Claude Debussy: Estampes – Nos. 1 and 2 Flashcards
Who is Claude Debussy?
Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was a French composer of the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
What is Estampes?
Estampes is a set of three pieces for piano, composed in 1903.
No.1 - Pagodes: What is the form?
Ternary form.
No.1 - Pagodes: what is key signature?
The key signature of five sharps suggests B major or G♯ minor but neither key is properly established.
No.1 - Pagodes: An ostinato is started at bar 3, what type of scale is this based on?
Pentatonic scale
No.1 - La soirée dans Grenade: What is the rhythm of the piece based on?
The Habanera, originally a cuban dance.
No.1 - La soirée dans Grenade: Describe the chords?
Parallel chords, a favourite Debussy device, can be heard in various sections of the piece, e.g. from bar 17, where there are parallel seventh chords.
No.1 - La soirée dans Grenade: Describe the melody at the beginning of the piece.
The melody beginning at bar 7 is like a Moorish lament. It starts with extreme dissonance with the opening D clashing against the C♯ in the right hand. The distinctive augmented second of flamenco music can be heard in the third bar (B♯ to A). Otherwise the melody is distinctly conjunct.
No.1 - La soirée dans Grenade: What ornament is used at bar 12?
an acciaccatura
No.1 - La soirée dans Grenade: What is the timing and rhythm like at the beginning of the piece?
In simple duple time and has a distinctive rhythm of dotted quaver, semiquaver and two quavers.
No.1 - La soirée dans Grenade: Name a playing technique used.
cross-hand
