Part 25 (1/2)
By following the poeinative listener can readily appreciate the picturesque suggestiveness of the co, by a muted horn, of the motif d'appel, and then follows a triple presentation of the s--theat first by the violas and clarinets and later by the bass clarinet and 'cellos This original scoring establishes just the appropriate atmosphere for an entrance to the abode of captivity
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The first variation, in Fall the tone-color of the full orchestra, is a gorgeous picture of the Oriental splendor of Istar It is noteworthy that each variation contains aa factor of unity aht The second variation, in E nificant for the way in which the original theical derivation of the fabric fro_
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The fourth variation, in F-sharp s and staccato ind, with light touches on horns, trule and harps, introduces the scherzo mood into the work and with its persistent 5/4 rhyth effect
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The loveliest variation for warmth and emotional appeal is the sixth, in A-flat radual addition of the ind and harps Its climax certainly does much to atone for any dryness found in d'Indy's other works
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In the next variation, at P, the trend of the work becoly manifest for it is written in only two voices, scored for flute and violins and is a dramatic preparation for the announcement of the complete main theme which is now proclaimed in unison by the full orchestra The work closes with a transforthe successful result of Istar's quest (See Supplement No 62)
Debussy, Claude Achille, (1862-1918) is certainly the e that ”Roeness to beauty”; for e listen to his music we are conscious of material and of forms of treatment which we have never heard before Debussy has listened to the proination and has evolved a style as novel as it is beautiful As with all real originators, Debussy at the outset was fiercely challenged, and his music even to-day calls forth intolerant remarks on the part of those who are suspicious of all artistic progress and evolution In this connection it is worthy of note that the French, notwithstanding their national doctrine of liberty, have been chary of applying this to co from the beaten path
Berlioz, whoreatest artists, elcomed as he deserved only after his fahtly appreciated during his life
Franck met with fierce opposition froh the work by which he won the ”Prix de Ro which had been heard at the Institute for years, was afterwards severely criticized for the setting made in Rome to Rossetti's _Blessed Damozel_ because, forsooth, he had strayed too far from established and revered tradition We Ae that the est note of which is personal freedoht of the artist to express in his oay the proination--idely studied and appreciated in this land of the free before it had begun to have anything like a universal acceptance a the French themselves
[Footnote 290: From this comparison we should not wish it to be understood that Debussy is roup of Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, etc; his style, however, is surely Roinative and individual]
But can any connection with the past be traced in the style of this remarkable[291] composer, and can we discover any sources, in the world of nature, from which he has derived theharmonies? When we definitely analyze Debussy's harmonic scheme, we see that he looks both forward and back Much of his original tone coloring is derived from the old church ian; for exa chords of his opera, and the following passage froloutie_
[Footnote 291: The _tres exceptionnel, tres curieux, tres solitaire Claude Debussy_ as he has been aptly characterized]
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He is also extremely fond of a scale of whole tones, which had been somewhat anticipated by Liszt and members of the Russian[292] school
In this the nor harmonic basis
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[Footnote 292: The first authentic use being probably by Dargomijsky in his opera the _Stone Guest_]
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[Music: _Reflets dans l'eau_]
Modern co for so too closely to the major and minor diatonic scales; and Brahms, Tchaikowsky and Franck have all introduced the old modes for special contrasts of color But no one has used them so subtly as Debussy In his music they often take the place of our customary scales with their deep-rooted harestion of traditional cadences This return to the greater flexibility and variety of the old nificant feature in modern hly beneficial As to his alleged use of new material, an astute French critic has observed that ”a revolution is merely an evolution rendered apparent” By no means all of music can be found in nature, but the basis is there, and it reination to select and to ao the scientist Helmholtz said, ”Our system of scales and of harmonic tissues does not rest upon unalterable natural laws, but is partly at least the result of aesthetic principles of selection, which have already changed, and will change still further with the progressive development of humanity”[293] In other words the limits of receptivity of the hus of the artistic iination be prescribed The so-called Chord of Nature,[294] consisting of the overtones struck off by any sounding body, and re-enforced on the pianoforte with its large sounding board, contains in epitome this basic material ofmanner the harmonic combinations used at different periods of develop but triads were in use; only gradually were 7th chords--those of four factors--introduced Wagner was the first to realize the possibilities of chords of the 9th, 11th, and 13th In Debussy these co_
[Music: _Pelleas et Melisande_]
[Music: _La fille aux cheveux de lin_]
[Music: _Reflets dans l'eau_]