INCONSTANT TONALITY IN DEBUSSYS LA MER

by

DAVID JONATHAN MARCUS

(Under the Direction of Adrian Childs)

ABSTRACT:

This study is an original harmonic and tonal analysis of Debussys orchestral masterpiece La

mer: trois esquisses symphoniques. Based on Debussys praise of freedom and critique of

overprecise forms, the author undertakes to explain harmony and tonicity in the music

afresh, thoroughly adjusting traditional concepts of tonality. He shows that Debussys

harmonic originality lies close to the musical surface, and analytical reductions, particularly to

familiar tonal objects, tend to conceal its harmonic methods.These methods include the use of

whole-step/half-step scales as harmonic regions, the use of maximally intersecting scales for

smooth modulation, and the use of invariant pitch classes as organizing agents over long spans

of musical time. The auther then replaces the old concept of harmonic function, conceived as a

consistent hierarchy centered on tonic and dominant, with a constantly evolving presentation

of tonicity. The final portion of the study considers the metaphorical fit of all these techniques

for La mers oceanic imagery.

KEYWORDS: Debussy, La mer, scale theory, parsimony, post-tonal tonicity, pitch-class

invariance

INCONSTANT TONALITY IN DEBUSSYS LA MER

by

DAVID JONATHAN MARCUS

B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1983

M.A., Georgetown University, 1991

M.M., Georgia State University, 1996

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ATHENS, GEORGIA

2009

2009

David Jonathan Marcus

All Rights Reserved

INCONSTANT TONALITY IN DEBUSSYS LA MER

by

DAVID JONATHAN MARCUS

Major Professor: Adrian Childs

Committee: Leonard Ball

Ronald Bogue

David Haas

David Schiller

Electronic Version Approved:

Maureen Grasso

Dean of the Graduate School

The University of Georgia

August, 2009

iv

DEDICATION

This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Alan and Lotte Marcus, who taught me to love

beauty as well as learning, and to my beautiful wife, Barbara Hall, who has supported both of

these passions for many years.

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This dissertation would never have reached completion without an extensive community

of support and encouragement. My former Chair at Clark Atlanta University, Dr. Sharon Willis,

arranged release time for me to work on this project. Dr. Jonathan Strum of Emory University

tutored me in German and checked my translations. Dr. David Boyd Pomeroy of Arizona State

University, brought me a hard copy of Jean Barraqus pioneering analysis of La mer, and

amazed me over dinner with his memory of specific details in La mer, ten years after completing

his own dissertation on it. Thanks to Dr. Dmitri Tymoczko of Princeton, Dr. Daniel Harrison of

Yale, and Dr. Alex Rehding of Harvard, who generously shared unpublished work with me and

made themselves available to discuss and sharpen my ideas, both at conferences and by phone.

At UGA, Dr. David Schiller went beyond the role of academic advisor, facilitating the

completion of this degree, in both academic and personal ways. His optimism has been

infectious. Dr. John Turci-Escobar, my initial thesis advisor, made La mer his own pet project

during the year we worked on it. Finally, my thesis advisor, Dr. Adrian Childs, has been an ideal

match for me: a great editor, judicious and precise, and very sensitive to the analytical dilemmas

that personally vex me. I thank him for encouraging me to find my own approach to the disorder

of Debussys tonality.

The challenge of writing this dissertation while also teaching, composing, and raising a

family would have been insurmountable if not for the help and support of my community of

Decatur, Georgia. Above all, my wife, Barbara Hall, has worked incredibly hard, with great

patience, love, and support, during the five years I have spent at UGA. I acknowledge her

sacrifice, and thank her from the bottom of my heart.

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................v

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER ONE: AS TUMULTUOUS AND VARIED ASTHE SEA! .................................1

1.1 LISTENING TO LA MER .............................................................................................1

1.2 LA MER IN DEBUSSYS PARIS .................................................................................4

1.3 DEBUSSY ON ANALYSIS AND FREEDOM ............................................................8

1.4 THE ANALYSIS OF POST-ROMANTIC REPERTOIRE ........................................11

CHAPTER TWO: LA MER AND ITS INTERPRETERS............................................................19

2.1 BOTH FAMILIAR AND UNFAMILIAR: LA MER DESCRIBED ........................19

2.2 LA MERS INTERPRETERS ......................................................................................28

2.3 THEORIES OF HARMONY AND TONIC FUNCTION .........................................37

CHAPTER THREE: INTERPRETING STATIC HARMONY ....................................................54

3.1 SCALES IN STEPS .....................................................................................................54

3.2 THE HARMONIC AMBIGUITY OF THE SCALE-CHORD TEXTURE ................66

3.3 DETERMINING HARMONIC BACKGROUNDS....................................................74

3.4 CHROMATIC EMBELLISHMENT AND BLURRED CATEGORIES....................89

CHAPTER FOUR: HARMONIC CHANGE AND VOICE-LEADING ....................................103

4.1 VOICE LEADING PARSIMONY WITH CHORDS ...............................................103

4.2 SCALE-TO-SCALE PARSIMONY ..........................................................................112

4.3 HARMONIC HIERARCHY AND MODULATION ................................................131

vii

CHAPTER FIVE: TONALITY BY COMMON TONES ...........................................................138

5.1 PREPARING THE DISSONANT TONIC OF JEUX DE VAGUES.........................142

5.2 DE LAUBES GENERATIVE TETRACHORD, {B, C F G} .........................145 5.3 G AS BINDING AGENT ACROSS LA MER .........................................................153 CHAPTER SIX: INCONSTANT TONALITY ...........................................................................158

6.1 FUNCTION IN CHROMATIC MUSIC ...................................................................158

6.2 A FUNCTIONAL SPECTRUM ................................................................................162

6.3 INCONSTANCY AS METAPHOR ..........................................................................168

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................170

SCORES ......................................................................................................................................176

APPENDIX A: SCALE THEORY ..............................................................................................177

A.1 GENERATING WHOLE-STEP/HALF-STEP SCALES .........................................177

A.2 MODES AND TRANSPOSITIONS ........................................................................179

APPENDIX B: NON-SCALAR TEXTURES .............................................................................184

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 2.1: Overview of De laube midi sur la mer ........................................................................20

Fig. 2.2: Overview of Jeux de vagues ............................................................................................20

Fig. 2.3: Alternate form for Jeux de vagues...................................................................................21

Fig. 2.4: Overview of Dialogue du vent et de la mer ....................................................................21

Fig. 2.5: La mer as a symphony .....................................................................................................22

Fig. 2.6: At once familiar and unfamiliar : I/12 and I/35 compared ..........................................25

Fig. 2.7: Four motives that permeate La mer .................................................................................27

Fig. 2.8: Comparison of De laubes opening and closing themes ................................................28

Fig. 2.9: The challenge of harmonic reduction (II/2835: B7?) .................................................39Fig. 2.10: Pomeroys tonal derivation of II/135 ..........................................................................41

Fig. 2.11: De laube presents its initial tonic, I/2934...................................................................45

Fig. 2.12: What is De laubes closing tonic? (I/139141) ...........................................................48

Fig. 2.13: Conflicting functions at the end o