanent nature that he underwent at
the Paris Conservatoire. Faure' s influence was particularly

exerted in his classes, in which were found,, besides Ravel,
such students as Florent Schmitt, Roger Ducasse, Koechlin,
Aubert, and Voillermoz. Without the influence of Faure,

Ravel would have had more difficulty in freeing himself from
being overly influenced by Debussy, not because he con-

sciously followed Debussy' s work, but because both Debussy
30oss, Bolero: _The Life of Maurice Ravel, p. 39.

25
and Ravel were affected by common influences (together with

their revolt against the Wagnerian and Post-Romantic Schools
in preference for a truly French art) and reacted in much
the same way to these similar factors. 31
The influence of Faurg' s works on Ravel is most clearly
revealed in the following isolated,, yet representative,, ex-
ample from Faur' quartet (1897) for piano,, violin, viola,

and cello (p. 4, mm. 2-4):
-... .. cr. ." .f.s
*
J." Im~l
P ,- ,.b,"-.P
Fig. ll-.Faure Quartet for piano, violin, viola and

cello.
Close similarities to this quotation from Faure are found in
the first movement of Ravel's String uartet (i.e., similar

rhythmic and harmonic treatment, melodic contour, and formal
structure).
The composers who had the greatest indirect influence on
Ravel's musical aesthetics were Mozart, Schumann, Schubert,
3 1 Frank Onnen, Maurice Ravel, p. 20,

26
Liszt, Chopin, Weber, Saint-Satns, Borodin, and Rimsky-

Korsakof. But they proved to be less important than the
composers previously discussed.
Throughout his career, Ravel claimed that he was an

artistic descendent of Couperin.- A large portion of Ravel's
works concern the dance and bear out Ravel's affinity with
the past.. From the early Minuet anrique (1895) Ravel has
occupied himself with the pavane,, tamborin, forlane, gigue,
ronde, rigaudon, waltz, tango, habanera, and malaguena. In
addition to the "gracious and touching compliment paid to
his 'ancestor' in Le Tombeau de Co erin," a list of Ravel's

works "would represent a veritable anthology of choreographic
forms. . . 3
The poets Mallarme, Verlaine, and Baudelaire "entranced
Ravel by their deep sensitivity to music." In literature as
well as in music Ravel was
more interested in how things were constructed than in

the finished product. He preferred depth to breadth,,
and small details to large horizons. Poe's Phisphy
of Composition and Poetic Principle attracted Ravel
because of their analytic character.33
The extent to which Ravel was subjected to various in-
fluences and his resulting beliefs concerning music is stated
in the following testimony by Ravel as it was recorded by
David Ewen:
3 2 Eugene Hill,. "Maurice Ravel: 1875-1937," Modern Music,

XV (March-April, 1938), p..141.
33
Goss, Bolero: The Life of Maurice Ravel, p., 46..
27
I am not a "modern composer" in the strictest

sense of the term, because my music far from being
"revolution," is rather "evolution.A Although I have
always been open-minded to new ideas in music (one of
my violin sonatas contains a "Blues" movement) I have
never attempted in it to overthrow the accepted rules
of harmony and composition. On the contrary, j I have
always drawn liberally from the masters for my inspi-
ration (I have never ceased studying Mozart), and my
music, for the most part, is built upon the traditions
of the past and is an outgrowth of it. I am not a
"modern composer" with a flair for writing radical
harmonies and disjointed counterpoint because I have
never been a slave to any one style of composition.
Nor have I ever allied myself with any particular
school of music. I have always felt that a composer
should put on paper what he feels and how he feels it--
irrespective of what the current style of composition
may be.. Great music, I have always felt,, must always
come from the heart. Any music created by technique
and rains alone is not worth the paper it is written
on.3*
Counter Influences of Debussy and Ravel
Debussy' s influence on Ravel is definitely perceptible
in many of Ravel' s works, too numerous and extensive to in-

clude in this short discussion. These influences are not,
however, disturbingly derivitive and do not detract from
Ravel' s individuality or his importance as a composer. One

of the best manifestations of this influence is revealed
through comparing the following statement from the final

movement of Debussy's String qartet (p.. 48, mm. 10-13):
3 4 David
Ewen, "Maurice Ravel," Modern Composers, p. 89.
28
~%LIJAS _ ____ ____
LAW - Am n
Fig. 12--Debussy,, rwa r uartet3 5
with the first movement of Ravel' sString ouartetf ten

years later (p. 6, mm. 9-10):
...
..
-r IT
b=6. b
.. - I
-.
..
:.
..
..
, I I 11
Fig. 13o--Ravel, String Quartet 3 6
35 Claude
Debussy, ier a u pour 2 Violons, Alto et
Violonoelle, Paris, Durand & Oie, Editeurs, 1929.
3 6
Maurice Ravel, 1 e Quatuor pour 2 Violons, Alto et
Violonoelle, Paris, Durand& , Editeurs, 1910.
29
The counter-influences of Ravel on several of Debussy's.
works after 1900 is clearly discernible. Debussy's Lindaraja

(1901), a composition for two pianos, is a habanera which
contains a C-sharp pedal tone surrounded by the novel harmonic
effects (i.e., unresolved seventh chords in similar motion,

parallel movement of fifths and fourths, and the use of the
pentatonic scale) which Ravel had employed in 1895 in the
"Habanera" from the Sites Auriculaires. The same harmonic

idiom of Ravel's "Habanera" ist again displayed throughout
Debussy's "Soiree dans Grenade" from Estampes (1903) for

piano. In 1907 Ravel composed his Rhapsodie Espapnole for
orchestra, into which he inserted the "Habahera," placing
beside that section of the score the date 1895, in order to
claim paternal rights to the early work.
A striking incident of the counter-influence of Ravel's
piano music on that of Debussy is found in "Pagodes" from

Debussy's Etap (1903), p. 7, m. 4:
Svq te"9'' "S. .

.
-L. 4 11n 4
Fi.4-Dbss,"Pagodes,11 from .q yeQs

37Joseph Gerald. Brennan, "Maurice Ravel,," The Catholic
World (May, 1938), P. 199.
30
The above example is quite similar to the following quotation
from the concluding measures of Ravel's Jeux d'Eau, published

in 1902:
4""
a4- mw
sow .-
OU moi AliO"Ma- 4 a.4o
UI
A'
Fig. 15--Ravel, Jeux d'Eau
Ravel was no more of the school of Debussy than Bach
was of the school of Handel, or Schumann of the school of
Mendelssohn. It often happens that a combination of time,
place, and circumstance produces similar trains of thought
in two outstanding composers at approximately the same time.
The history of music is full of these pairs of names; for
example: Palestrina and Lassus, Handel and Bach,, Mozart and

Haydn. So, in the same way, Debussy and Ravel were the two
great representatives in the unfolding of this particular
period of musical thought in France.

CHAPTER III
HARMONIC ANALYSIS AND COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE
DEBUSSY AND RAVEL STRING QUARTETS
Analysis of the Debu String uartet
Harmonic Equipment: Structure and Function
TABLE 1
HARMONIC MATERIAL IN THE DEBUSSY QUARTET
Movement Triads 7th Chords 9th Chords 11th Chords
First 313 414 76 4

Second 129 181 49 .f
Third 71 134 5 6
Fourth 248 329 119 11
Total 761 1058 249 21
*Percentage 37 50 12 1
*Percentage in all tables is calculated within 1 per cent.
Seventh chords.--Approximately one half of the harmonic

equipment in Debussy's Quartet is constructed of seventh
chords (as shown in Table 1). The bulk of the seventh chords,
employed are of three major types: minor-minor seventh1 chords,
major-minor seventh chords, and diminished-minor seventh chords.
m - minor; M - major; dim.. - diminished; Aug. - aug-

mented; Fr. - French Seventh Chord (i.e., C-E-Gb-Bb; the
31
32
TABLE 2
SEVENTH CHORDS
Movement mm Im dim.m YIM dim Fr. mM Aug44
First 111 99 95 31 31 29 15 3
Second 27 60 37 46 6 4 1 ,,
Third 54 28 16 13 15 3 2 3
Fourth 96 67 72 2 111
Total 288 254 220 125 97 38 19 17
Percentage 27 24 21 12 8 4 2 2
These three principal types of seventh chords are found: in
root position more than in the three inversions combined (see
Table 3). ..The uninverted sonority is generally maintained
throughout the composition, inversions being used principally
for passing material and in transitory sections.
The next most common seventh chords are the diminished-
minor seventh and the major-major seventh.. Both chords are

sufficiently common to give them definite value as a part of
the harmonic style of the quartet. These chords occur most

often in root position, but also in the other three inversions,
term French seventh chord is here used in preference to the

designation French augmented sixth chord because the chord
is found predominantly in root position); the first symbol
refers to the triad, the second to the interval of the
seventh.
33
TABLE 3
INVERSIONS OF SEVENTH CHORDS
Minor-Minor Seventh Chords

I 0-0~
Movement Root First Second Third

Position Inversion Inversion Inversion
First 51 14 16 30
Second 7 8 6 6
Third 30 12 1 11
Fourth 8 12
Total 151 47 31 59
Percentage 52 16 11 21
Major-Minor Seventh Chords
First 38 5 38 18
Second 31 2 14 9
Third 18 1 1 8
Fourth _4. 6
Total 132 11 66 41
Diminished-Minor Seventh Chords
First 47 23 20 5
Second 32 5...
Third 11 1 1 3
Fourth 22
Total 113 46 43 21
34
The chord structure C-E-Gb~b, derived from the whole-
tone scale (i.e., C-*D- E-F# wA-A '),is jG#r f ound

most frequently in root position, but it is also used in the
first inversion.. Since the bass note is usually the funda-
mental of the chord,. it appears that Debussy treated it as
a seventh chord (for convenience this chord is termed the
French seventh chord, as in Table 2). In the first movement
(p. 11, mm. 7-8) the chord is seen with the enharmonic
spelling 0-EF
T
W MOW
flow
mo fo- l flfl
duo* 4-
MOW 40010 MOW-~~_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
IL.doom 41W 1 wLow MOW dD D U 5 P

"TLTOWT tow -
Fig. 16--Debussy, StrinR Quartet, p. 1i, mm. 7-8
Triads,-Triads form the chordal structure next in im-
portance to the seventh chords. They consist mainly of the
f our common types (i.e., major,. minor, augmented, and
diminished)
.
35
TABLE 4
TRIADS
Movement Major Minor Augmented Diminished
First 120 137 31 25

Second 80 25 21 3
Third 25 28 11 7
Fourth i '241 10
Total 350 262 104 45
The major triad is the most frequently employed sonority in
the entire quartet. It is usually found in fundamental posi-
tion; the first inversion is next frequent, and it is used
occasionally in the second inversion as a passing chord.
TABLE 5
INVERSIONS OF TRIADS
Major Triads
Movement Root First Second

Position Inversion Inversion
First 70 32 18
Second 77 .. 3
Third 24 1 ..
Fourth 86 21 18
Total 257 54 39
Percentage 74 15 11
36
TABLE 5--continued
Minor Triads

First 79 45 13
Second 25...
Third 23 3 2
Fourth _5.2_10
Total 186 58 18
Percentage 71 22 7
Augmented Triads
First 17 5 9
Second 7 7 7
Third 7 4
Fourth 10 6
Total 56 22 26
Percentage 54 21 25
Diminished Triads
First 12 11 2
Second 2 .1
Third 3 2 2
Fourth _6|| g4
Total 23 13 9
Percentage 49 31 20
The augmented triad is moderately common, occurring
most frequently in fundamental position, but it is also

37
found in both inversions.: The augmented triad has two func-

tions in this quartet: the dominant effect, and as an inde-
pendent entity in parallel treatment (as in the following
example):
"U
*L
*
Fig. l1h.-Debussy, Stin quartet, p. 34, m. 10
The above example contains three augmented triads constructed

on B, A, and G~, respectively. The cycle of harmonic chance
is completed six times (indicated by vertical dotted lines)
within the one-.and-a-half measures.
Ninth chords.--Approximately two-thirds of the ninth
chords in the quartet are the major-minor-inajor type, con-
monly referred to as the dominant ninth chord (i. e., as= the
dominant ninth chord in 0 major: G-.B-D-F-A ).
38
TABLE 5
NINTH CHORDS
Movement MmM* Mmm mMM MMM imm dim.nu mMm
First 50 8 6 4 2 3 3
Second 30 7 2 3 3 2 2
Third 2 2. .. 1 2...
Fourth _8 8 _6 _54 .2,
Total 166 25 16 14 12 9 7
Percentage 67 10 7 6 5 3 2
*The third symbol refers to

the interval the ninth of the of
chord, the first and second symbols referring to the triad
and seventh substructure.
The dominant ninth chord (i.e., major-minor-major) is f found
most consistently in root position and occasionally in second
or third inversions:
TABLE 6
INVERSIONS OF THE DOMINANT NINTH CHORDS

First 32 5 7 6
Second 18 1 10 4
Third 1 .. ..
Fourth 37 4 20 21
Total 88 10 37 31
39
Eleventh chords.--The eleventh chord is not present in
sufficient quantity in the Debussy Quartet to be considered
an important feature of harmonic style. The two principal

types that are found differ only in the seventh-chord sub-
structure, one containing the major-minor seventh chord, the
other based upon the minor-minor seventh chord. The ninth is
major and the eleventh is perfect in both chord-types.
Incomplete nrities.--There is considerable use of
monodic writing in which Debussy uses various combinations
of unison and octave doubling in the parts. All four instru-
ments in unison or in octave doublings are employed in the
closing section of the first movement (p. 15, mm. 4-12). The
solo instrument is used in the quartet to introduce new sec-
tions (as in the following example):
I I I] fi
OOOMN~b
f y '4
-.
qqk r
AT- b% L V IF
IL Iff I IV--
10
IF qw
I*- I in log M L_ I T.3 a, I
k- _U _MW
Fig. 18--Debussy,. tr Quartet, p. 33, mm., 15-19

40
In the above example the passage begins with the 'cello pre-
senting fragments of diminished seventh chords constructed
on B, B3, and A, respectively; and then outlining the complete
diminished seventh chord on B. The identical harmonic scheme

is presented two measures afterward in a 'cello-viola duet,
the last part of the measure containing the B diminished
seventh chord arpeggiated in contrary motion. Two measures
later the complete quartet presents the series of diminished
seventh chords, beginning on the F# diminished seventh chord,
with the chord being arpeggiated in the last part of the
measure.
Incomplete sonorities are also used to "taper" away
from a full-sounding passage. The procedure employed in the
previous example is here reversed, with augmented triads
filtering down to one note (as seen in the following example):
U I
Fig. 19--Debussy,, Strin quartet, p. 35, mm. 1-3

41
Pedal effects.--In the first movement (beginning on
page 10, measure 1) the 'cello sounds an Ab-D pedal figure,
with sparing chromatic alteration of the Ab to A and Bb, and
lasting fifteen measures. A thirty-five measure G- pedal-
point is found in the final movement (beginning on page 42,
measure 11). These two pedals function alternately as har-
monic and non-harmonic material to the upper parts. Most of
the pedal effects in the work, however, are brief and har-
monic in function, occurring under changing harmonies of
which the pedal is usually a chord member. There are also
examples of inner pedal points (viola part on p. 39, mm, 15-

21, and the viola part on p. 42, mm. 11-18), and ostinato
figures as, for example, the following 'cello part found in
the first movement (see following example):
Fig. 20--Debussy, Strin Quartet p. 26, mm. 2-5
Formal Features
First movement.--The first movement of the Debussy Strin
quartet is in modified sonata-allegro form. The exposition

presents two themes with each theme containing a second part.
The generating theme (or first theme part 1) forms the melodic
and rhythmic basis for the thematic material of the first,

42
second., and fourth movements of the quartet. The first theme
part 2 appears only once in the entire movement. A third
theme is introduced in the development section and is devel-
oped together with the generating theme. The recapitulation
is curtailed by the omission of all themes except the first
part of the first theme.
The generating theme is first stated by the first violin
in the opening two measures of the quartet:
I& D I
LOIL44 4- 1 ow
.
IL LAL I I 1 I I IfL I
Fig. 21--Debussy, Strip p. 1, mm. 1-2 (first

quartet,
statement of the generating theme).
The flattened second degree (Ab), recognizing G as being the
tonal center2 of the first section, imparts the flavor of the
Phrygian mode, which is retained throughout much of the first
tonal center is that tone in a theme around which

2 The
other tones seem to gravitate; a major or minor key feeling
is not necessarily inferred.
43
movement and, to alesser degree, in the second and fourth
movements.
The transition leading to a repetition of the first part
of the first theme is simply a rhythmic arpeggiation of the
G minor triad. This repetition of the initial theme is fol-
lowed by descending sequential patterns derived from the
first theme, preparing the way for the entrance of the second
part of the first theme:
eCx v$fr wf d fo"+etnu
Fig. 22--Debussy, String Quartet, p. 1, m. 13; p. 2,

m, 1 (first theme, part 2).
The first theme3 returns (p. 3, m. 2) and is extended by
ascending sequential patterns derived again from the gener-
ating theme.
The second theme part 1 appears with Bb as the tonal
center, again employing the Phrygian mode:
Fig. 23--Debussy, String Quartet, p. 3, m. 15; p. 4,

mm. 1-3 (second theme, part 1).
3
Further reference to the first theme concerns the first
theme part 1,, as the first theme part 2 is not used again.
44
The first part of the second theme is repeated with no altera-&
tions and moves on to the second theme part 2:
e 'avwAg e t + peuu peu
Fig. 24--Debussy, strin. quartet, p. 4, m, 12; p. 5,

M. 1 (second theme, part 2).
Ascending sequential treatment and octave doublings, together
with an increase in volume from piano to fortissimo, are used
in building a climax for the entrance of the development
section of the first movement:
J 1W,
Fig. 25--Debussy, Str quartet, p. 5, mm. 10-11 (state-

ment of the initial theme in the development section).
The first theme is stated by the 'cello with F# the tonal cen-
ter, accompanied by sustained tones in the upper voices. In
the next measure a third theme is presented for the first time
by the first violin:

45
7-T
J., rT
"I lion A bt I 1 0 di
Owl
ILI
I T
e4.4 xpvgerr
Fig. 26-.Debussy, $4n Quartet, p. 5, mm. 12-13

(first statement of the third theme).
This theme is extended with syncopated rhythmic treatment and
then repeated one-half step higher (with Bb the tonal center).
Following further extension of the third theme, culminating
in arpeggiated triplets in all four instruments, the initial
theme is stated with double stopping in all four parts (with
Bb the tonal center) :
(I
i ir i.: n
TI I
tit !' > >'
'.5L _________
11I ___ _____ _____ 7 J

I I 1UP,
r i i'
S
Fig.. 27--Debussy, Strin Quartet, p. 6, mm. 10-1l
The first theme continues in the first violin and undergoes
considerable development. The third theme appears (beginning
on p. 7, m., 11) with G the tonal center and is developed

46
even more extensively than the first theme proper. After
a stormy statement with all instruments sounding arpeggiated
triplets (fortissimo) the generating theme appears in a con-
trastingly quiet section played by the viola above a D-Ab
pedal in the 'cello. The section closes with triplet figures
in all parts, establishing a climax for the beginning of the
recapitulation.
The recapitulation appears in the original mode (begin-
ning on p. 11, m. 9) and is shortened by the exclusion of the

second theme. The first theme receives further development,
and the first movement ends in a brilliant coda with all four
instruments in unison, except for the concluding G minor

chords (with double stopping in all four instruments).
Fig. 28-Debussy, Strin Quartet,. 15, m. 4

47
TABLE 8
TONAL CENTERS IN THE FIRST MOVEMENT

OF THE DEBUSSY STRING QUARTET
Exposition
First Theme Second Theme
Part 1 Part 2 Part 1 Part 2
G Bb Bb c
Development Recapitulation
FG G GQ D,,: Bb
Second movement,--The second movement of the Debussy
Comet (Assez vif et bien rytme; 112) is a scherzo in
ternary form. The principal thematic material in this move-
ment is derived from the generating theme of the first move-

ment. The opening theme of the second movement is introduced
in the low register of the viola after four pizzicati G major
chords:
N _ r 1 r I i I
Jol
Ift
Amoms T 0 - 1- L.A .
e ---
.
Fig. 29--Debussy, Strinp Quartet, 2nd movement, p. 16,

mm. 3-4 (first theme of the second movement).
48
The theme is here again cast in the Phrygian mode, with the
flattened second degree (Ab). The accompanying pizzicati
form contrasting rhythmic background,, as in the following
example:
-p U- +3
I1
P
PP I610
zt
Awl~ I'ON
1 V 'Vww
I
,
Fig. 30--Debussy, String quartet, 2nd movement, p. 16,

mm. 9-0.K.
The middle section (appearing in the first violin begin-
ning on p. 18, m. 16) is constructed by the transformation of
the generating theme by augmentation. The intervals of this
statement of the theme are identical with those of the opening
theme of the second movement :
Auk.
401#Wd ___ 100
a 0 Ll
-
Lie
AIft
I
P etcprerJ~f
Fig. 31--Debussy, Stri

Quartet,. 2nd movement, p. 18,
mm. 16-19 (first transformation of the generating theme).
49
After six measures of transitory material, constructed
largely of arpeggiation of the Eb major chord, the theme quoted

above is repeated identically as it appeared in the previous
example (Figure 31).
Following eight measures of transition,, the theme appears
in the viola in the form in which it was employed at the be-
ginning of the second movement (with the exception of being an
octave higher in the present statement). In this statement

the theme is accompanied by a counter melody in the "Cello,
Fig. 32--Debussy, 3trin Quartet, 2nd movement, p. 20,

mm. 11-12 (restatement of the opening theme).
In its next appearance the theme is stated in an orna-
mented transformation with Gb as the tonal center (see Figure
33), and is presented four measures later at the relative.
dominant (Db).
- -.I am al ii ii II I I -
Fig. 33--Debussy, String Quartet, I,2nd movement,, p. 22,

mm. 1-3 (second transformation of the generating theme).
50
The next transformation of the theme is found with the
following alterations of the generating theme (with the tonal
center F#)
Fig. 34--Debussy, String Quartet, 2nd movement, p. 22,

mm. 13-16 (third transformation of the generating theme).
The theme (in the exact form in which it appears in the above
example,, Figure 34) is repeated after four measures of tran-
sition.
The final section (with the tonal center G throughout
this passage to the end of the movement) employs the genera-
ting theme in extensive pizzicati treatment:
Fig. 35--Debussy, Strip quartet, 2nd movement,. p. 24,

mm. 5-6 (fourth transformation of the generating theme).
TABLE 9
TONAL CENTERS IN THE SECOND MOVEMENT

OF THE DEBUSSY QUARTET
1st Theme 1st Tr.* Return 2nd Tr. 3rd Tr. 4th Tr.
G Eb C IGG
__
*Tr. refers to the various transformations of the theme.
51
Third movement. -This movement (Andantino, doucement
expressif: 80) is not thematically related to the other
movements of the quartet (with the possible exception of
the first violin part of the first consequent phrase; see

Figure 37). The third movement is constructed of three
themes presented in the following order: first theme, second
theme, third theme, second theme, first theme.

The first theme (see Figure 36) is purely lyrical in
character and is widely contrasting to the thematic material
in the other three movements of the quartet.
me' V
41 -AlT
~ I I.
FIg,-36-Deus y, r. r Ire,
oeenp 7
Fig. 5&--Debussy, 5tri.n Qaret

3rd movement, p. 27,
mm. 5-6 (first theme of the third movement).
This theme (in Db) receives a two measure complement and is
immediately repeated in the same form as it originally ap-
peared. The consequent phrase which follows resembles the
generating theme in the first group of three notes of the

52
first measure and in the first and second groups of three
notes of the second measure
c-ve -I
Fig. 37--Debussy,, String quartet, 3rd movement, p. 27,

mm. 11-12 (first consequent theme).
The second theme is derived from the second measure of
the first theme of the third movement (compare the first
measure of Fig. 38 with the second measure of Fig. 36).
Fig. 38--Debussy, String quartet, 3rd movement, p. 28,

mm. 11-14 (second theme).
The second theme is extended in the viola through two subse-
quent phrases, later receiving contrapuntal treatment in the
first and second violins (p.. 29, mm. 4-10).
The third theme is introduced by the viola:
ev wcd e H or e s ____
Fig..39--Debussy, String Quartet, 3rd movement, p. 29,

mm. 11-14 (third theme).
53
This theme is answered by the 'cello (p. 29, m. 18) at the
fifth below (E), the 'cello line continuing (at the close of
the answer) with a restatement of the theme (as it appeared
in Figure 39), doubled an octave higher by the second violin
(p. 30, m.4).

After considerable extension and development of the
third theme, the second theme returns (p. 31, m. 20, with E
the tonal center, as it was originally introduced).

The first theme reappears (p. 32, m..7) in the original
key of Db.
TABLE 10
TONAL CENTERS IN THE THIRD MOVEMENT

1st Theme 2nd Theme 3rd Theme 2nd Theme let Theme
Db E B E B E Db
Fourth movement.--The fourteen measure introduction to
the fourth movement, beginning with the solo line in the 'cello
(see Figure 40), is constructed of materials from the genera-
ting theme of the first movement.
Fig. 40--Debussy, Strin quartet, 4th movement, p. 33,

mm. 1-2.
54
The first theme of the fourth movement (see Figure 41) is

strongly reminiscent of the first theme of the second move-
ment and (as was the first theme of the second movement) is
also derived from the generating theme.
Fig. 41--Debussy, String Quartet, 4th movement, p. 33,

mm. 15-16.
This theme,. as quoted in the above example (Figure 41), is
taken up by the viola (p.. 33, m. 17) and by the first and
second violins (p.34, m.. 2). The first section ends with a
descending sequence of the first theme, the texture contract-
ing to a single tone .(Ab).
The second theme (see Figure 42) is constructed of new

thematic material and has little affinity with the generating
theme.
Fig. 42--Debussy, trying Quartet, 4th movement, p. 35,

mm. 4-5.
The second measure of the second theme is used in the
construction of the third theme:

55
oo I /"
,
...
.
lot
- 1 "* '
.
I
Fig. 43--Debussy, String _Quartet, 4th movement, p. 36,

mm. 1-3.
The generating theme appears in free augmentation:
%Wool
dou, 4 excpre.rr
Fig. 44--Debussy, String quartet, 4th movement, p. 39,

mm. 15-19.
and later in syncopated augmentation:
o .ba I I
%
AM A4l U I U I e
...
I I ' -I
Fig. 45--Debussy, Strin uartet, 4th movement, p. 40,

mm. 10-12.
In the first violin part (see Figure 46) the generating
theme is found in octaves, again treated in free augmentation.
mom
ff aec p:asbov e t+vex sou+etv

Fig. 46--Debussy, String Quartet, 4th movement, p. 42,
mm. 11-15.
56
The second theme of the fourth movement returns (begin-
ning on p. 44, m. 8) and receives considerable development.
The closing section of the final movement begins with
the following statement of the generating theme, stated in
the original key of G and retaining the flavor of the
Phrygian mode (with the flattened second, Ab).
1~ 0
dr.
--. d - II
12
20
p
n n > > >
TT I
sow
Moto' arm, too,
Fig., 47-.-.Debussy, String quartet, 4th movement, p. 46,

mm. 1-2.
The first theme reappears at the beginning of the coda
(p. 49, m. 12) and the movement ends with a swift ascending
scale and a fortissimo G major chord.

57
TABLE 11
TONAL CENTERS IN THE FOURTH MOVEMENT
Intro. 1st Th. 2nd Th. 3rd. Th. Gen.a Th. 2nd Th. Cl. Sec.b
Db Ab G G E G
Generating theme. Closing section.
Analysis of the Ravel String Juartet

Harmonic Equipment: Structure and Function
TABLE 12
HARMONIC MATERIAL IN THE RAVEL QUARTET
Movement riads 7th Chords 9th Chords 11th Chords 13th Chords
First 89 169 109 46

Second 128 96 58 28 2
Third 37 57 34 36
Fourth 123 88 104 227
Total 377 410 305 142 9
Percentage 30 33 25 11 1
Seventh chords.--Approximately one third of the vertical
sonorities in the Ravel Quartet are constructed of seventh
chords (see Table 12). The majority of the seventh chords
employed are comprised of four major types. (see Table 13):

major-major seventh chords,. minor-minor seventh chords, dimin-
ished-minor seventh chords, and major-minor seventh chords.

58
TABLE 13
SEVENTH CHORDS
Movement MM mm dam Mm mM dd Fr. Abm A md. dM
First 53 44 40 24 .. 3 .. . 2 3
Second 44 3 21 22 .. 1 3 1 .. .. 1
Third 2 13 7 32 .. 1 2 .. .. ..
.
Fourth 14 33 19 8 8 ... 4 2
Total 113 93 87 86 8 5 5 5 4 3 1
Percentage 28 23 21 21 2 1 1 1 1 ..
ad i n AI dv
Rdi m" LJ.. A
-U s
4% 'J.WW* .wCV
*
Approximately sixty per cent of these four principal types
of seventh chords appear in root position in the Ravel Quartet,

(compare Table 14 with Table 3 of the Debussy Quartet).
TABLE 14
INVERSIONS OF SEVENTH CHORDS
Major-Major Seventh Chords

First 23 16 2
4
123
Second 33 4
Third 2 .. ....
Fourth 9 3 2 ..
Total 67 23 8 15
59
TABLE 14--continued
Minor-Minor Seventh Chords

First 26 11 2 5
Second 1 1 1
Third 9 .. .. 4
Fourth 22 3 3 5
Total 57 15 6 15
Diminished-Minor Seventh Chords
First 30 5 1 4
Second 12 3 5 1
Third 4 2 1
Fourth 11 5 1 2
Total 53 17 9 8
Major-Minor Seventh Chords
First 12 4 8
Second 18 3 1
Third 26 .. 4 2
Fourth 3 4 1
Total 59 15 12
Percentage 69 18 13
60
Triads.--The chordal structure second in importance
(by a margin of three per cent; see Table 12) to the seventh
chord is the triad. The major and minor triad is frequently
employed in the Ravel uat, the diminished triad is in-
frequent, and the augmented triad is rarely used.
TABLE 15
TRIADS
Movement Major Minor Diminished Augmented
First 46 32 9 2
Second 86 40 .. 2
Third 25 9 3 ..
Fourth 74 34 10 5
Total 231 115 22 9
The major triad is the most frequently used sonority in
the Ravel Quartet (231 major triads),, the minor triad is
second (115 minor triads, as seen in Table 15), and the major-
major seventh chord is third in importance (113 major-major
seventh chords, as shown in Table 14).
Approximately sixty per cent of the triads in the Ravel
quartet are found in root position, with the second inversion

next frequent (see Table 5).
61
TABLE 16
INVERSIONS OF TRIADS
Major Triads

First 40 3 3
Second 61 .. 25
Third 24 1 ..
Fourth 66 5 3
Total 191 9 31
Percentage 83 4 13
Minor Triads
First 25 3 4
Second 25 8 7
Third 7 1 1
Fourth 25 8 1
Total 82 20 13
Percentage 71 17 12
Ninth cham .-- Approximately one half of the ninth chords
in the Ravel quartet are of the following two types: major-

minor-major (dominant ninth chord) and major-minor-minor.
62
TABLE 17
NINTH CHORDS
Movement MmM Mmm mm inM 1M Mm dm, dinM Mdi AMm AMM
First 11 32 16 9 5 12 7 6 4 4 3
Second 15 19 8 3 .. 4 .. 1 2 .. 2
Third 5 5 4 14 2 2 .. .. .. 1 1
Fourth 41 12 6 5 16 2 7 5 6 6 2
Total 72 68 34 31 23 20 14 12 12 11 8
Percentage 24 22 11 10 8 7 5 4 4 3 2
The two principal ninth chords (major-minor-major and
major-minor-minor) appear consistently in root position, as
shown in the following table:
TABLE 18
INVERSIONS OF NINTH CHORDS
Major-Minor-Major Ninth
Movement Root First Second Third Fourth.

Position Inversion Inversion Inversion Inversion
First 8 ,. .. .. 3
Second 13 .. .. 2 ..
Third 4 1 .. ..
.
Fourth 27 7 .. 7
Total 52 1 7 2 10
63
Major-Minor-Minor Ninth Chords
First 18 5 3 5 1
Second 14 .. 1 3 1
Third
Fourth
5"..".
6 3 1
.. ..
.. 2
Total 43 8 5 8 4
Eleventh cam .--The eleventh chord is employed next in
importance to the ninth chord in the Ravel quartet (see Table
12). No single type of eleventh chord, however, is employed

frequently enough to be termed the principal type used in the
quartet.
TABLE 19
ELEVENTH CHORDS
Movement Mm mmmM mMm MMmm Mmmx Mm MMmM dxmmMM0
First 15 9 5 1 6 4 .. 3 4
.
Second .. 7 3 2 5 4 1 3 1 2
Third .. 2 8 3 4 4 9 2 .. 4
Fourth 8 2 3 10 1 2 4 .. 2 1
Total 23 20 19 16 16 14 14 8 7 7
Percentage 17 14 13 11 11 9 9 6 5 5
The eleventh chord is found most frequently in root
position, but it is used occasionally in the first and second
inversions, rarely in the fourth and fifth inversions.

64
Thirteenth chords.--The thirteenth chord is not used in
sufficient quantity in the Ravel QAtet to be considered an
important feature of harmonic style. The principal type of
thirteenth chord is the major-minor-major-minor-major (i.e.,
Whole-tone scale.--In the first movement a whole-tone
pedal is used,. descending from Bb to E (p. 5, mm. 5-19); and
again, in the same treatment, a pedal descending from C to

Eb (p. 13, mm. 3-14). The following example shows the first
theme played by the first violin over two whole-tone chords
(i.e., C-Db-Eb-F, and Gb-Ab-Bb.Cb), the same two chords being
repeated in the second measure:
, 1 r1 I I I
01
Fig. 48--Ravel, 5trin Quartet, p. 10, mm. 12-13 (whole-

tone passage).
65
Formal Features
First movement.- -The first movement of the Ravel quartet

is in strict sonata-allegro form (except for the introduction
of a new theme in the development section). The exposition

consists of two themes, the first of which appears in two parts.
The thematic material presented in the exposition recurs in the
same order in the recapitulation. The coda is constructed with

the material from the first theme and, to a lesser degree, the
second theme.
Part one of the first theme is introduced by the first
violin and comprises the initial four measures of the quartet:
-A-*
Af
Fig.. 49-..Ravel, S n u , 1st movement, p. 1,, mm. 1-4
After six measures of transition constructed of material
derived from the opening theme, part one of the first theme is
66
repeated. The second part of the first theme is again taken

from the initial theme and takes the following shape:
1'? es.r.
Fig. 50--Ravel, Strin Quartet,1st movement,. p. 2,

Ipp 7-9.
The first four notes (A-G-A-E) are the same as the first four
notes of the opening theme. Although barred in three measures

of 4/4, the first theme, part two,, takes the form of two meas-
ures of 3/2 (as ind iated by the vertical dotted lines in
Figure 50).
In the ensuing section, part one of the first theme is

treated in fragmentary form, usually with only the first
measure being stated (as pg 2, m., 14) or with the statement

of the first two measures (as p. 3,, mm. 3-4).
The second theme is rhythmically contrasting to the
first theme in its use of the triplet figure (see Figure 51).
However, the second measure of the second theme employ s the
same rhythmic- figure as that of the initial theme.

67
to"*
4
~Ii~l~ 0- am- sa
I
ii vziz
-
I
r3 P
"^ .e.r....
t
-
~Q.Qp
I Iz
W--V
3
Li 17L;J
PP i3
L1
III 1111
'
-t-
I.ll
Fig. 51--Ravel, String Quartet, 1st movement, p. 4,

mm. 9-11.
The second theme is later taken up by the second violin with
the following counter-melody in the first violin
L -Alt
y:*covae :
Fig. 52--Ravel, Str , 1st movement, p. 4,

mm. 17-18.
The development section is introduced by material derived
from the third measure of the second subject (compare m. 1
of Figure 51 with the first two measures of the development

section, p. 5, mm. 5-6). The statement of the first part of
68
the first subject is deferred until the fourth measure of the
development section, introduced in the second violin:
eNdekov deIda
'
doom
-
so
Fig. 53.--Ravel, Strin ar , 1st movement, p. 5,

mm. 8-9.
A third theme, appearing for the first time in the

development section, is stated by the viola:
7p
pp ,a oooow
Fig. 54-Ravel, S r '4uQart t, 1st movement,p.,

mm. 2-8.
The third theme i heard for the second and final time (p. 6,
mm. 9-14) a the interval of the minor third above (Eb) in
the first violin,, doubled two octaves lower b the ' cello.
Only fragmentsof the second theme are heard inthe
development section (as p. 7, ,a1t-et1).The first theme,

part one, is again heard (beginning on p. 8, m. 2) and is
69
used in building the climax of the first movement. The

climax is achieved by ascending melodic lines (in tremolos,
accelerando poco a poco) and rising intensity levels from
piano to fortississimo (fff).
The recapitulation (beginning on p. 9, m. 1) employs

the same thematic material as the exposition in identical
sequence (first theme part one, first theme part two, frag-
mentary return of first theme part one, third theme). The
same number of measures is devoted to each theme, and each
theme is stated in the same key as it appeared in the exposi-

tion, with the exception of the fragmentary return of part
one of the first theme (in A in the exposition; in C in the
recapitulation).
In the coda the initial theme begins one half step
higher (A#) than it appeared at the beginning of the move-
ment.
Fig. 55--Ravel, rin; art t, 1st movement,. p. 13,

mm. 6-9.
Fragments of the second theme are heard in the coda and the
movement ends in the original key of F.

70
TABLE 20
TONAL CENTERS IN THE FIRST MOVEMENT
OF THE RAVEL QIJARTET
Expos ition
First Theme Return Second Theme
Part Part 2
F A A D
Development Recapitulation
D F# F A C D F
Second movement,-_-The second movement is a scherzo con-
sisting of three basic themes, the third theme forming a

broadly contrasting middle section. The 6/8 and 3/4 begin-
nine results in cross accents (as seen in Figure 56).
The scherzo has a pizzicato opening with the first theme

appearing in the first violin:
71
pt".
7wSo
PfvJ,
,
"IV
Fig. 56--Ravel,, Strin Qartet, 2nd movement, p. 14,

mm. 1-2.
The second theme is stated (with the tonal center 0#)

following only twelve measures of the first theme (see Fig-
ure 57). The second theme is then repeated in the viola

(p. 14, m. 17 through p. 15, m. 3) at two octaves below the
first statement.
ww%'or o CAM 4om

.. TI T
" r
I 'UJ
w
I PP i~hcl~
Fig. 57-.Ravel, Str uartet, 2nd movement, p.. 14,

mm. 13-16.
The first theme is restated (p. 16, mm. 4-16),, retaining
the same length and tonal center (A) in which it first appeared.
At the close of this restatement of the first theme, the second
72
theme recurs,,maintaining the original form (i.e., stated in
the first violin, p.. 16, mm. 16-18, and repeated two octaves
lower in the viola, p. 17, mm. 2-4). In this statement, howe
ever, the tonal center is lowered one half step (from the C#
in the first statement to C in the second).
The middle section of the movement is cast in 3/4 and
is to be played very slowly (Lent: 46). The third theme,

appearing at the beginning of the middle section (see Fig-
ure 58) is found in the 'cello.
+'es QxprErI*
Fig. 58--Ravel, Strin utet, 2nd movement, p. 18,

mm. 20-24.
The 'cello part (Figure 58) is higher than the second violin
and viola accompaniment (the viola being above the second

violin). The third theme is then taken up by the viola (begin-
ning on p. 19, m. 2).
The next section of the movement employs fragmentary
treatment of the second theme (p. 19, mm. 11-18, and p. 20,
mm. 1-3) and the first theme (p. 20, mm. 4-8).
In the closing part of the middle section the third
theme reappears in the first violin with the first theme

in the second violin:
73
W L
re
Fig. 59--Ravel, String Quartet,, 2nd, movement, p. 21,

mm. 1-2.
The recapitulation (beginning on p. 23, m. 7) presents
the first theme and the second theme in their original forms
(retaining the initial tonal centers of the two themes, A
and #, respectively). The second theme is extended into

the codetta (p. 25, mm..15-21), which also employs material
from the first theme, and the scherzo ends in G (the original
key of the movement).

74
TABLE 21
TONAL CENTERS IN THE SECOND MOVEMENT
OF THE RAVEL QUARTET
l t Th.. 2nd Ph. 1st Th. 2nd Th. 3rd Th.j let Th. 2nd Th
A _ _A [ I) F A
Third movement.--The third movement is rhapsodic in char-
acter, with six quotations of the first two measures from the
first theme in the first movement. Three new themes appear
in this movement (in the order: first theme, second theme,
first theme, third theme, first theme); however, most of the
melodic material is derived from the first theme of the first

movement.
The first theme appears (tree lent: 44) following an

introduction melodically constructed from the first three
notes of the first theme of the first movement (see the viola
part,, p. 26, mm. 1-2). The first theme is presented in the
viola with a counter-melody in the second violin:
to ' I-
vIlI a I _____
_____ n III
A-id
14WP w
+vQS epvQssr+-
Fig. 60--Ravel, Strinp quartet, 3rd movement, p. 26,

mm. 14-17.
75
The first theme is followed by a statement of the first two

measures of the first theme in the first movement.
Following a five-measure transition and another two-
measure quotation of the first theme of the first movement

(p. 27, mm. 6-7), the second theme is again found in the
viola, with a counter-melody once more in the second violin:
Fig. 61--Ravel,,,trin Q,uartet, 3rd movement, p. 27,

mm.. 9-12.
The first theme returns (p. 28, mm. 2-5) and is immedi-
ately followed by another statement of the opening two meas-
ures of the first theme from the first movement (p. 28, mm.
6-7). The ensuing section (p. 28, mm. 9-20,: and p. 29, mm.
1-5) is constructed of the materials from the introduction to
the third movement. The third theme is introduced in the
second violin:
0 4 - I bf Ow-
%MWOOO' 4460
%,.,,r
Fig. 62--Ravel, trip Qfuartet, 3rd movement,} p. 29,

mm. 6-8.
76
The answer to the third theme is found in the first violin
(p. 30, mm.. 1-3) at the fifth above (G). The third theme
receives considerable extension and development (p. 30,
mm. 4-5, and p. 31, mm. 1-6), and the two-measure quotation
of the initial theme from the first movement recurs (p. 31,
mm. 7-8).
After six measures of transition, the second theme
returns (in Gb, as it originally appeared), again in the
viola. Finally the first theme (appearing on p. 33, m. 2)
is stated in the viola (with the tonal center Eb), and the
movement ends with the recurrence of the first two measures

of the first theme of the first movement (with the tonal
center Gb).
TABLE 22
TONAL CENTERS IN THE THIRD MOVEMENT
Intro. 1st Th.. 2nd Th. 1st Th.. 3rd. Th.. lst Th.. End
A Gb Ab Eb A Eb Gb
Fourth movement.--The first theme of the fourth move-
ment (Vif et agite: 84) begins with all four parts in

unison, the three upper parts in the same register and the
'cello an octave lower:

77
Fig. 63--Ravel, Strin quartet, 4th movement, p. 34,

mm. 1-2.
The second theme (cast in 5/4) takes the following shape:
Fig. 64..-Ravel, Stro quartet, 4th movement,. p. 36,

mm. 2-3.
This theme is repeated an octave lower by the 'cello in the
next measure. After six measures of transition, constructed

of the material from the first three notes of the second theme
(see Figure 64), the second theme is presented in the follow-
ing form:
Fig. 65--Ravel, string quartet, 4th movement,, p. 36,

mm. 12-14.
The second theme of the first movement is used in the
construction of the third theme of the fourth movement

78
(compare Figure 66 with Figure 51, the second theme of the
first movement):
Fig. 66--Ravel, Strin quartet, 4th movement, p. 37,

mm. 18-21.
The first theme returns in the second violin (beginning
on p.. 38, m. 11), taken up by the first violin (p. 38, m. 15)
and treated in descending sequence.
The second theme reappears in the viola (beginning on
p. 39, m. 15) and is developed extensively in the ensuing
section.
A restatement of the first theme (beginning on p. 41,
m..16) employs the tonal center of and is again seen in
descending sequential figures.
The third theme is altered rhythmically in the next
statement (compare Figure 67 with Figure 66, the first state-
ment of the third theme).
fa wcbve
r "Si
Fig. 67--Ravel, Strin ua 4th movement, p. 42,

mm. 11-13.
79
In the above example (Figure 67) the leap of the fifth is

used instead of the leap of the fourth in the initial state-
ment (Figure 66), and the half note in the first statement of
the third theme becomes a quarter note in the above statement.
The second theme is then found in the first violin (be-

ginning on p.. 43, m. 11) with A the tonal center.
After considerable extension of the second theme, the
first theme is sounded at the beginning of the closing section
(p. 45, m. 10).

The coda (beginning on p. 47, m. 1) employs the first,
second, and fourth tones of the first theme of the first move"
ment with the first theme of the fourth movement in the 'cello.
The quartet ends with an ascending series of major triads on
a root progression of minor thirds:
41r1
Fig. 68--Ravel, fStriQuartet, 4th movement, p. 47,

mm. 16-18.
80
TABLE 23
TONAL CENTERS IN THE FOURTH MOVEMENT
1st Th. 2nd Th. 3rd Th. 1st Th. 2nd Th.
A A FFF#
1st Th. 3rd Th. 2nd Th. 1st Th. End
G A A F F
Summary and Comparison of the Debussy

and Ravel Quartets
TABLE 24
COMPARATIVE INTERPRETATION AND TEMPO INDICATIONS
Debussy String Quartet Ravel String Quaet

First Movement First Movement
Ar.imeet tr s dtcidt . . . . . . Allegro modk.--Tr'es doux
(d= 63) 4/4; 200 mm. . . . . . . (4 = 120) 4/4; 213 mm.
Second Movement Second Movement
Assez vif et bien rytm . . . . . Assez vif--Tres rythm6
(J.=112) 6/8 (15/8); 182 mm. . . (Y.-92) 6/8 3/4 (4/4) 198 mm.
Third Movement Third Movement
A dantino, doucement expressif . Tres lent
(J= 80) 6/8 (3/8) ; 123 mm.:. . ... (4=44) 4/4 (3/4 5/4) ; 119 mm.
Fourth Movement Fourth Movement
En animant peu a peu ... . . . Viffet a ite
.
(J=108) 12/8 (2/2); 395 mm. . . (44.=.84) 5/8 (5/4 3/4);
a282
mm.
81
The above table illustrates the following comparisons
between the two quartets: similar interpretative markings in
the second and fourth movements; similar tempi indications
in all four movements; metric indications (i.e.,. time signa-
tures) in the first and second movements; approximate agree-
ment in length (number of measures) of all four movements.
The seventh chord, including all types, is the most fre-
quently employed sonority in both quartets, but it is used
to a greater extent in the Debussy quartet (compare Table 1
with Table 12). Among the seventh chords found in the two
quartets, the following comprise those most frequently em-
ployed (listed in the order of frequency): in the Debussy
Quartet,, the minor-minor seventh chord, major-minor seventh
chord, diminished-minor seventh chord (see Table 2); and in
the Ravel, the major-major seventh chord, minor-minor seventh
chord, diminished-minor seventh chord,. and the major-minor
seventh chord (see Table 13).

Triads in all their forms, appear less frequently than
seventh chords; however, the major triad is found more fre-
quently than any other type of sonority in the two quartets
(see Table 4 and Table 15).. The augmented and diminished
triads are found in greater quantity in the Debussy Quartet

than in the quartet by Ravel (compare Table 4 to Table 15),
while the ninth chord is used twice as often in the Ravel
work as in the Debussy quartet.

82
The chord of the eleventh is an important feature of
harmonic style in the Ravel quartet, comprising eleven per
cent of the harmonic material (see Table 12). In Debussy' s

uartet the eleventh chord is comparatively insignificant,
comprising only one per cent of the harmonic material (see
Table 1).
TABLE 25
COMPARATIVE TONAL CENTERS AND FORMAL ASPECTS
Debussy quartet Ravel quartet
First Movement
Exposition Exposition
1st Th. 2nd Th. 1st Th. Ret.a 2nd Th.
Pt* b 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 1 Pt. 2
G G Bb Bb C F A A D
Development Development
F Bb G G Bb D F
Recapitulation Recapitulation
G D B G F A C D F
':t .- return o the f ir t theme. LP*. - part.

83
TABLE 25O-Continued
Second Movement
let Th. lt Tr.C Return lt Th. 2nd. h. lt Th.
G Eb C G A j ( A
2nd Tr. 3rd. Pr. 4th Tr. 2nd Th. 3rd Ph. lt Th. 2nd. Th.
Gb FGC D F A C#
Third Movement
lit Th. 2nd Th. 3rd Th. Intro. let Th. 2nd Th. 1st Th.
Db E B E B A Gb Ab Eb
2nd Th. let Th. 3rd Th. let Th. End
EB A Eb.b
Fourth Movement
Intro. 1st Th. 2nd Th. 1st Th. 2nd. Ph. 3rd. Th.
Dbj Ab A A F
3rd. Th. Gen. Th. 1st Th. 2nd Th. 1st Th.
G E F# F#G#
2nd Th. Cl. Ph. 3rd Th.. 2nd Th. 1st Ph.
+ A A F
Tr. - transformation.
84
The intervals of the third and the second are used more
frequently than the interval of the fifth in the tonal re-
lationships of both quartets (see Table 25). The first move-

ment of each quartet is in sonata-allegro form: the Debussy
Quartet is considered to be modified sonata-allegro in that
the second theme of the exposition is omitted in the develop-
ment section and the recapitulation; the Ravel lartet is in

strict sonata-allegro form, except for the introduction of a
third theme in the development section.
The third movements of the two quartets differ in every
respect.., The third movement of the Debussy work is themati-
cally and structurally contrasting to the other movements,
cast in Db, the most distant key relationship (i.e., the

diminished fifth) from the tonal center 0 of the first and
last movements. The third movement of the Ravel work is
rhapsodic in character and employs frequent quotations from
the opening theme of the first movement.

Little analogy is found between the thematic material of
Debussy' s Quartet and that of Ravel. However, the influence

of Debussy is clearly seen through comparing the passage from
the final movement (p. 48, mm. 10-13; see Figure 12) of the
Debussy Quartet to the third theme in the first movement of

the Ravel Quartet (p. 6, mm. 9-10; see Figure 13). Both
melodic lines, appearing in the first violin and 'cello in
each work, have the same contour,, and the accompanying inner
85
parts (the second violin and viola) are treated similarly
in tremolos.
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSIONS
The seventh chord, in its various types, is the princi-
pal sonority in the quartets by Debussy and Ravel. The

triad is next in order of relative frequency to the seventh
chord, the major triad being the most frequently employed
sonority in both works. The ninth chord is used more exten-
sively in the Ravel Quartet than in the quartet by Debussy.
The eleventh chord is an important feature of harmonic style
in the work by Ravel but rarely appears in Debussy's work.
Ravel' s harmonic materials are more complex than those of

Debussy with more frequent use of ninth and eleventh chords.
The thirteenth chord in Ravel's Quartet is found to be em-
ployed as frequently as the eleventh chord in the quartet
by Debussy.
The interval of the second and the interval of the
third are used more frequently than the interval of the
fifth in tonal center relationships in both quartets, re-
sulting in greater harmonic freedom,

Debussy employs the principle of the generating theme,
with the resulting formal treatment an outgrowth of the
1 All of the sonorities which comprise the harmonic

equipment in the two quartets are found predominantly in
root position.
86
87
generating theme. The various transformations of the genera-

ting theme appear in the first, second, and fourth movements
(a modification of cyclic form), whereas, cyclical treatment
in Ravel's work takes the form of reminiscences of the ini-
tial theme without transformation. Ravel's thematic treat-

ment is along classical lines, the thematic materials being
constructed in compliance with formal patterns.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Ewen,. David, "Maurice Ravel," Modern Compgers, New York,
A. A. Knopf, 1942.
Goss, Madeleine, Bolero: The Life of Maurice Ravel, New York,

H.,Holt and dEJ1940.
Lang, Paul Henry, Music in Western Civilization, New York,
W. Norton andTo., 1941.
Lockspeiser, Edward, Debussy, New York, E. P. Dutton and Co.,

1936.
Miller, Hugh Milton, An Outline History , New York,
Barnes and Noble, l947T
Onnen, Frank, Maurice Ravel, London, Novello and Co., 1941.
Thompson, Oscar, .aDebussy,.Man and Artist, New York, Dodd,

Mead and Co.,.1937.
Vallas Leon, Claude Debussy, translated by Maire and Grace
OBrien, London, Oxford University Press, 1933.
Articles
Apel, Willi,. "Impressionism," Harvard Dictionary of Music,

Cambridge,, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press,
1947.
Brennan, Joseph Gerald, "Maurice Ravel," The Catholic World
(May, 1938).
Hill, Eugene, "Maurice Ravel: 1875-1937," Modern Music,
Vol. XV (March-April,, 1938).
Konody, P. G..,, "Impressionism," Encycilopedia Britannica,

14th ed., Vol. XII.
Longman, L. D., "Impressionlism," Encyclopedia or the Arta;
New York,, Philosophical Library, 1946.
88
$9
Prod'Homme, J. G.,, "Debussy," Musical quarterly, Vol. IV

(October, 1918)..
La RevueMusicale (December, 1938). Article, "Hommage a

Maurice Ravel."
Thompson,. Oscar, "Maurice Ravel," The International Encyclo-

pedia off Music and Musicians,, New York, Dodd,, Mead and
E.1939.
Scores
Borodin, Alexander, String uartet o.1 , Leipzig/Wein,

Ernst Eulenberg tn, d.).
Debussy, Claude, L'Apresmidi u aune, New York,, E. F.
Kalmus, 1932.
"Nuages, Nocturnes, Scarsdale, New York,, E. F. Kalmus,

(n.d.).
ler uatuor, Paris,- Durand and Cie, Editeurs, 1929.
Trois Chansons BerLIt, Paris, Jean Jobert (n.d.).
Faure, Gabriel, Quartet, New York,. International Music Co.,

1945.
Moussorgsky, Modeste, "Elegy," unl ,, English translation
by A. Eaglefield-Hull, London, Augener,, Ltd.,, (n..d.)
Ravel,, Maurice, jr Quaor, Paris,, Durand and Cie, Editeurs,

1910..
Le Tombeau de Couperin, Paris, Durand and 0 i, Editeurs,

1918.
Rimsky-Korsakof, Nikolas, Scheherazade, Leipzig/Wein,
Ernst Eulenberg (n.d..

A Comparative Study of Harmonic Features in String Quartets by Debussy and Ravel

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3-19

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE HARMONIC EQUIPMENT

AND FORMAL FEATURES IN THE STRING QUARTETS

BY CLAUDE DEBUSSY AND MAURICE RAVEL

Presented to the Graduate Council of the

North Texas State Collese in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

Fort Worth, Texas

III. HARMONIC ANALYSIS AND COMPARATIVE STUDY

Harmonic equipment: structure and

Analysis of the Ravel String Quartet

Harmonic equipment: structure and

Summary and Comparison of the Debussy

BIBLIOGRAPHY .,.$ ... ... ... 88

5. Inversions of Triads . . . . . . ...... . .. 35

12. Harmonic Material in Ravel Quartet . . . . ... 57

16. Inversions of Triads . . . . . . . . . . 61

17. Ninth Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

18. Inversions of Ninth Chords . . . . . . * .... 62

9. Ravel, "Toccata" from the Tombeau de

11. Faur, quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola

12. Debus y, Strin uare~t .. . . .. 28

14. Debussy, "Pagodas" from Estampes . . 29

15. Ravel, Jeux d'Eau . . . . . . . . . . 30

16. Debussy, Strin Quartet,. p. II, mm. 7-8 34

20. Debussy, Strin Quartet, p. 26, mm. 2-5 41

31. Debussy, p. 18, mm. 16-19 48

34. Debussy,, p. 22, mm. 13-16 50

54, Ravel, Stri uart p. 6,. mm. 2-m8 . . 68

59. Ravel, Stin Qurt p. 21, mm. 1-2 . . 73

60. Ravel, Strin5 Ppartet.

61. Ravel, Strom Qartet,. p. 27, mm. 9-12 .. . 75

62. Ravel, String juart, p. 29, mm. 6-8 , . ., 75

63. Ravel,. St Quartet,,p.. 34, mm. 1-2 . . . 77

64. Ravel, String Quartet, p. 36, mm. 2-3 ... . . 77

65. Ravel, Str nQuartet, 36, mm. 12-14 . . 77

66. Ravel, $tr 4ngQuartet, ps 37, mm. 18-21 . . 78

67. Ravel, Strn uartt, P_ 42 mm. 11-13 . . 78

68. Ravel, String Quartet,. p.. 47, mm. 16-18 . . 79

INTRODUCTION: OBJECTIVES AND PROCEDURE

The single flg Quartet by Claude Debussy (1892-3)

and the one t Quartet by Maurice Ravel (1902-4) did

much toward shaping their composer's mature musical person-

alities and prepared the way for their acceptance as French

composers of the first order. Debussy's uartet marked the

designated the onset of his mature second period, and the

composition stands among his most distinctive works.

This thesis proposes to determine the construction of

the two quartets and to reveal through the study of the

quartets the similarities and contrasts of the creative

musical characteristics of Debussy and Ravel.

Biographical data concerning both composers are

excluded except in instances of direct relation to the

music being discussed. In the same manner critical im-

pressions and opinions of the works of each composer by

various writers are not contained in this study except in

cases of particular importance.

which Debussy and Ravel were subjected. Whenever possible

and necessary for the clarification of adiscussion con-

cerning influences,, examples and references are cited in

both the works of the composers being studied and the

sources of the influences.