Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prélude ā
"L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune"
Matthew Brown
Seventy-five years after his death, Debussy is often re-
membered as "the quiet revolutionary," who breathed new
life into musical art. 1 He is credited with challenging the
authority of nineteenth-century tonal and formal practice,
and with pushing music gently into the twentieth century. To
quote Pierre Boulez:
Just as modern poetry surely took root in certain of Baudelaire's
poems, so one is justified in saying that modern music was awakened
by L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune. 2
For his part, Debussy did much to promote this radical image
of his music; throughout his letters and journal articles, he
launched a bitter campaign against the musical establishment
and conventional compositional practice. Most of these criti-
cisms are general in nature, and ridicule what Debussy saw
'See chapter 1 of Arthur Wenk's book Claude Debussy and Twentieth-
Century Music (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1983), 1-19; and Pierre Boulez,
Relevēs d'apprenti, ed. Paul Thēvenin (Paris: Seuil, 1966), 336. I would like
to thank various people for helpful suggestions, especially Jennifer Williams
Brown, David Grayson, Marie Rolf, Arnold Whittall, and the two anonymous
readers for this journal.
2 Pierre Boulez, Notes to CBS Record 32 11 0056, quoted in Glenn Wat-
kins, Soundings (New York: Schirmer, 1988), 75.
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as a "silly obsession with overprecise `forms' and `tonality.' "3
Sometimes, however, they address concrete musical issues.
For example, Debussy denounced accepted notions of chord
function; in a letter to Pierre Louys (22 January 1895), he
announced that "tonic and dominant had become empty
shadows of use only to stupid children. " 4 Similarly, Debussy
rejected the traditional distinctions between consonance and
dissonance. With typical panache he insisted:
Nothing is more mysterious than a consonant chord! Despite all
theories, both old and new, we are still not sure, first, why it is
consonant, and second, why the other chords have to bear the stigma
of being dissonant. 5
'See Debussy, "Music in the Open Air," La Revue blanche, 1 June 1901,
in Francois Lesure, ed. Claude Debussy: Monsieur Croche et autres ēcrits
(Paris: Gallimard, 1971), 45; Francois Lesure and Richard Langham Smith,
eds. and trans., Debussy on Music (New York: Knopf, 1977), 41.
4 Franeois Lesure, ed., Claude Debussy: Lettres 1884-1918 (Paris: Her-
mann, 1980), 70-73; Francois Lesure and Roger Nichols, eds. and trans.,
Debussy Letters (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987), 76-77.
'Debussy, "A propos de `Muguette'. —Au Concert Lamoureux," Gil blas,
23 March 1903, in Lesure, ed., Monsieur Croche, 129-30; Lesure and Smith,
Debussy on Music, 155. I have changed the translations of the words parfait
and imparfait.
 128 Music Theory Spectrum
He likewise scoffed at those who prohibited the use of parallel
chords and proposed that tonality should be fully chromatic
and "enriched by other scales." 6
Just as Debussy debunked many basic tenets of common-
practice tonality, so he also questioned conventional ap-
proaches to musical form, especially those found in sym-
phonic repertories. In an essay for La Revue blanche (6
March 1901), he dismissed a recent orchestral work by Wit-
kowski, claiming that it provided "only further proof of the
uselessness of the symphony since Beethoven. " 7 He added:
Must we conclude that despite so many attempts at transformation,
the symphony—in all its elegance and formal order ... —is a thing
of the past? Has not its worn out gilt merely been replaced by a
plating of shining copper, the shoddy finish of present-day orches-
tration? 8
Some ten years later, the barbs were no less pointed. Writing
for SIM (1 November 1913), Debussy censured his colleagues
for imitating the stale symphonic forms of Franz Liszt and
Richard Strauss:
6 In Debussy's conversations with his teacher Guiraud, he questioned the
rules prohibiting parallel sonorities, claiming that "there is no theory. You
have merely to listen. Pleasure is the law." In the same conversations Debussy
also declared: "Music is neither major nor minor. Minor thirds and major
thirds should be combined, modulation thus becoming more flexible. The
mode is that which one happens to choose at the moment. It is not constant."
These conversations are translated in William Austin, ed., Debussy: Prelude
to "The Afternoon of a Faun," Norton Critical Scores (New York: Norton,
1970), 128-31. For a facsimile of Maurice Emanuel's original transcription,
see Leon Vallas, Claude Debussy: His Life and Works, trans. Maire and
Grace O'Brien (London: Oxford University Press, 1933), 84.
'Debussy, La Revue blanche, 1 April 1901, in Lesure, Monsieur Croche,
25; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music, 15.
8 Lesure, Monsieur Croche, 26; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music, 16.
Is it not our duty ... to try and find the symphonic formulae best
suited to the audacious discoveries of our modern times, so com-
mitted as they are to progress? The century of aeroplanes has a right
to a music of its own! 9
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Besides disdaining textbook formal stereotypes, so Debussy
also praised composers, such as Mussorgsky, whose works
"are impossible to relate to (the) accepted forms—the `of-
ficial' ones . "10
Intentions are one thing, but actualities are often quite
another matter. While Debussy's radical goals are hard to
deny, we may still wonder whether he succeeded in freeing
himself from common-practice tonality and nineteenth-
century formal conventions. Did Debussy really create sym-
phonic forms fit for "the century of aeroplanes"?
Obviously, any answer to this question depends on the way
in which we decide to explain tonality and on the kinds of
analytical priorities we make in assigning formal functions.
Although there are many possible theories of tonality, this
paper will use Schenkerian theory. This decision, however,
requires some explanation. In particular, it contradicts the
prevailing view that Debussy's music cannot be analyzed by
strict Schenkerian paradigms. Surely, Schenker would have
disapproved; he made no secret of his dislike for Debussy's
music. In the preface to his edition of Beethoven's Piano
Sonata in A Major, Op. 101, he complained that the se-
quences of sounds found in impressionist pieces are valuable
as "an acoustic phenomenon, but certainly not as art. " 11 Else-
9 Lesure, Monsieur Croche, 241; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music,
297.
10Lesure, Monsieur Croche, 29; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music, 21.
11"Von einer gewissen `Linie' sprechen heute gern auch die Verfertiger
sogenannter impressionistischer Stiicke. Wo aber, wie in diesen, die Wirkung
erst auf ein Tongerausch hinauslauft (das wie jedes Gerausch nur als akustis-
che Erscheinung, aber noch nicht als Kunst gilt), dort sagt die `Linie' des
Tongerausches gewiss nicht mehr die Linien als die steigend, fallend ja auch
in anderen Gerauschen (z.B. in Donner, Tischriicken, Wagenrollen usw.) Bich
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 129
where, he also condemned Debussy for pandering to the "me-
diocrity of French taste . "12
For the most part, Schenker's followers have accepted the
limitations of their methods for explaining Debussy's music. 13
Some, such as Felix Salzer, have seen these limitations as
grounds for modifying Schenker's original model and, in so
doing, expanding the notion of tonality in music. For ex-
ample, Salzer claims that, instead of being derived from a
Schenkerian Ursatz, Debussy's piano Prelude "Bruyēres" is
generated from a background progression built from a chain
of parallel fifths 14-1 in At . 14 Others, such as Adele Katz,
acknowledge that only a few of Debussy's pieces follow strict
Schenkerian paradigms, and that many of them require some
new type of explanation. 15 Most recently, Richard Parks has
claimed that, with some exceptions, only Debussy's early
scores (up to ca. 1889) conform in any consistent way. 16 As
he puts it:
bemerkbar machen konnen." See Schenker's Erliiuterungsausgabe der Sonate
Op. 101, Ludwig van Beethoven (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1921), 23. Cited
by David Paul Goldman, "Esotericism as a Determinant of Debussy's Har-
monic Language," The Musical Quarterly 75 (1991): 146, fn. 20.
12 "Und gar ein Debussy, der wire demnach nicht einmal noch ein Talent,
ein Musiker i berhaupt zu nennen, mag er auch dem Mittelmass in Frankreich
geniigen and dort aus Gri nden kunstpolitischer Natur—Frankreich treibt
Politik and Ranke auch in den Ki nsten — sogar als ein eberwinder Wagners,
also schon aus diesem Grunde allein als ein Erneuerer nationaler Musik
gelten" (Schenker, Das Meisterwerk in der Musik, vol. 3 (1930), 108).
13
Adele Katz, Challenge to Musical Tradition (New York: Knopf, 1945),
chap. 7, 248-93; Felix Salzer, Structural Hearing (New York: Boni, 1952).
14
Salzer, Structural Hearing, fig. 478.
"According to Katz: "Therefore, as both harmonic analysis and the
Schenker method were evolved out of the tonal techniques, it is probable that
a new system of analysis is needed to understand the new concepts" (Chal-
lenge, 293). For a convenient summary of Katz's position see James Baker,
"Schenkerian Analysis and Post-Tonal Music," in David Beach, ed., Aspects
of Schenkerian Theory (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983), 154-55.
16 Richard S. Parks, The Music of Claude Debussy (New Haven and Lon-
don: Yale University Press, 1989), 4, 18, 20.
After the early works especially, one rarely finds tonic-dominant
closure in a structural sense. In Schenkerian terms, this means that
bass arpeggiation is not an integral feature of underlying structure.
Linear progressions are far less common than in the works of
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century masters, as is the multilayered
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concatenation of contrapuntal-harmonic relationships which nor-
mally accompanies them. In Debussy, linear progressions tend to be
of the simplest sort and only of local significance. 17
He adds that structural levels are "few and uncomplicated,"
and that the richness of Debussy's music lies mostly in the
foreground. 18
Nevertheless, there are problems with both of these re-
sponses. In Salzer's case, his revisions modify Schenkerian
theory to such an extent that they erode the entire foundation
of the model. For example, by classifying chords according
to their degree of dissonance, Salzer contradicts Schenker's
claim that in tonal music there is an absolute distinction be-
tween the behavior of consonances and that of dissonances.
This distinction is crucial to the way in which Schenkerian
theory connects the rules of harmony and voice leading; once
the distinction is abolished, Schenker's notion of transfor-
mation becomes seriously weakened. To quote Edward
Laufer:
By and by one asks what is left, as all the specific techniques Schen-
ker described must all go by the board or be diluted into an indistinct
blur.... [I]f there is no technically consistent, non-speculative ba-
sis, then anything goes and likewise nothing. 19
Similarly, while Katz and Parks are justified in restricting
the scope of Schenkerian theory—to be explanatory, all the-
ories must have boundaries —neither they, nor any other
Schenkerians, have ever defined these limits in a systematic
17 Ibid., 4.
18 lbid.
19
Edward Laufer, "Review of Free Composition," Music Theory Spectrum
3 (1981): 161.
 130 Music Theory Spectrum
manner. In fact, both of them consistently underestimate not
only the extent to which Debussy's mature music contains
orthodox tonal material, but also the degree to which Schen-
kerian theory can cope with extreme chromaticism, modal or
exotic harmonies, free dissonances, parallel chords and many
other anomalies in Debussy's style. 20 Of course, this does not
mean that Schenkerian theory can explain every aspect of all
works by Debussy; it simply means that the model can help
us determine, case by case, how and why partially, or even
marginally, tonal pieces sometimes sound tonal and some-
times do not.
To show how Schenkerian theory helps us understand the
tonality of Debussy's music, this paper will examine the Pre-
lude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" (1891-94). The work is an
appropriate test case for several reasons. On the one hand,
Debussy specifically drew attention to the novel tonal and
formal properties of the Prelude. In a letter to Henri
Gauthier-Villars (10 October 1896) he observed:
The Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune," cher Monsieur, is it per-
haps the dream left over at the bottom of the faun's flute? ... It
also demonstrates a disdain for the `constructional knowhow' which
is a burden upon our finest intellects. Then again, it has no respect
for tonality! Rather, it's in a mode which is intended to contain all
the nuances — I can give you a perfectly logical demonstration of
this. 21
20 For further details, see Matthew Brown, "A Rational Reconstruction
of Schenkerian Theory," (Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, 1989).
21
Lesure ed., Lettres, 79; Lesure and Nichols, 84-85. It is hard to imagine
what this demonstration would have looked like because Debussy was ex-
tremely skeptical about the value of musical analysis. For example, in an essay
for La Revue blanche, 1 April 1901, he wrote: "Grown ups tend to forget
that as children they were forbidden to open the insides of their dolls — a crime
of high treason against the cause of mystery.... And yet they still insist on
poking their aesthetic noses into things that don't concern them! Without their
dolls to break open, they still try to explain things, dismantle them and quite
heartlessly kill all their mystery" (Lesure, ed., Monsieur Croche, 23-24;
Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music, 13). He especially abhorred "theme
On the other hand, by graphing the Prelude, we can answer
some of the intriguing formal questions posed by Debussy's
orchestral music. In particular, we will see how he developed
four techniques—incomplete progressions, parenthetical epi-
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sodes, motivic compression, and tonal modeling—that fea-
ture prominently in the Nocturnes (1897-99), La Mer (1903-
5), and the Images for orchestra (1905-13), and that allowed
him to move away from nineteenth-century formal models.
It is hard to imagine a single work that captures the spirit
of Debussy's style more obviously than the Prelude ā
"L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune"; ever since its premiere at the
Societe nationale on 22 December 1894, musicians have tried
to explain the elusive logic alluded to by Debussy. 22 These
spotting," as he made clear in an essay for Gil blas, 23 February 1903 (see
Lesure, ed., Monsieur Croche, 102-4; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music,
126-27). Debussy occasionally rebuked specific theorists: liemann (Lesure,
ed., Lettres, 165; Lesure and Nichols, eds., Letters, 183); Louis (Lesure, ed.,
Lettres, 118; Lesure and Nichols, eds., Letters, 128-30); Lenormand (Lesure,
ed., Lettres, 227; Lesure and Nichols, ed., Letters, 259-60); Dubois (Lesure,
ed., Monsieur Croche, 212; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Music, 268-69);
and Emile Durand (Lesure, ed., Monsieur Croche, 29-30; Lesure and Smith,
Debussy on Music, 21).
22 For analyses of the Prelude
see: William Austin, "Toward an Analytical
Appreciation," in Debussy: Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun," ed. Aus-
tin, 71-96; Barraquē , Debussy (Paris: Seuil, 1962), 85-91; Laurence Berman,
"Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Jeux: Debussy's Summer Rites,"
Nineteenth-Century Music 3 (1980): 225-38; Leonard Bernstein, The Unan-
swered Question (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1976), 238-59;
Charles Burkhart, "Schenker's `Motivic Parallelisms,' " Journal of Music
Theory 22 (1978): 155-58; John Crotty, "Symbolist Influences in Debussy's
"Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," In Theory Only 11 (1982): 17-30;
David Cox, Debussy's Orchestral Music (London: BBC, 1974), 9-18; Denijs
Dille, "Inleiding tot het vormbegrip bij Debussy," in Melanges: Homage ā
Charles van den Borren (Anvers: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1945),
145ff.; Christian Goubault, Claude Debussy (Paris: Champion, 1986), 136-
40; Peter Gūlke, "Musik aus dem Bannkreis einer literarischen Āesthetik:
Debussys `Prelude ā l'Aprēs-midi d'un Faune,' " Jahrbuch Peters 1978, Auf-
sātze zur Musik 1, ed. E. Klemm (Leipzig: Peters, 1979), 103-46; James
Hepokoski, "Formulaic Openings in Debussy," Nineteenth-Century Music 8
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 131
analyses generally agree about the location of the work's main
formal divisions. As shown in Example 1, the piece is clearly
articulated at mm. 30, 37, 55, 79, 94, and 106. The famous
flute theme is presented in mm. 1-30 and 94-106 on C# in
E major (mm. 1- 30 end in V of E). Measures 30-37 contain
whole-tone diminutions of the flute theme, and mm. 79-93
present sequential statements on E (mm. 79-85) and El,
(mm. 86-93). The coda presents a simplified version of the
flute theme, again in E. A contrasting theme in the new key
of DI, is developed in mm. 55-78, while mm. 37-54 serve
both as a transition to the DI, theme and as a development
of the flute theme.
Debates arise, however, when we try to explain the mo-
tivic significance and tonal properties of each section. 23 Four
problems stand out: (1) Although mm. 1-30 center on E, the
opening phrases are extremely abstruse tonally; the tonic E
(1984): 56-57; Roy Howat, Debussy in Proportion (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983), 149-53; Albert Jakobik, Debussy oder der lautlose
Revolution in der Musik (Wiirzburg: Konrad Triltsch, 1977), 30-44; Parks,
Music of Debussy, especially 36-38, 224-25, 240-43, 263-67; Leonard B.
Meyer, Style and Music (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1989), 223-25; David Neumeyer and Susan Tepping, A Guide to Schenkerian
Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1992), 39-40; Walter Piston
and Mark DeVoto, Harmony, 4th ed., rev. (New York: Norton, 1976), 518-
20; Salzer, Structural Hearing, vol. 1, pp. 209-10 and vol. 2, Ex. 455; Arthur
Wenk, Claude Debussy and the Poets (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1976), 148-70; and Wenk, Debussy and Twentieth-Century Music,
57-61.
23 Berman, Dille, and Goubault claim that the Prelude is best treated as
a continuous ternary form: A (mm. 1-30), transition (mm. 30-54), B (mm.
55-78), A' (mm. 79-106), Coda (mm. 106-10). Barraqu6 and Howat regard
the work as an arch form: A (mm. 1-30), A development (mm. 30-54), B
(mm. 55-78), A' development (mm. 79-93), A' (mm. 94-106), Coda (mm.
106-10). Crotty offers a two-part reading: A (mm. 1-30, 30-37, 37-54); A'
(mm. 55-78, 79-94, 94-106); Coda (mm. 106-10). Parks treats the Prelude
as a variation form: Theme (mm. 1-10), Variation 1 (mm. 11-20), Var. 2
(mm. 21-30), Var. 3 (mm. 31-54), Var. 4 (mm. 55-78), Var. 5 (mm. 79-93),
Var. 6 (mm. 94-99), Var. 7 (mm. 100-105), Var. 8 (mm. 106-10).
does not appear until m. 13, and is not confirmed by a closed
progression until mm. 21-26. (2) It is not obvious how mm.
30-54 relate to their surroundings; the whole-tone chords
(mm. 30-37) are particularly hard to fathom from a tonal
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perspective. (3) While the B section (mm. 55-78) establishes
a new theme and key area, the precise layout of this passage
is far from obvious. (4) It is hard to decide whether mm.
79-106 are better regarded as two segments (mm. 79-93 and
94-106) or as a single span. To resolve these dilemmas, let
us examine the four sections in depth.
Few passages in the standard repertory are more obscure
than the opening of the Prelude. At first sight, the sinuous
flute theme and its shimmering accompaniment seem quite
removed from the familiar world of common-practice tonal-
ity. Eventually E emerges as tonic in m. 13, but it is unclear
how the seventh chords on A# , B b , and D (mm. 4-12) pre-
pare the tonic. Opinions differ widely about the tonal func-
tion of these harmonies. Some, such as Felix Salzer and James
Hepokoski, propose that the tonic chord is implied from m.
1. Salzer's graph of mm. 1-30 adds a virtual tonic chord in
parentheses and treats the opening C # of the melody as a
neighbor tone to the following B (m. 1). Although Salzer
marks very few roman numerals (the V-I progression at m.
13 is a notable exception), he adds two small arrows in mm.
4 and 5. These suggest that the A # and B b sevenths arise
contrapuntally and link the virtual tonic of m. 1 to the D
seventh in m. 11. Hepokoski likewise marks a tonic at the
opening, and suggests that the opening flute arabesque ex-
pands the apparent "contradiction" between A#° 7 (VII of V
in E) and 131, 7 (V7 of D## or V 7 of V in GO.. The latter
apparently acts as a German sixth to the D 7 in m. 11, pre-
sumably with an elision to its normal resolution (V7 of D).
Hepokoski then proposes that the bass tones D (m. 11) and
D# (m. 13) are neighbors to the root E (m. 13) .
Other writers, however, have been reluctant to make func-
tional ascriptions of any sort. John Crotty regards mm. 1-13
132 Music Theory Spectrum

Example 1. Debussy, Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune": main formal divisions

A
^ .
•i: mu: 1••n•11,: nn n •n

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.4111n
( m m. 1 -30) Mai i1•Ir:= , NNW 11:1n111/
1..=11MaM•NM
W71
r. • a r 1111,7
:r•n INIMMINICW 411=INN MINF
Bur. 1•11•11ni1.11MIIMII
R M1107•71nr
In1111 ^
VI ',MIMIs •aNn ED NMi: NMI iu

Whole-tone episode

(mm. 31-36)

Transition

(mm. 37-54)

(mm. 55 —78)

A'

(mm. 79-106)

n1,1n01n1nIl 11n7:r7111^a^^1:r^:r^Mri
n JIM
>I!:^ ^Y^
MOM MII1n =NM SAGAIMI1=1 Y MnN•
^^^^^ NIM MIN NMI =II

Coda
^ .

(mm. 106-10) Ang it VIM s111

^..^ alIRMII •/1•11,o111n71 - ,,M n NI EWE..
• 41TA11n11• ^^ , O r .1101r
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 133

as part of a double-tonic complex E—C # that Debussy worked Example 2. Tonal analysis of the Prelude, mm. 1-13
out during the rest of the Prelude. William Austin simply
shows the bass motion A# —B b —D—B—E, and notes that al- a 6 5

though roman numerals could be added to some progres-

a etc.

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sions, "the effort to label every chord seems out of proportion
with any resulting insight. " 24 Arthur Wenk takes a similar
tack, claiming that the passage reflects Debussy's shift away
from functional harmony to "static" or "circular" succes- 9:a q •
sions. 25 Richard Parks, meanwhile, dispenses with tonal con- # ^
9

cepts altogether and asserts that the Prelude "opens with a

V II 7 of V V9 I
complement relation: the flute melody's pcs form set 7-1,
while 5-1 is embedded prominently within the sixteenths that b
6 5
descend to pc 7." 26
Obviously, the differences between these interpretations
are partly matters of emphasis or context, and partly results
of the anomalies inherent to Debussy's score. It is perhaps
Nb •
testimony to the work's ambiguity that so many readings have qo
been advanced. Example 2, however, presents an alternative
r
^

Schenkerian analysis of mm. 1-13. Here, the passage is in-

terpreted as a transformation of the progression VII 7 of VII 7 of V V9

V—V9 —I in E. 27 This progression is given in Example 2a.

6 5
Example 2b shows how the dominant is arpeggiated in the
bass through its mixed third, D, and how the CO in the upper J _
{ s :
voice in m. 4 is suspended over the D and B to form seventh
and ninth chords in mm. 11-13. The resulting progression 40OS ^ 13

1,V11 7 —V 9 is very similar to those described by Schenker in • Nb

9: ## • qq 9

24 Austin, "Toward an Analytical Appreciation," 84-85.

VII 7 of V V9
r
I
-

25 Wenk, Debussy and Twentieth-Century Music, 56-61.

26 Parks, Music of Debussy, 156-57.
d 5
27 It might seem that this sonority might be more conveniently labeled

#IV7 . However, as Dave Headlam and I showed in our paper "Schenkerian

Theory and the Limits of Tonality: The Problem of #IV" (Annual Meeting
of the Society for Music Theory, Oakland, 1990), Schenkerian theory assumes
that #IV Stufen cannot be generated directly from I in tonal contexts; instead,
they can only be derived indirectly either from transformations of other Stufen
(for example, b III of b III, IV of 611, VII of V, etc.), or from interpolations.

—8
VII of V V I
134 Music Theory Spectrum
Der freie Satz. 28 Example 2c then shows how the initial VII 7
of V in m. 4 is joined to the b VII chord in m. 11 by a passing
Bb 7 The latter chord arises contrapuntally; the alto and tenor
. phrases intersect with their harmonic foundation. The pro-
parts E, a chain of parallel thirds extending from
(m. 4) to Ē, (m. 13). This chain is perhaps more obvious in
Debussy's draft and two-piano reduction than in the finished
score. Finally, Example 2d adds the overall motion — C#–
B –A # —of the opening tune, along with the expansion of the
dominant D#–B in m. 13.
Example 2 clarifies several important issues. First, the
graphs suggest that the tonal function of the opening four bars
is indeterminant; although the pitch C# is clearly emphasized,
its role is obscure. In fact, the G (mm. 1-2) implies that the
harmonies probably change in these bars; such a change al-
ways occurs when the theme is harmonized, even when it
raised to G # (mm. 100-101) . To complicate matters further,
the goal of the opening phrase seems to be A # rather than
B. In m. 3, B seems to pass between C # and A # , and only
in later statements do C # and A # serve as neighbors to B.
Second, whereas mm. 1-3 are ambiguous, mm. 4-13 can be
derived by orthodox tonal transformations. Indeed, the
rather striking progression b VII–V is actually quite common
in Debussy's early compositions, and even controls the mid-
dleground of entire works such as the song "C'est l'extase"
(Ariettes oubliees, 1887) . 29 Third, the chromatic inner lines
found in Example 2c recur later in the Prelude. As we will
see, both mm. 20-30 and 79-106 are bound together by anal-
28 Schenker discussed VII—V progressions in various places in Der freie
Satz, especially par. 246, fig. 111 (fig. lllc shows how VII 7 can occur with
V9 ). See Heinrich Schenker, Der freie Satz (Vienna: Universal, 1935); trans-
lated by Ernst Oster under the title Free Composition (New York, Longman,
1979). See also Matthew Brown, "The Diatonic and the Chromatic in Schen-
ker's Theory of Harmonic Relations," Journal of Music Theory 30 (1986):
1-33.
29
For a different analysis of this song, see Wallace Berry, Musical Structure
and Performance (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 144-216.
ogous chains of parallel thirds. Fourth, Debussy veils our
sense of tonality by manipulating the way in which melodic
gression VII 7 of V–V 9 –I (mm. 1-13) actually cuts across two
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distinct statements of the flute theme in mm. 1-10 and 11-20.
Having discussed the opening of the Prelude, let us now
turn to mm. 30-54. Jean Barraqu ē has rightly observed that
this segment functions as some sort of development. He sug-
gests that it can be divided into three discrete phases: mm.
30-37 offer a "double presentation of the principal theme
harmonized by chords from the whole-tone scale"; mm.
37-50 introduce "the second theme ... in the oboe" and
modulate towards the key of the middle section; and mm.
50-54 sustain "a pedal on the dominant of D b ." 30 When we
look more closely at the wider tonal and motivic context of
the passage, several other details seem significant. For ex-
ample, although the oboe theme does not appear before m.
37, this gesture is derived from the pentatonic motive in m.
28 (see Exx. 3a and 3b). 31 Indeed, the links between this
section and its predecessor are reinforced by the fact that the
oboe theme appears with fragments of the main flute theme
in mm. 46-47 (see Ex. 5b). More remarkably, as Charles
Burkhart has demonstrated, mm. 37-55 form a single span,
with a stepwise descent in the bass, from B (V of E) via B
and A to A b (V of D b), and with a series of nested repetitions
of the chromatic figure B(Cb)–C–C# (D b ) in the upper parts
(see Ex. 3c). 32 Significantly, this chromatic figure is embed-
ded within the main flute theme (see Ex. 3d). Burkhart's
3 °Barraqu6, Debussy, 88; translated in Austin, ed., Prelude, 163-64.
31 For elaborate accounts of the complex motivic connections see Austin,
"Toward an Analytical Appreciation," especially pp. 76-78. Peter Giilke has
stressed the significance of pentatonic figures both to the opening flute theme
(Giilke, Exx. 1, 3, and 5), the oboe theme at m. 37 (Giilke, Ex. 4), and the
DI, theme (Giilke, Ex. 2); see "Musik aus dem Bannkreis," 114ff. and 120ff.
32I have adapted Burkhart's Ex. 9 very slightly; see Burkhart, "Schenker's
`Motivic Parallelisms,' " 156.
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 135

Example 3. Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune," mm. 37-55

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b
) ^
^

^5^^^^^
"t^nlu
^l•eNRIIMRIM
• SY .='>••II•1 MIN MIN 11•1•01••

^•^^^^^
----^._ -

I .° .
n^ti:^I^ ^
- - ^ I^.^^IY11^/^1.T_
--
n I^•.T IA ►A•. RR^^R^ PEI RI•Rlf rw♦.
.SY^^:^ ^^ w^lr ^71r 1Terr >LuT•rr ^L^I^ •rr
^1/1t n/••t >rr J1111, 7rr MI•1:yR%
/. ONE 1' 111n111M. 111111. 7r AS^IRRIa./IRIRSa^IR^=1•1%L n1.iL'L71 IR•1 WAN UM/
• .J1111111Md MI7M..111Y .M ( MR: 1:7i1n11111111n••1•=111111M•1:LW IRRRIRv
 136 Music Theory Spectrum

reading not only connects mm. 37-54 to mm. 1-30, but it also Example 4. Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune," mm. 30 39 -

shows how the transition functions as one, rather than two,

separate spans. 6 5
While mm. 37-54 are certainly unusual, they are a good

Downloaded from http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on February 9, 2015

deal more orthodox than mm. 30-37; Burkhart is surely cor-
rect to state that the latter contains "the work's most radical
departure from traditional procedure. " 33 His analysis shows
how the passage is built from the two whole-tone sets —
C—D —E—F # —G # —A # and C # —D # —F—G—A—B . It would be WAIL 1.•
a: īt\tl:
7 n1n11•Rrr MEW
:L4•1111M"lloW'
.:>.Y : i
^;L
LS:
=UMWY^^: S:L.= :ii:
wrong, however, to conclude that this passage cannot be de- _

rived from tonal transformations. On the contrary, Example

4 shows that mm. 30-37 arise contrapuntally, from complex
passing motions in the inner voices. The upper line is created
by a motion from the inner voice: the F# in the alto part (m.
the basic tenets of Schenkerian theory. As becomes clear near
30) ascends by step through G, A, Bb , and C to CO (m. 37) .
the beginning of volume 1 of Kontrapunkt, Schenker believed
The inner parts mostly ascend by step: the viola part moves
that when composers use exotic scales in tonal contexts, they
up from B through C# (m. 31-33) to D and E (mm. 34-36);
do so "not to loosen [the] system in order to incorporate a
the second violin part moves up from F through G (mm.
foreign one, but, on the contrary, to use [the] major-minor
31-33) G# and M# (mm . 34-36) ; the cello, bass, and bassoon
system to express the foreign element. " 35 Besides providing
parts move up from C# through D and D# (mm. 31-33) to
a tonal derivation for mm. 30-37, Example 4 also implies that
E, F, and F# (mm. 34-36). The bass part simply shifts from
this passage does not advance the tonal flow of the Prelude;
G (mm. 32-33) via Bb (mm. 34-36) back to B (m. 37). The
rather, it acts as an aside or parenthesis that delays the mod-
final sonority at the end of m. 36 (F# —A # —E b —C q) functions
ulation to D b . Schenker described such "delays" very beau-
as an altered secondary dominant (V6 57 of V), that resolves
tifully in Der freie Satz:
to V9 of E.
The notion that whole-tone harmonies stem from altered In the art of music, as in life, motion toward the goal encounters
dominants is, of course, one that has been advanced by many obstacles, reverses, disappointments, and involves great distances,
writers, from Schoenberg to Tovey. 34 It is also consistent with detours, expansions, interpolations, and, in short, retardations of all
kinds. Therein lies the source of all artistic delaying, from which the
creative mind can derive content that is ever new. 36

33
Ibid., 157.
34 See, for example, Arnold Schoenberg, Harmonielehre, chap. 20 (Vi- 35 Heinrich Schenker, Kontrapunkt, vol. 1 (Stuttgart: Cotta, 1910), 44;

enna: Universal, 1911; 3d ed., 1922); translated by Roy E. Carter under the translated by John Rothgeb and Jurgen Thym under the title Counterpoint
title Theory of Harmony (Berkeley; University of California Press, 1978), (New York: Schirmer, 1987), 28.
390-98. See also Donald Francis Tovey, "Harmony," reprinted in The Forms 36
Schenker, Der freie Satz, chap. 1, section 3, p. 18; Oster ed. and
of Music (Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1965), 69. trans., 5.
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 137
In the case of the Prelude, this brief delay helps to evoke
the mysterious, dreamlike atmosphere that permeates Mal-
larmē 's eclogue.
So far, we have seen that the Prelude is built from two
main motives—the opening flute arabesque plus its deriva-
tives, and the D b theme. Austin, however, identifies two
other gestures, to which he refers as the syncopated and flow-
ing motives . 37 Since these ideas play a vital role in the sub-
sequent unfolding of the piece and help to clarify the formal
function of the B section, it is worth examining them closely.
Example 5 traces the life history of both ideas. Although
the origins of the syncopated motive can be traced back to
the horn parts in mm. 5 and 13, this gesture first becomes
prominent in m. 39 (Ex. 5a). Almost immediately, it is com-
bined with the opening flute motive (Ex. 5b). The flowing
motive, meanwhile, is first heard in m. 28 (Ex. 5c) and be-
comes the progenitor of the oboe theme at m. 37. In the D
section, the flowing and syncopated motives are both ab-
sorbed into the B theme: the former appears as a continuation
of the B theme in mm. 61-62 (Ex. 5d); the latter appears with
the flowing motive beginning in m. 67 (Ex. 5e). The short
codetta (mm. 74-78) then combines the syncopated motive
in counterpoint with the B theme and flowing motive (Ex. 5f) .
This example of presenting themes simultaneously or in close
succession—what we might term "motivic compression"—
sets up the climax of the Prelude in mm. 94-99, where the
syncopated and flowing motives both return in counterpoint
with the main flute theme (Ex. 5g).
Example 5 highlights three essential features of thematic
working in Debussy's music. First, it often includes very in-
tricate motivic relationships. This fact apparently contradicts
Debussy's frequent claims to simplifying symphonic compo-
sition. For example, in an essay for SIM (1 November 1913)
he declared:
37 Austin, "Toward an Analytical Appreciation," 75-78.
Let us purify music! Let us try to relieve it of its congestion, to find
a less cluttered kind of music. And let us be careful that we do not
stifle all feeling underneath a mass of superimposed designs and
motives: how can we hope to preserve our finesse, our spirit, if we
insist on being preoccupied with so many details of composition? We
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are attempting the impossible when we try to organize a braying pack
of tiny themes, all pushing and jostling each other for a bite out of
poor old sentiment. 38
Second, in Debussy's music, motives that initially seem in-
nocuous may end up playing a vital role later. Since this
process cuts across the main formal divisions of the Prelude,
it helps to erode the boundaries and autonomy of each sec-
tion. Third, Debussy's music is often extremely complex poly-
phonically, especially at critical moments in the form. In the
Prelude, the densest textures occur at the climax (beginning
in m. 94). This point is doubly ironic because Debussy is often
portrayed as the archenemy of polyphony, and because
Schenker traced the downfall of music in the twentieth cen-
tury to a "decline of counterpoint. "39
Before leaving the B section, we must briefly consider its
harmonic structure. We have already seen how the thematic
38 Lesure, ed., Monsieur Croche, 241; Lesure and Smith, Debussy on Mu-
sic, 297.
39 For published discussions of Debussy's contrapuntal practices, see Peter
DeLone, "Claude Debussy: Contrapuntiste Malgrē Lui," College Music Sym-
posium 17 (1977): 48-63; and William Austin, Music in the Twentieth Century,
(New York: Norton, 1966), especially p. 20. Debussy himself discussed the
significance of counterpoint in his music; see Lesure and Smith, Debussy on
Music, 84, 94, and 278. Schenker, of course, made frequent attacks on
twentieth-century music, such as the following in Der freie Satz: "The present
decline of counterpoint has brought about the decline of diatony. This is the
fault of the musicians, who still have not grasped the fact that as long as the
fifth determines the natural sonority—and that will always be so— a voice-
leading technique based on the fifth, as nature requires, cannot lead to any
diatony other than the diatony which our art has exhibited up to the present
day. All attempts to deprive nature of her rights will shatter against the wall
of her resistance" (Oster, ed. and trans., par. 4, p. 11).


138 Music Theory Spectrum

Example 5. Motivic compression in the Prēlude

Syncopated motive
I .
--- 1111r... ^ ^
a •Auniarz» ^^^^n APT /111•1•1== = ^^^ = ^^^^^

Downloaded from http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on February 9, 2015

• Illair/w.: = s IMMM11111,f =AM = '^^rt ^^ = ^_ _li _
r_^ _ ^_^r
/ ..M11liU1111/
II,==1=1.: /NM ^^i^t ^^ r EMI = MI ME =II
........n NM ..... im.......=

Flute theme

^ . /
b c ACM rr:z r, 111M
• S1Nmica /7 AM
ANIi•WIft
ss MAD

3 3 3

Flowing motive
Syncopated motive
B theme Flowing motive

^
. 1n L^^al = ^ r=irt
'Mil um i^7INNI
i..^r^:^ ^^^^ ni^
- ^

.
= AIIPMn.

nM=
^ ^. M= ^.^rrl^• ^[/I^^^^^^^^/1^^.^
^^^r^^n ^n /r s ^:r^^^^/r ! ^:r n^u
r.

_ ^^ -

1111 3
3

B theme
63 ^ Syncopated motive Flowing motive
. ^-. ^• _ • -
r
^ -

Me 111
^ ^^-^I Al .MIA, _ mrvxmar
nitn1=M:=rMI !
= 'j —
Ar%=111 i=1.11111=11 i
—
, -- — wi n

3 3

B theme

I ^ 3 3 3
f r .^^ ^^ - --
.^-rRL^ ^.^^^^^^^^^r\I!
J `
^

^\ ►!
^ -

]n
/..ta/M .7
, ^=i^^^== =MI Mr ^ ^.t m.o. ^ n
Vl^•i" if L S t^^ = rf ,=^ ^5 ! 1^ ir^^^i = S J

III III -..n

. -

II
Syncopated motive
I I \`^ I
Flowing motive Flowing motive

Flute theme Flowing motive

Syncopated motive
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 139

Example 6. Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune, " mm. 55-78

Downloaded from http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on February 9, 2015

I -^- o ^ ,
" n11l/A:^t ^.^^^^^11l: LQ Ir M.Tt1l.
• ^:^ ' If Ti TOGS NM LAO I r ' ""
/..1E1%1 IAN . 1I1 Iii rr goitimnamirrINIM
.a•A1•11•1=1.nF =INIrr r.7.1 I IIIrr
^ f ^ .1 r

55 (XXX )
62 63
.- „-
• r • ^ r • r •
r• bb•,

IVb3 bVI aug. 6

of VI

c
6 bs
. Ī
IMM
11:r1111111:
. .
rz AM
I
^a.^^ ^^^ ^^r ^s/r ^ . ^i^s.1.: ► ^^ .,^^ ^^^^r^rri^^zr_^^:r^ n ^^^^^ !^►^ :
br 1717' r q..- i g rb ^ ,
`
rbT bq^
~

O 0'0 43 48 53 55 56 CD, ' 62 65 04 68 69 75

. .

01 7 )
IVb bII bVI

content changes between the first and the second statements second statement (see Ex. 6a). These measures present a
of the DI, theme. Example 6 shows that this change coincides diatonic descent through the DI, octave in the upper part that
with a remarkable shift in the theme's harmonic support. To is supported by the simple progression I—IV—II—V—I. The
understand this transformation it is best to begin with the first statement, however, is more complex (see Ex. 6b) . Here,
140 Music Theory Spectrum
the octave descent is transformed chromatically: Db-Cb-
B] b-Ab-Gb-Fb-Eb b-C-Db. Notice how the augmented-
sixth chord resolves traditionally: D moves down by step in
the bass, while the tritone F#-C in the upper voice resolves
inwards to F and Db (horns 2 and 4, violin 2). As shown in
Example 6c, the supporting progression, with its mixed sub-
dominant, flat submediant, and augmented-sixth sonorities,
foreshadows the chromatic excursions found in Debussy's
later works, such as the piece "Reflets dans l'eau" (Images,
Book I, 1904-5). Here the upper line moves from It, via
b PI and t JI to ~ and i·
We now come to the final sections of the Prelude. As
mentioned earlier, experts disagree about the formal function
of mm. 79-106. Some, such as Barraque and Howat, argue
that these measures are built from two distinct spans: mm.
79-93 develop the flute theme sequentially on E and E] ; mm.
94-106 restore the main theme to C# for the start of the final
section proper." Conversely, Denis Dille, Laurence Berman,
and others suggest that these bars constitute a single span
analogous to that of the opening A section.:"
Which reading should we prefer? Certainly, there are good
reasons for dividing mm. 79-106 into two spans. Although
the flute theme is transposed to E in m. 79, it is not restored
to the original starting pitch C# until m. 94. Furthermore, the
scherzando character of the flute theme (mm. 79-93) recalls
the whole-tone variations (mm. 30-37). Tonally, however,
this reading is less convincing. No one would deny that the
tonic ~ returns in m. 79, but when the bass tone E returns
at m. 94, it no longer supports a simple tonic triad. Instead,
we find an E13 identical to the one in m. 26. Dissonances of
this sort do not normally appear at the start of a span; still
4°Barraque, Debussy, 88; translated in Austin, ed., Prelude, 164; Howat,
Debussy in Proportion, 149.
41Dille's view is summarized by Austin in "Toward an Analytical Ap-
preciation," 74; Berman, "Debussy's Summer Rites," 231.
less do they initiate the final section of a piece. How, then,
can we explain their presence in m. 94?
Example 7a suggests that these dissonances arise from con-
trapuntal lines that start in m. 79. The inner parts iJ~ in m.
Downloaded from http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on February 9, 2015
94 are part of a long chain of chromatic parallel thirds that
passes from ~# (m. 79) via ~ (m. 83), g (m. 86), and iJ# (m.
90) to ~ (m. 94). This line then descends to ~ (m. 96) before
shifting direction to join the upper line in m. 104. The so-
prano C# in m. 94, meanwhile, arises as an expansion of the
chromatic motive B-B #-C# that is projected from m. 79. The
C#, which is even locally tonicized beginning in m. 96, even-
tually slides down through Cq and B] to meet the inner thirds
at m. 104.
Besides demonstrating the overall integrity of mm. 79-
106, Example 7b also indicates that the final section is built
from the same tonal transformations as mm. 20-30. In mm.
20-30, the upper line also expands the motive B-B#-C#
while the inner parts contain a chain of chromatic thirds ex-
tending from ~# (m. 20) via ~ (m. 22), ~# (m. 23), ~# (m.
25), g (m. 25) to iJ (m. 26). As with mm. 79-106, these
thirds finally shift up to meet the upper line for the cadence.
As Leonard B. Meyer has noted, the cadences in mm. 29-30
and 103-6 are connected motivically; both contain the same
motives, marked x and y in Example 7C. 42 The significance
of this reading is twofold. It suggests that the final A' section
is not a simple repetition of the opening section, but is an
ingenious composing-out of a small segment, mm. 20-30.
Furthermore, since this passage conflates the main flute
theme with the syncopated and flowing motives and inflects
C# as a local tonic, it provides a subtle reminiscence of the
B section. This allusion to the B section unifies the Prelude
and demonstrates the complex, long-range connections that
invariably bind Debussy's music together. Tonally, then, mm.
42Meyer, Style and Music, 223-25.
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" 141

Example 7. Tonal models in the Prelude 79-106 constitute a single unit, bound together by an elab-
orate contrapuntal framework; they do not subdivide con-
g veniently into two separate tonal spans.
To sum up: When analyzed from a Schenkerian perspec-
Nb

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tive, Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune" is best
,
1
•Ir11111:aIIMMIn 11113111WailinnalI IN7 iNW IIIMINu niis
.tlWett:airr T WO= :r •MIF s:s.'f=" JIuMINIMMs' /n ir i .
/. . tsIM•111111, W:111rna L-:LA<_:T<l•:rt.:ti11.1lv
v►^^ ^s^:s 1111F s W Ir ru• :•t< i16 If :r:i La Wr s1M,
• .11. regarded as a continuous ternary form — A (mm. 1-30) , tran-
sition (mm. 37-54), B (mm. 55-78), A' (mm. 79-106), and
coda (mm. 106-10). However, this scheme is obscured in four
ways: by starting with an incomplete progression VII 7 of
V–V 9 –I; by adding a parenthetical whole-tone episode (mm.
OJ
30-36); by developing the syncopated and triplet figures
13
V6 I67 VI II V4 3 across the formal boundaries; and by modeling the final A'
section (mm. 79-106) on part of the opening section (mm.
20-30). Although these features are unusual in themselves,
s 6 5 especially when judged against the standards of nineteenth-
b
century tonal theory, they do not represent a complete re-
. • _
• /' n^l r:ar!'^-
.tWitt - t
/..t•I WM." MINIIIIIIM:1L WIIIIIIIIIIIIIr
!Jr t•Ittt = _ _ .111..M1t,11111P.Mn
:r'1 1e .
_

1{ 1l•11{
pudiation of tonal paradigms. What is so remarkable about
ba• 'ta..n1111.• Sii► ii,......1rr ^^1r" i Miff J:7'^^l=1ri
^ , • , -
the Prelude is that Debussy managed to combine these tech-
20 22 23 2S
niques so boldly over such a large span. Perhaps we should
view the rather elaborate explanations presented above as
signs of Debussy's cultural elitism and his love of the
esoteric—concerns that he described in a famous letter to
^
Ernest Chausson (3 September 1893) :
V I 07 IV 13 V 7
Music really ought to have been a hermetical science, enshrined in
texts so hard and laborious to decipher as to discourage the herd of
people who treat it as casually as they do a handkerchief! I'd go

.
nrir:z
'^ ^ l • ,
ARNIM
rWst• n l r NMI t.^t_
.tsYl Ill 'a r.'.̀ ^^L ia , I/I•I' , /R t•Itr ^^
/..1MI itW •
Vt •
i{ M I ••••
lMIn•l lli • i
_
-
winoweimIic
' .TVtt r
IrL'L.0•••II<•
ILiiM t•
r,
further and, instead of spreading music among the populace, I pro-
pose the foundation of a "Society of Musical Esotericism." 43

Y
43
"Vraiment la musique aurait d ū ētre une science hermētique, gardēe par
des textes d'une interpretation tellement longue et difficile qu'elle aurait cer-
tainement dēcouragē la tropeau de gens qui s'en servent avec la d ēsinvolture
que l'on met ā se servir d'un mouchoir de poche! Or, et en outre, au lieu
de chercher ā rēpandre l'art dans le public, je propose la fondation d'une
"Societe d' Ēsotēricisme Musical" et vous verrez que M. Helman n'en sera
X
142 Music Theory Spectrum
As it happens, this letter dates from the time when Debussy
was finishing work on the Prelude.
Although it is beyond the scope of this essay to trace
Debussy's use of the four techniques enumerated above in all
his subsequent orchestral works, a few examples are in order.
To begin with, of Debussy's remaining eleven orchestral
movements, all but one —"Par les rues et les chemins" (Ibe-
ria, first movement) — begin with some sort of incomplete
progression. For the most part, these works open with in-
troductions that move to the tonic for the start of the main
movement proper. However, "Les parfums de la nuit" and
"Le matin d'un jour de fete" (Iberia, second and third move-
ments) are more complex. The former is a classic example
of an auxiliary-cadence piece: the bulk of the movement
prolongs the dominant of F# with the tonic finally occurring
near the end (m. 92). 44 The latter, meanwhile, not only be-
gins away from the tonic, but it actually ends somewhere
else: the movement starts in El, , moves to C, and closes in
G with material from the middle section of "Par les rues et
les chemins."
We can also find parenthetical episodes and interpolations
in Debussy's later orchestral scores. Perhaps the most ob-
vious examples occur in the transition between the final
movements of Iberia. Here Debussy added a subordinate
theme from "Le matin d'un jour de fete" near the end of "Les
parfums de la nuit" (mm. 127-28) , and he inserted a flash-
back to one of the main themes in the second movement near
the beginning of the third (mm. 5-6). Significantly, the latter
"interruption" has connections with Debussy's piano Prelude
"La serenade interrompue": in mm. 80-84 and 87-89 of the
pas, ni M. de Monniēres non plus!" See Lesure, ed., Lettres, 51; Lesure and
Nichols, eds., Letters, 52. This letter is normally connected with Debussy's
interest in the occult.
44
For more details of this and the following analytical observations, see
my forthcoming book Debussy: `Iberia' (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Prelude Debussy actually inserted the main theme from "Le
matin d'un jour de fete"! On a larger scale, the entire fanfare
section from the middle of "Fetes" (Nocturnes, second move-
ment) is a giant interpolation: mm. 116-73 are actually in-
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serted within an ascending line that spans from m. 27 to m.
208. As in Iberia, the insert recalls material from another
work by Debussy: at the climax of the fanfare section, we
hear Rodrigue's leitmotiv from Debussy's aborted "Wagne-
rian" opera Rodrigue et Chimēne (1890-92) .45
Several interesting instances of motivic compression also
occur in La Mer and the orchestral Images. A particularly fine
example appears at the climax of "Jeux de vagues" (La Mer,
second movement). 46 In mm. 163-218, the main theme re-
turns and is combined contrapuntally with other subordinate
themes as well as with its own diminutions and augmenta-
tions. The same phenomenon can be seen in "Rondes de
printemps" (Images). In two long sections (mm. 87-118 and
138-205), Debussy develops the folk tune "Nous n'irons plus
au bois" contrapuntally with itself, and with other themes,
including another folk tune "Do, do l'enfant do."
Lastly, Debussy relied on tonal modeling in several later
symphonic scores. In "Nuages" (Nocturnes, first movement),
he modeled the final section (mm. 80-93) on the last segment
of the opening A section (mm. 43-56). In recomposing the
earlier material, he inserted two repetitions of a horn motive
from mm. 23-24 and 27-28. More remarkably, the second
half of "De l'aube ā midi sur la mer" (La Men, first move-
ment), is an elaborate composing out of the contrapuntal
framework of mm. 31-84: both move from D b via B b to Al,
and back, via GI, to A b . Similar experiments in tonal mod-
45 Compare the chromatic motive and Tristan chords (mm. 170-73) of
"Fetes" with Rodrigue's theme, transcribed by Orledge (Exx. 12 and 13) in
Debussy and the Theater (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), 31.
46 See Wolfgang Domling,
Claude Debussy: La Mer (Munich: Wilhelm
Finck Verlag, 1976) .
 Tonality and Form in Debussy's Prelude ā "L'Aprēs midi d'un faune" 143
eling can also be found in "Par les rues et les chemins"; here,
the final A section and the coda are built from roughly the
same set of tonal transformations as the middleground of the
entire movement.
To what extent, then, did Debussy manage to move away
from nineteenth-century tonal and formal conventions? From
the preceding discussion, it seems that Debussy's path away
from traditional composition was gradual. Indeed, most of
the techniques used in the Prelude have clear precedents in
nineteenth-century tonal practice, at least as explained by
Schenkerian theory. This suggests that Debussy was not the
iconoclast that Boulez and others believe. His genius was
perhaps not so much in creating entirely new principles of
harmony and form, but rather in exploiting established tech-
niques in bold and unusual ways. In many ways, this essay
confirms the conclusions of Arnold Whittall:
Debussy, at his best, was always a dramatic composer. What is
dramatized, what brings tension and dynamism to the music, is the
skilfully balanced relationship between chromaticism and diatoni-
cism, both of which may show modal characteristics but which never
lose sight of the triadic constructions and progressions of earlier tonal
music. Debussy's harmony functions precisely in the sense that it
-
gives meaning, and movement, to this relationship. As a language
it can best be described as "expanded tonality", a language in which
tonality still acts as a basic term, giving perspective to all other
harmonic activity. 47
Downloaded from http://mts.oxfordjournals.org/ at New York University on February 9, 2015
Even if Debussy was unable to ignore common-practice to-
nality altogether, he did create a remarkable body of sym-
phonic music that was indeed fit for "the century of aero-
planes."
ABSTRACT
Debussy is often credited with revolutionizing musical form by re-
jecting nineteenth-century tonal and formal practice. This essay con-
siders this claim by examining the tonal and thematic framework of
the Prelude ā "L'Aprēs-midi d'un faune." Although this analysis
shows that the Prelude can be explained by traditional tonal pro-
cedures, it identifies four techniques—incomplete progressions, par-
enthetical episodes, motivic compression, and tonal models— that
allowed Debussy to move away from conventional symphonic mod-
els. The paper ends by showing how he developed these techniques
in later orchestral works such as the Nocturnes, La Mer, and Iberia.
47 Arnold Whittall, "Tonality and the Whole-Tone Scale in the Music of
Debussy," The Music Review 36 (1975): 271.