Copyright by Janelle Suzanne Ragno 2005 · Janelle Suzanne Ragno, ... variational process based on the hymn and hidden quotes of the French anthem “La Marseillaise” in the third

Copyright

by

Janelle Suzanne Ragno

2005

The Treatise Committee for Janelle Suzanne Ragno Certifies that this is the

approved version of the following treatise:

The Lutheran Hymn “Ein’ feste Burg”

in Claude Debussy’s Cello Sonata (1915):

Motivic Variation and Structure

Committee:

Elliott Antokoletz, Supervisor

Phyllis Young, Co-Supervisor

Eugene Gratovich

B. David Neubert

Marianne Wheeldon

Howard T. Prince II

THE LUTHERAN HYMN “EIN’ FESTE BURG”

IN CLAUDE DEBUSSY’S CELLO SONATA (1915):

MOTIVIC VARIATION AND STRUCTURE

by

Janelle Suzanne Ragno B.M.; M.M.

Treatise

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

The University of Texas at Austin

in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts

The University of Texas at Austin

August 2005

iv

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge a number of people whose assistance and expertise

have made this treatise possible:

Dr. Elliott Antokoletz, my supervisor, who spent countless hours reading my

work and gave me his valuable advice.

Phyllis Young, my cello professor and mentor throughout my studies at the

University of Texas. Her guidance has helped me make it through this degree, and she

has given me the tools for my success in the future.

My committee members: Dr. Eugene Gratovich, Dr. David Neubert, Dr. Marianne

Wheeldon and Dr. Howard Prince II for their time and encouragement.

Dell Hollingsworth and others from the Harry Ransom Center for helping me find

fascinating information from the vast archives contained within.

Kenneth Caswell, who was generous in inviting Dr. Antokoletz and me to his

house to show us the Welte pianos and scroll recordings of Debussy.

All the proctors in the Music Computer Lab and the Fine Arts Computer Lab,

who answered all my questions about Finale and put out more than a few small fires.

Now a very special group of people:

Andrew Luchkow you are a God-send. Thank you for your emotional support,

for feeding me many meals when I ran out of time to eat, for listening to my lecture, and

for even helping me revise Finale documents at the last minute. I could not have

completed this without your help and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with

you.

v

Thank you to my good friend, Miranda Wilson for lending her ears, lecture

experience and emotional support. Miranda, I know your life is just as crazy as mine and

I really appreciate all you do. I hope our paths cross many times in the future after we

graduate.

And finally, thank you to my Mother, Father and Step-Mother who have shown

me their love and support all throughout my musical studies, from the moment I first

began playing music. Your belief in me has taken me this far.

Thank you.

vi

The Lutheran Hymn “Ein’ feste Burg”

in Claude Debussy’s Cello Sonata (1915):

Motivic Variation and Structure

Publication No._____________

Janelle Suzanne Ragno, D.M.A.

The University of Texas at Austin, 2005

Supervisors: Elliott Antokoletz and Phyllis Young

Although very few cellists are aware of its presence in the Debussy Cello Sonata,

the notes and rhythm of the Lutheran hymn “Ein’ feste Burg” are quoted Debussy’s

initial sketch of the sonata, implying a raison d’être that until now has remained

unnoticed. The discovery of Debussy’s application of motives derived from the hymn

will redefine how musicians view the sonata, as the symbolic significance of a motivic

variational process based on the hymn and hidden quotes of the French anthem “La

Marseillaise” in the third movement of the Sonata will place this piece into the context of

World War I and in accord with the nationalist attitudes of the French and Germans at the

time. Currently, the popular explanation of the sonata involves the commedia dell’arte

story of Pierrot Angry at the Moon, but there is no solid evidence for the claim, only

rumors.

vii

Debussy also did not write in isolation from the artistic community. Between the

Prussian War and World War I certain groups sought to preserve French culture by

calling for a return to French classicism in music (from the styles of Rameau and

Couperin) and by banning all German music. While Debussy admitted his desire to

preserve French culture, he refused to adhere to their artistic demands which would have

limited his art. This treatise will examine Debussy’s response to the situation and the

significance of “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise” in the Cello Sonata.

“Ein’ feste Burg,” more commonly known in English as “A Mighty Fortress is

Our God,” was composed by Martin Luther in 1529 during the Protestant Reformation.

Since its composition, a number of composers have set the hymn for various purposes;

Debussy used the hymn and “La Marseillaise” in the piano duet En blanc et noir of 1915,

the same year as the Cello Sonata. The work is thought to depict the conflicts between

France and Germany through programmatic descriptions of war and symbolic

presentations of the melodies, set within a tonal dichotomy which is based on the musical

process in Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande.

By this study, it will be now known that the Cello Sonata also bears the “Ein’

feste Burg” hymn, which undergoes a motivic variational process in the work. In the first

movement of the Cello Sonata, entitled “Prologue,” “Ein’ feste Burg” is hidden within a

more traditional French style. In the second movement, entitled “Sérénade,” the hymn is

treated more abstractly through motivic variation. This results in a conflict of keys and

motives that are then defeated by motives of “La Marseillaise” in the third movement,

viii

entitled “Finale.” The contours of the melodic lines based on both tunes in the Cello

Sonata are in some cases nearly identical except for the change in rhythm. In this treatise,

I will analyze in detail the motivic variational process to which it appears Debussy

subjected the “Ein’ feste Burg” theme in the Cello Sonata, and the structure that evolves

from that process.

ix

Table of Contents

List of Figures ....................................................................................................... xii

THE DISCOVERY 1

Finding “Ein’ feste Burg” ........................................................................................1

Pierrot fâché avec la lune (Pierrot Angry at the Moon)..........................................2

“Ein’ feste Burg” in the Sketch of the Cello Sonata................................................5

Summary of Events leading to France’s Entry Into the War ...................................8

French Music and Art During World War One .......................................................9

Debussy’s Feelings Towards the War and Germans .............................................14

Debussy’s Style Changes and Reception...............................................................16 “Noël des enfants qui n’ont pas de maisons” (1915)....................................20 Berceuse héroïque.........................................................................................20 Sonata for Flute, Harp and Viola ..................................................................21 Sonata for Violin and Piano..........................................................................21

PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE 24 Motivic and Cellular Development in Pelléas et Mélisande.........................25

“EIN' FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT” 28

“Ein’ feste Burg” History.......................................................................................28

Why Would Debussy Use “Ein’ feste Burg?” .......................................................30

EN BLANC ET NOIR 33

“Ein’ feste Burg” in En blanc et noir.....................................................................33 First Section ..................................................................................................34 Third Section.................................................................................................35 Second Section..............................................................................................35

x

Analysis of the Second Movement of En blanc et noir in terms of “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise” ..............................................37

THE CELLO SONATA 44

Primary Sources .....................................................................................................44 Debussy's Remarks .......................................................................................44 A Secret Dedication? ....................................................................................45 Evidence Found in the Music .......................................................................46

Secondary Sources .................................................................................................46

Musical Elements of the Cello Sonata ...................................................................49 Motives from “Ein’ feste Burg”....................................................................49 Rhythmic Modifications of “Ein’ feste Burg” ..............................................50 Abstraction....................................................................................................52 Dichotomies Between Elements ...................................................................53

Some Comments on Interpretation ........................................................................54

“Sérénade” (Second Movement)............................................................................59 Overall development of the movement.........................................................59 Analysis of the “Sérénade” Movement.........................................................61

Section A..............................................................................................61 Section B..............................................................................................69 Section A..............................................................................................73 Section C..............................................................................................78 Section A..............................................................................................89

“Prologue” (First Movement) Analysis .................................................................93 Exposition ............................................................................................94 Development ......................................................................................100 Recapitulation ....................................................................................105

“Finale” (Third Movement) Analysis ..................................................................105 Section A............................................................................................106 Section B............................................................................................109

xi

Section A’ and C................................................................................110 Section D............................................................................................110 Section A and C .................................................................................111 Coda 112

CONCLUSION 114

Bibliography ........................................................................................................116

Vita .....................................................................................................................124

List of Figures

Figure 1, “Ein’ feste Burg” in treble clef, C Major .................................................5

Figure 2, “Ein’ feste Burg” in bass clef, E Major ..................................................5

Figure 3, mm. 79-89, En blanc et noir...................................................................37

Figure 4, mm.162-166, En blanc et noir................................................................38

Figure 5, “La Marseillaise” with traditional rhythmic values................................38

Figure 6, mm. 22-23, Second section, En blanc et noir.........................................39

Figure 7, mm. 53-54, Second section, En blanc et noir.........................................39

Figure 8, mm. 129-130, Second section, En blanc et noir.....................................40

Figure 9, mm. 132-133, Second section, En blanc et noir.....................................40

Figure 10, mm. 18-21, Second section, En blanc et noir.......................................41

Figure 11, mm. 10-11, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ..................................................41

Figure 12, mm. 109-111, Second section, En blanc et noir...................................42

Figure 13, mm.7-9, “Finale,” Cello Sonata ...........................................................43

Figure 14, mm. 41-43, “Finale,” Cello Sonata ......................................................43

Figure 15, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive a ...................................................................49

Figure 16, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive b ...................................................................49

Figure 17, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive c ...................................................................49

Figure 18, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive d ...................................................................50

Figure 19, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive e ...................................................................50

Figure 20, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive f....................................................................50

Figure 21, m.1, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata .............................................................51

Figure 22, Sketch of opening bars of “Sérénade” with initial passage in upper left

corner ................................................................................................61

xii

xiii

Figure 23, mm. 1-4, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata......................................................63



Figure 26, Sketch of passage in “Sérénade” with E harmonics.............................67

Figure 27, mm. 10-11, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata..................................................67

Figure 28, mm.12-16 (first part of B section), “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata .............69

Figure 29, Sketch of “Sérénade” with initial B section passage in diatonic..........70

Figure 30, mm. 17-18 (second part of B section), “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata .......72

Figure 31, mm. 18-19, Sketch, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata.....................................73



Figure 34, m. 25, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata ..........................................................76


Figure 36, Contour of C section corresponding to “Ein’ feste Burg,” “Sérénade,”

Cello Sonata ......................................................................................78

Figure 37, mm.28-30, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata...................................................80

Figure 38, mm.31-54, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata...................................................82


Figure 40, m. 58, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata ..........................................................92

Figure 41, mm. 59-64 (end), “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata ........................................93

Figure 42, mm. 1-4, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ......................................................95

Figure 43, “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn condensed ......................................................96

Figure 44, mm. 45-46, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ..................................................96

Figure 45, mm. 5-7, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ......................................................97

Figure 46, mm. 8-11, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ....................................................98

xiv

Figure 47, mm. 20-21, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ................................................101

Figure 48, m. 28, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ........................................................102

Figure 49, mm. 29-34, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata ................................................103

Figure 50, mm. 35-36, “Prologue,” Cello Part in Cello Sonata...........................104

Figure 51, The “La Marseillaise” melody in A Major.........................................106

Figure 52, mm. 3-5, “Finale,” Cello Sonata ........................................................107

Figure 53, mm. 6-11, “Finale,” Cello Sonata ......................................................108

Figure 54, “La Marseillaise” melody as it would be completed with B and C#..108

Figure 55, mm. 15-18, “Finale,” Cello Sonata ....................................................109



Figure 58, mm. 112-114, “Finale,” Cello Sonata ................................................112

Figure 59, mm. 115-End, Sketch of last section of “Finale” ...............................113

THE DISCOVERY

Finding “Ein’ feste Burg”

The discovery of “Ein’ feste Burg” in Claude Debussy’s Cello Sonata (1915), and

the composer’s application of motives derived from it throughout the work, did not come

about all at once. In fact, it was more than ten years ago that the cellist Moray Welsh

first discovered the melody, but only as a series of notes in the sketch. Two months later,

a commentary article by Alan Gibbs appeared in a Strad magazine stating that the melody

was actually the Lutheran hymn “Ein’ feste Burg.” This commentary article from August

1992 that I first encountered read:

The ‘tone row’ which Moray Welsh quotes as Ex.2 of his informative masterclass article on Debussy’s Cello Sonata (June 1992) is no plainsong, but Luther’s “Ein feste Burg” (A stronghold sure). Slightly unexpected, to say the least, and seemingly worlds removed from the spirit of the Sonata. Perhaps its words were a comfort to the mortally ill composer; and its shape may indeed have been the starting point for significant ones in the Sonata… 1

When I returned to the original article by Moray Welsh, the passage concerning

the tune read as follows:

The melodic material [in the sonata] has an organic growth from one idea to another, with considerable play around certain melodic cells, and groupings of notes. One can really feel the way in which Debussy was exploring this material as he went along, so that the structure evolved as a result of ever-renewing variation, with one section added to another to create a whole.

At the top of the first page of the second movement, there is an isolated phrase jotted down next to the pizzicato theme from the second movement which is one of those cells, in a rough hewn version, written out in such a way that it looks like

1 Alan Gibbs, “Debussy’s Lutheran Side?” Strad 103/1228 (Aug 1992), 684.

1

a plainsong melody. This whole tone sequence of the descending fourth from E to B recurs in various places throughout the sonata, as does the outline interval of a tritone. 2

Yet Moray Welsh shies away from analyzing the sonata in terms of this “tone

row,” which may have led him to discover the significance of it in the Sonata. He adds:

Lest the task of analysis should start to assume too important a function, in any of the discussion of the interpretation of Debussy’s music there is always a ghostly hand tapping one on the shoulder if not actually rapping one over the knuckles, in the persona of Monsieur Croche, the alter ego musical critic in Debussy.3

Now, thirteen years later, in this treatise I will uncover the concept of motivic

variation in the Cello Sonata using the fragments of “Ein’ feste Burg” to illuminate the

musical significance I believe Debussy originally intended the sonata to bear. Obviously,

Debussy did not feel that he needed to communicate this musical intent verbally, or else

he would have done so. And it is true that Debussy did not like analyses of his works,

but when the use of musical quotation is obvious, one cannot refrain from investigating

its significance and application in the music. Especially in these modern times when the

Pierrot fâché avec la lune (Pierrot Angry at the Moon) program, the existence of which

Debussy certainly did not approve, is all that is available to guide us in understanding the

Sonata.

Pierrot fâché avec la lune (Pierrot Angry at the Moon)

Until last year, my thoughts regarding the Debussy Cello Sonata were formed by

what I had read and heard from other cellists and scholars, that the program of the Sonata

is the Pierrot Angry at the Moon program which apparently Debussy had originally titled

2 Moray Welsh, “Un Embarras de Richésse,” Strad 103/1226 (June1992), 517. 3 Welsh, “Un Embarras de Richésse,” 519.

2

the second movement, but later rescinded. But nowhere in my research did I find any

proof of there ever being a Pierrot story in any of Debussy’s letters, sketches or accounts

by friends. Even in scholarly writing, mention of the Pierrot story very rarely includes

footnotes referring to any primary sources. Real evidence is lacking that any Pierrot

program ever existed at all. The closest we come is in Debussy’s statement concerning

the misconceptions with his music after Rosoor’s visit:

Yesterday I had a visit from Mr. L. Roos… (Rosoor). For a moment he made me feel sorry I’d composed a sonata and I began to wonder whether my writing was at fault! This episode has worried me considerably; the ramifications are many and I’m not surprised any more that my poor music is so often misunderstood. Without dramatizing it unduly, it was terrifying. Why wasn’t I taught how to polish spectacles, like Spinoza? Then I’d never have to rely on music to provide my daily bread… It’s a miscalculation, indeed I would go so far as to say dishonest. If it weren’t too late, unfortunately, to make something out of this bitter truth.4

Moray Welsh, in an article entitled “Behind the Moon-Eyed Mask,” presents a

study of the facts and circumstances surrounding the Sonata. At first makes the statement

that Pierrot Angry at the Moon is indeed no where to be found in the sketch or first

edition Sonata, even though some claim that it was to have initially been its title but was

later rescinded by Debussy. But Welsh then says that Debussy was fond of the commedia

dell’arte theater, and attempts to support the Pierrot program with subjective historical

evidence. Welsh goes on to write that perhaps Debussy originally thought of the idea and

confided in the cellist, but then denied the claim when Rosoor started to distribute the

program to audiences, an act Debussy no doubt abhorred.5

4 Moray Welsh, “Behind the Moon-eyed Mask,” Strad (April 1992), 325. 5 Claude Debussy, Sonate für Violoncello und Klavier, edited by G. Henle Verlag with a preface by Francios Lesure (1998).

3

On the other hand, by this time, French audiences were used to reading

educational programs at concerts,6 and perhaps Rosoor felt he needed to provide more

information about the Sonata for this reason. He may have then gone to Debussy for

advice, and it is possible then that Debussy toyed with his mind when asked for a

programmatic explanation of the Sonata, since Debussy is known to have disliked

programs. There are statements regarding Debussy’s manner of dealing with people:

I do not know but that, during the first period of our acquaintanceship, he imparted various confidences to me in order to see whether I would hasten to transform them into “echoes for the press.” He had his own method of ridding himself of newspaper men. It consisted in making those brusque and paradoxical statements with which (often in the most ridiculous manner) the French press has been nourished in the last fifteen years. 7

Lockspeiser, in his book Debussy His Life and Mind, also speaks of Debussy’s words:

What is certain with Debussy? The pleasure of scandalizing, the humor of the moment, the happiness of a word, but also imaginative fantasies... these can to diverse degrees falsify that which Debussy says or writes. 8

There is simply no evidence either way concerning the Cello Sonata and the

Pierrot Angry at the Moon program. All we have is Rosoor's insistence that Debussy

divulged the information (though the evidence even for this is hard to find) and Debussy's

letter saying that he was deeply troubled by the visit. Therefore, at this point, concerning

the Pierrot program, we can only haphazardly speculate about its use in the Sonata. The

“Ein’ feste Burg” tune, on the other hand, has much more solid evidence as being a basis

for the composer’s intentions.

6Francois Lesure and Roy Howat, Grove Encyclopedia 2nd edition, s.v. “Debussy, Claude,” 114. 7 G. Jean-Aubrey, “Claude Debussy,” Musical Quarterly 4 n1 (1918), 543. 8 Translated from the French by Miranda Wilson from Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind, 2 volumes (London, 1962), 66.

4

“Ein’ feste Burg” in the Sketch of the Cello Sonata

One major source of evidence concerning the presence of “Ein’ feste Burg” in the

Cello Sonata is the presence of it in the Sonata’s sketch. How is it possible to know for

certain that the presence of “Ein’ feste Burg” in the sketch of the Cello Sonata is

particularly meant for the Cello Sonata, instead of an idea for the piano duet En blanc et

noir, which also includes the hymn, and was composed at about the same time? At first it

seems quite likely that Debussy may have written the melody on simply an available

piece of paper while working on the piano piece, but further examination shows that the

particular quotation of the hymn belongs to the Cello Sonata.

One piece of evidence that might at first connect the hymn in the sketch to En

blanc et noir is that the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn in the sketch bears no clef sign, and it is

impossible to tell whether Debussy wrote the tune in treble clef (implying C major) or

bass clef (implying E major).

Figure 1, “Ein’ feste Burg” in treble clef, C Major

Figure 2, “Ein’ feste Burg” in bass clef, E Major

5

When Moray Welsh noticed the quotation, he interpreted it as being in bass clef.9

At first glance one could believe that the sketched hymn belongs to En blanc et noir since

in that piece the melody is quoted directly in E major in bass clef, and in octaves so that

the bottom voice contains the notes from the melody in the Sonata sketch exactly. But,

after careful examination of the Cello Sonata “Sérénade” movement, where the sketched

melody occurs, one can see that certain fragments of “Ein’ feste Burg” are repeated many

times. It is highly unlikely that Debussy would not have been aware that the second

movement contained an enormous amount of these small fragments of the melody. Also,

the Cello Sonata also contains not only a motivic variational process based on “Ein’ feste

Burg”, but also longer musical lines in the Sonata that are very close to the original

hymn.

But why would Debussy have written “Ein’ feste Burg” in C major in the sketch

when the Cello Sonata is clearly in D minor? There could be a number of explanations

for this: first of all, the “Sérénade” movement is not clearly in D minor as in the

“Prologue” and “Finale” movements which surround it. This second movement is

written in a much more abstract style that does not usually imply a particular key.10

Therefore it is possible that Debussy wanted to write the hymn in C major, which

contains no sharps or flats, in order to work with the intervals more easily.

Another explanation is that Debussy meant to use C and D to symbolize the

distinction between the French and German cultures. In the Sonata I have found that

9 Welsh, “Un Embarras de Richésse,” 517. 10 See section entitled “Dichotomies” for more info on this.

6

there in fact is a dichotomy between D and C, and that C often returns at particular times

when the “Ein’ feste Burg” tune is the strongest.

A piece of evidence that helps to negate the idea that the hymn may be meant for

En blanc et noir is that the sketch of the Cello Sonata is a complete entity in itself.

Rather than being a general sketchbook containing ideas for a number works it bears a

title page and numbered pages, implying exclusivity to the sonata. While it is possible

that Debussy may have used this exclusive sketch to write down an idea quickly for

another piece, it seems unlikely.

7

DEBUSSY AND WORLD WAR ONE

Summary of Events leading to France’s Entry Into the War

World War I began with the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke

Ferdinand, and his wife, by a nationalist organization in Serbia, and escalated quickly due

to the unexpected loyalties of allied countries. Ferdinand and his wife visited Sarajevo,

Bosnia in 1914 and were assassinated by students from the Black Hand group while

attending a festival. The Austro-Hungarian government believed it was actually

masterminded by the Serbian intelligence, and initiated a more serious conflict by

deliberately compiling a list of political demands they knew that Serbia would reject. But

Serbia, backed by Russia, was able to prepare itself for military conflict. This move then

drew Germany into the conflict since Russian mobilization meant a threat to German

security. But Germany would have to fight the bordering country of France, an ally of

Russia, since Germany would have to get them out of the way first in order to tackle the

greater enemy. And so France and Germany were brought into a war that did not

originally concern them at all, but to which they dedicated. France entered the war with

optimism, confident that a quick, decisive battle would be over by Christmas. 11

11 Victor Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France (New York, 1956), 34.

8

French Music and Art During World War One

“People sometimes inquire what form of government is most suitable for an artist to live under. To this question there is only one answer. The form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all. Authority over him and his art is ridiculous.”12

Between the time that France fought the Franco-Prussian war (1870) and World

War One, certain groups had been formed to protect their homeland by, among other

steps, nurturing an artistic environment in Paris (the cultural center of France) through

abundant funding of theatres and artists. Leaders in the Third Republic held the belief

that music should be written to serve the country. Control over music was given to

institutions such as the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts (starting in 1870) and

musical institutions were obligated to ask for permission before holding concerts of any

sort. This control was not necessarily negative, as the government also allotted many

funds towards the arts and even made public concerts affordable for the general public,

believing that art can have a positive moral influence on the citizens.13 All types of

concerts were given in great abundance, citizens began taking musical lessons, and a

number of musical journals such as Le Figaro thrived.14

Although French culture was greatly appreciated in pre-war Paris, the culture of

other nations also found recognition in the aesthetics of the public. A few French artists

even admitted their debt to other national styles, such as Vincent d’Indy who first wrote a

book entitled De Bach a Beethoven (1899) and then founded the Schola Cantorum based

12 Oscar Wilde met Debussy in Feb 1893, Oscar Wilde, “The Soul of Man Under Socialism” in Fortnightly review Cahiers Debussy 23 (Feb 1891), pg.313-4, as cited in Dèidre Donnellon, “The Anarchist Movement in France and Its Impact on Debussy,” Cahiers Debussy 23 (1999). 13 Francois Lesure and Roy Howat, Grove Encyclopedia 2nd edition, s.v. “Debussy, Claude,” 112. 14 Francois Lesure and Roy Howat, “Debussy, Claude,” 116.

9

on the belief that composition students were to study the masters of styles throughout

history, including: plainsong and chant and Beethoven’s style of composing symphonies.

These techniques, he believed, were the foundation of musical studies.15 In light of these

beliefs, the Schola promoted German-based compositional principles (such as counterpoint

and symphonic writing), particularly from the works of Beethoven. d’Indy required

students to master the styles of previous composers before embarking on their own

creativity.16 When the war broke out in 1914, the school’s emphasis changed drastically,

and suddenly the students were highly encouraged to write in a musical style that

reflected the roots of their heritage, dating back to the French classicists of the 17th and

18th centuries. The Schola banned German music as the music of the enemy, a decision

with which many musicians, including Debussy did not agree. Debussy wrote in his

Preface to Pour la musique française. Douze causeries 17 Apparently, the public might

have not been so fond of the new rules either, as can be seen in a 1918 article by J.G.

Prod'homme in the Musical Quarterly concerning the concerts in Paris:

But the experience of the season of 1914-1915, when every Austro-German composer was banished from the programs, has shown that it is a difficult matter when one follows music as a livelihood, to interest our music lovers in our school alone. Whereas, in ordinary times, the sum received by each member of the orchestra upon the partition of the proceeds of a concert was fifty or sixty francs, his quota on one Sunday of the season of 1914-1915 fell to eighteen francs! Such was the practical, the palpable result of the first “war season” at Paris.18

15 Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 59. 16 Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power: The Dialogic Element in Debussy’s Wartime Compositions,” In Debussy and His World, edited by Jane Fulcher (Princeton and Oxford, 2001) 236-7. 17 Claude Debussy, preface to Pour la musique française. Douze causeries, edited by Bach-Sisley (Paris: Editions Georges Grès et Cie., 1917). 18 D.C. Prod’homme, “Music and Musicians in Paris During the First Two Seasons of the War,” Musical Quarterly 4, no.1 (1918), 138.

10

But why this sudden change in the emphasis concerning art? Jane Fulcher

describes the “myth” of the wartime culture, invented by Charles Maurras (founder of

Ligue de l’Action Française) who decided that high art should return to its origins

(French classicism) in order to bring unity and victory to France. 19 This resulted in the

wartime belief that high art and culture were national rather than universal,20 and

classicism was seen as the means by which French culture could be defended from the

enemy.21 By 1916 certain people including Saint-Saëns had formed the Ligue pour la

Defense de la Musique Française, which implemented a proposition to ban all German

music and set a list of rules determining the “pure” French style.

Composers were under enormous pressure to write for the spirit of France under

these new rules, thereby associating their art with the war. Ravel said “I’m working.

Yes, I’m working, and with an insane certainty and lucidity. But, during this time, blues

are at work too, and suddenly I find myself sobbing over my sharps and flats!” 22 This

outburst sounds very much like what Debussy had also said about his own compositional

attempts at the time in a letter to Robert Godet on October 14, 1915:

It is certainly not essential that I write music, but it is all I am able to do more or less competently. I must humbly admit to the feeling of latent death within me. Accordingly, I write like a madman or like one who is condemned to die the next morning.23

19 As a result of the Dreyfus affair. Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power: The Dialogic Element in Debussy’s Wartime Compositions,” 204. 20 Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power,” 205. 21 Ibid., 206 22 Maurice Ravel, A Ravel Reader: Correspondance, Articles, Interviews, edited by Arbie Orenstein (New York, 1990), 150, as cited in Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 170. 23 Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind, 2 volumes (London, 1962) 211.

11

How did Debussy respond to this political decree concerning music? He certainly

felt a strong desire to return to the French style as used by old masters such as Jean-

Philippe Rameau and disliked the integration of other styles into French music. He said:

Since Rameau we have had no purely French tradition…. We adopted ways of writing that were quite contrary to our own nature, and excesses of language far from compatible with our own ways of thinking. We tolerated overblown orchestras, tortuous forms, cheap luxury and clashing colors, and we were about to give the seal of approval to even more suspect naturalizations when the sounds of gunfire put a sudden stop to it all. 24

As a critic, Debussy described what he thought constituted the French style:

We have, however, in Rameau’s work a pure French tradition full of charming and tender delicacy, well-balanced, strictly declamatory in recitative and without any affectation of German profundity or over-emphasis or impatient explanation… . We may, however, regret that French music should so long have followed a course of treacherously leading it away from that clarity of expression, that terse and condensed form, which is the peculiar and significant quality of the French genius.25

He certainly felt a strong link to his homeland, wanted to see victory for France,

and felt that music could assist in that victory since the contamination of French music

was part of the conflict with Germany at the time. Piet Ketting writes, “He hoped for

victory, basing his hope on the great cultural tradition of his people, a tradition

established in music by Rameau and the clavecinists.”26 Debussy with his own words

supports this notion as well in his Preface to Pour la musique française. Douze causeries

that were edited by Mme Bach-Sisley in 1917: “There are many ways that one can

24 Debussy on Music : the Critical Writings of the Great French Composer Claude Debussy. Collected and introducted by Francois Lesure; translated and edited by Richard Langham Smith. 1st American edition (New York, 1977), 322-323. 25 Claude Debussy, Monsieur Croche, the Dilettante Hater, From the French of Claude Debussy, with a foreword by Lawrence Gilman, (New York, 1928), 81. 26 Piet Ketting, Claude Debussy, translated from the Dutch by W. A. G. Doyle Davidson (Stockholm, 1947), 45.

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vanquish the enemy, and it is important, above all, to remember that music is both an

admirable and fecund means to do so.” 27

But there were limits on his submission to authority concerning French art.

Debussy felt a pull just as strong towards originality of artists, and feared that these new

rules towards French music would cause art to suffer. He then had no qualms about

criticizing those artists who appeared to be working solely for the public rather than their

own original ideas. 28 Saint-Saëns had claimed Debussy was finding favor with the

German style in En blanc et noir in his modernism, but Debussy criticized Saint-Saëns’

Les barbares for wandering from the French spirit by sacrificing his individual style and

writing for the public instead.29 Other composers also did not want to sacrifice their

individual style for the “good of France;” Ravel is known to have said that “he was tired

of being told that he was in effect “working for the' fatherland' by writing music.” 30

Debussy's music can be seen partly as a reaction to the new rules to which the

Republican groups expected conformity, but also as a reflection of his own pride in

France and the French heritage. While he felt that it was necessary to preserve the

French style of music and return to the old masters, Debussy also believed that this return

should not sacrifice the originality and imaginative mind of the artist. In his later works,

one can see that Debussy does use many French techniques and symbolism to promote

27 Translated in Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power: The Dialogic Element in Debussy’s” In Debussy and His World, edited by Jane Fulcher (Princeton and Oxford, 2001), 211. 28 David Z. Kushner, “Claude Debussy as Music Critic,” American Music Teacher 33 (14) n2 (Nov/Dec 1983), 14. 29 Kushner, “Claude Debussy as Music Critic,” 14. 30 Maurice Ravel, A Ravel Reader: Correspondance, Articles, Interviews, edited by Arbie Orenstein (New York, 1990), 155. In Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 171.

13

the idea of French victory, and in his written and verbal commentary Debussy often

speaks of victory for France and of spite for the Germans, but there is also an element of

individuality in every piece of commentary whether it be musical or verbal. Debussy

often seems to acknowledge in his works that the conflict holds more complexity than

right and wrong, that through art one must tell the honest truth. In the cello sonata in

particular, he employs the sonata form, traditionally a German genre admired by d’Indy,

and infuses it with the French classicist style,31 mostly in regards to balance and

proportion.

Debussy’s Feelings Towards the War and Germans

On June 29, 1914, before France joined the fighting armies in World War I,

Debussy wrote to Durand of his feelings towards the growing political tension: “Paris is

becoming more and more hateful to me, and I would like to get away a little. Literally, I

cannot endure anymore.”32 Soon after France entered the war, Debussy wrote again to

Durand on August 8, 1914, this time about his feeling of hopelessness and uselessness: “I

am nothing more than a poor man whirled like an atom by this frightful cataclysm. What

I am doing seems so wretchedly petty to me.” 33 Many times in these last few years of

his life Debussy would profess his desire to help fight the war, but as he was old and ill

with colon cancer, he could not join the army. At one point he said “If, to assure victory

31 Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power,” In Debussy and His World, edited by Jane Fulcher (Princeton and Oxford, 2001), 222. 32 Marcel Dietschy, A Portrait of Claude Debussy, edited and translated from the French by William Ashbrook and Margaret Cobb (London, 1990) , 177. 33 Dietschy, A Portrait of Claude Debussy, 177.

14

they are absolutely in need of another face to be bashed in, I’ll offer mine without

hesitation.”34

These years of 1915-1917 during the war mark the last three musically productive

years of Debussy’s life in which he struggled with illness and depression. A couple of

his friends, such as Louis Laloy in particular, even thought that his unhealthy obsession

with the war may have ultimately contributed to his death: “It may have been the cause of

his illness, but it certainly accelerated its sudden progress, which was quiescent until

then.” 35

Concerning culture, Debussy was fearful of the Germans taking over not only

France as a country, but the French culture and art as well. Edward Lockspeiser says that

Debussy saw the war “however frightful,… principally as a belated material expression

of spiritual or aesthetic antagonisms.”36 The composer wrote to Stravinsky of these fears:

In these last years, when I smelled “Austro-Boches” miasma in art, I wished for more authority to shout my worries, warn of the dangers we so credulously approached. Did no one suspect these people of plotting the destruction of our art as they had prepared the destruction of our countries? 37

In Seroff's book Debussy Musician of France the author writes “...Debussy left no

doubt as to how he felt about the Germans.” And goes on to quote a letter Debussy wrote:

While I was in Dieppe I saw Monsieur X, who came on furlough. He is a skeptic and declares that he has not seen a single Boche, and compares their existence to that of a rat. On the other hand, the son of my wife's maid came to see his mother, and has an entirely different attitude, I assure you. He is a real Frenchman and a real soldier. Here is one who does not talk of stopping the war,

34 Victor Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France (New York, 1956), 321. 35 Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France, 342. 36 Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind, 2 volumes (London, 1962), 206. 37Igor Stravinsky and Robert Craft, Conversations with Igor Stravinsky (New York, 1959), 57-59.

15

who has seen the Boche's face and wishes, at least, to wipe it off the earth. He says all this in simple words, but very vividly, and like a Japanese, he smiles.38

Debussy’s Style Changes and Reception

Throughout his life, Claude Debussy had always been a controversial composer

due to his refusal to adhere to a particular school of composition. This independence,

says Dèidre Donnellon in “Debussy and Anarchy,” may not have been fully accepted by

many of those in the media and public because his art was an open challenge to

conformity, a kind of “social revolt.” 39 Some even believe that Debussy’s art is the first

“outpouring” of anarchy in music,40 appealing to the artists since it disregarded public

opinion and nurtured individuality.41

At both the early and late stages of his career (the later stage beginning in 1915,

when he resumed composing once again during the war) Debussy had many adversaries

and admirers. In the earlier part of his career there were even a group of young

composers called “Debussyists” whom he regarded as imitating his techniques, but not

the intentions of his works, claiming they were “admirers” not “disciples.” 42 There

were others who criticized what was labeled by the media to be Debussy's

“impressionistic”43 music because of its lack of melody44 and ambiguity in tonality and

38 Victor Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France (New York, 1956), 331. 39 Dèidre Donnellon, “The Anarchist Movement in France and Its Impact on Debussy,” Cahiers Debussy 23 (1999), 50. 40 Donnellon, “The Anarchist Movement in France and Its Impact on Debussy,” 52. 41 Ibid., 46. 42 Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France, 268. 43 The controversy over labels applied to Debussy’s earlier style is not relevant to this study and it is for another paper to contend with. For the purposes of this paper I will refer to Debussy's earlier style by the term that most musicians recognize as being that of Debussy – impressionist.

16

rhythm. But his desire to avoid a particular “style” led to harsh criticism after his music

began to evolve away from his initial style.

The compositions from Debussy’s last years have received very little recognition

until the last decade, relative to their historical significance. Since the style of these

pieces had changed from Debussy’s earlier “impressionist” years, many critics and

friends thought them of lower quality. The music was met with harsh criticism. Emile

Vuillermoz wrote a bold article in a 1907 newspaper stating:

M. Debussy does not condescend to send them anything but old compositions… that [lack] fluidity, freshness and brilliance… One wonders whether … M. Debussy is not losing that marvelous skill, that instinct which has made him one of the most remarkable poets of the modern orchestra. If that is the case, I see only one remedy for this disastrous situation. Let the composer of Pelleas read the works of the young composers who are regarded as his pupils… He will find all the new sonorous effects which he seems to have forgotten… If he does not resolutely take his place once more at the head of the contemporary musical movement, the composer of Pelleas will find that the young generation of parasites which has grown up around his work is writing Debussyist music -better than he.45

Nadia Boulanger also joined in the criticism: “Debussy’s last compositions are

frankly inferior. But it is not strange, since they were written under the strain of war and

the steady progress of an incurable disease.”46 Another scholar and author, Oscar

Thompson in his book Debussy the Man and Artist (1937) felt that the later works were

not masterpieces either, in light of the earlier works.47 More recent scholarship gives a

more balanced perspective of Debussy's later works, however few scholars will give

equal attention to both Debussy’s later and earlier works.

44 Debussy is said to have replied to the statement that his music has no melody, “but sir, my music aims at nothing but melodies!” Rollo Myers, Claude Debussy: The story of His Life and Work, (London, 1972), 30. 45 Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France, 264. 46 Don G. Campbell, Master Teacher : Nadia Boulanger (Washington, D.C., 1984), 126. 47 Oscar Thompson, Debussy: Man and Artist (New York, 1937), 334.

17

One author, Jean Darnaudet praised Debussy's later compositions in his articles

for Action française, claiming that they were in fact superior to the earlier ones because

they contained traditional melody and defined rhythm, two characteristics that reflect the

French classicism promoted at the time.48

Debussy himself had admitted that his style had changed without conscious effort,

and continually complained that his works were very grim and depressing. He said of the

sonata for flute, harp and viola, on Dec 11, 1916:

The sound of it is not bad, though it is not for me to speak to you of much. I could do so, however, without embarrassment, for it is the music of a Debussy I no longer know. It is frightfully mournful, and I don’t know whether one ought to laugh or cry at it. Perhaps both.49

Jane Fulcher believes Debussy’s change in style resulted from a change of focus

from himself, individuality and sensual music to ideas and his French heritage.50 Perhaps

this stylistic change from the colorful “impressionistic” music to music that focused more

on organic form and process51 is due to his illness and the harsh realities of the war, but

this transformation is no basis for claiming that the music is less masterful just because it

is not the same style which was so popular and often imitated in his earlier years.

48 Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power: The Dialogic Element in Debussy’s Wartime Compositions,” In Debussy and His World, edited by Jane Fulcher (Princeton and Oxford, 2001), 211. 49 Lockspeiser, Debussy, 217. 50 Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power, ” 214. 51 Roy Howat, Debussy In Proportion: A Musical Analysis (Cambridge, 1983), 30.

18

Some composers, such as Saint-Saëns, saw this abstraction as being from German

influence and tried to stop it. Saint-Saëns, on faculty at the Schola Cantorum, in a letter to

Fauré about En blanc et noir, accused Debussy of being influenced by the Germans (and

therefore denying his French heritage), by implying an affiliation with a modern Cubist

style:

I advise you to look at the pieces for two pianos, Noir et Blanc [sic], which M. Debussy has just published. It is unbelievable, and we must at all costs bar the door of the Institute to a gentleman capable of such atrocities, fit to be placed beside Cubist paintings.52

One can only guess what Saint-Saëns would have said of the Cello Sonata, had he

known the amount of abstraction Debussy to which subjected “Ein’ feste Burg” in the

work.

52 Nectoux, J. M. ed., Camille Saint-Saëns et Gabriel Fauré: Correspondance, soixante and d’amitié (Pairs, 1973), 107-108. Translated in Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 93.

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DEBUSSY’S LATE COMPOSITIONS

“NOËL DES ENFANTS QUI N’ONT PAS DE MAISONS” (1915) Almost all of Debussy’s later works reflect the composer’s obsession with the

war. The most explicit of these works are war-related songs, with texts that reveal French

nationalism and anti-German tendencies, such as: “Noël des enfants qui n’ont pas de

maisons” (1915), the only text Debussy is known to have written himself. The music

alternates between innocence, threat and irony:

Our houses are gone! The enemy has taken everything, even our little beds! They burned the school and the schoolmaster. They burned the church and the Lord Jesus! And the poor old man who couldn't get away! Our houses are gone! The enemy has taken everything, even our little beds! Of course, Papa has gone to war. Poor Mama died before she saw all this. Christmas! Little Christmas! Don't go to their houses, never go there again. Punish them! Avenge the children of France! The little Belgians, the little Serbs and the little Poles, too! If we've forgotten anyone, forgive us. Christmas! Christmas! Above all, no toys. Try to give us our daily bread again. Our houses are gone! The enemy has taken everything, even our little beds! They burned the school and the schoolmaster. They burned the church and the Lord Jesus! And the poor old man who couldn't get away! Christmas, listen to us. Our wooden shoes are gone, but grant victory to the children of France.53

BERCEUSE HÉROÏQUE Another work that reflects Debussy's feelings towards the war, written just

before En blanc et noir, is Berceuse héroïque (1914), which depicts realistic sounds of

battle and a funeral march. This work was not popular at its composition because it

showed the grim realities of war during a time when the French public wanted to be

reminded of heroic scenes and victory.

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SONATA FOR FLUTE, HARP AND VIOLA The sonata for flute, harp and viola of 1915, one of the three sonatas that were

actually written from the set of six Debussy originally intended, is considered by some

today a “sunny” work 54 but one performance of the work in a bourgeois house left the

audience in tears. Debussy responded, “My dear, they cried so that I wondered whether I

should apologize.”55 Even Debussy admitted that upon hearing it, he was not sure

whether to laugh or cry at it.56 Although no scholar has delved into the work in reaction

to these events, the comments leave one wondering whether there is more to the work

concerning the war than we have previously thought.

SONATA FOR VIOLIN AND PIANO Debussy himself then offered comments to Godet about his violin sonata

(1918), his last completed work and third in the projected set of six sonatas, in a letter

dated May 1917: “Beware in the future of works which appear to inhabit the skies; often

they are the product of a dark, morose mind.”57 Later again to Godet in a letter dated June

7, 1917:

Your enthusiasm for the sonata is going to receive, I am afraid, a cold shower when the “object” is in your hands… You, who know how to read between the lines, will see the traces of that Devil of Perversity who pushes us to choose ideas that should be left alone… The sonata will be interesting only from one point of view, purely documentary, and as an example of what a sick man could have written during the war. 58

53Translation from French to English by Faith J. Cormier, www.recmusic.org/lieder/d/debussy/noel.des.enfants.html 54 Richard Parks, “Structure and Performance,” in Debussy In Performance, ed. James Briscoe (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 194. 55 Victor Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France (New York, 1956), 342. 56 Seroff, Debussy, 332. 57 Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind, 2 volumes (London, 1962), 214.

21

Debussy spoke of the last movement of the sonata, saying that he had an idea

for the finale: “Only the first two parts won’t have anything to do with it.” 59 Some hear

this last movement as having Spanish flavor, with a theme strongly reminiscent of

Debussy’s earlier orchestral work, Iberia. This also is the theme that the composer spoke

of when the sonata underwent six revisions, and Debussy’s changed from a desire to use

a cellular theme instead to use what became a theme that “is subjected to the most curious

deformations and ultimately leaves the impression of a theme turning back on itself like a

serpent biting its own tail.” 60 It is curious to note that Debussy would write a work that

conjures up such strong Spanish thoughts, but it could be speculated that Debussy was

paying homage to the Spanish people, who had given a great amount of assistance to

France during World War I. In the Cello Sonata “Finale” the composer also includes a

short section (mm. 23-34) which sounds Spanish in style; it could possibly be included

for the same reason that I speculated the Spanish style was included in En blanc et noir,

since in both works the appearance of a Spanish style is very close to the French anthem,

“La Marseillaise.”

Although these comments and stylistic associations leave us wondering exactly

what Debussy meant by them (which will perhaps be discovered in years to come),

obviously, these works reflect the impact of the horrors of war on the composer and leave

much room for the interpretation of the Cello Sonata, a context which has been

previously ignored.

58 Seroff, Debussy, 346. 59 Ibid., 341. 60 Lockspeiser, Debussy, 214.

22

The best comparable work that helps us to find the significance of “Ein’ feste

Burg” in the Cello Sonata is the piano duet, entitled En blanc et noir, also written in

1915. The work is seen as the most literally programmatic piece Debussy ever wrote in

its depictions of war. It also includes a direct quotation of “Ein’ feste Burg” and a vague

rendition of “La Marseillaise,” symbolizing the aggression by the Germans against the

French and French victory in the end. Although “Ein’ feste Burg” was not officially seen

as a patriotic song by the Germans, some composers used the tune in their works.61 This

work will be discussed in more detail later in the section entitled “Ein’ feste Burg” in En

blanc et noir.

61 For a discussion of other works that also utilize the Ein’ feste Burg hymn, see the chapter entitled “Ein’ feste Burg.”

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PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE

The Cello Sonata is not the first work of Debussy’s in which motivic variation

appears. Elliott Antokoletz informs us that Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande also

contains musical motives that undergo a variational process to support the action on

stage.62 This process, unlike that related to Wagner’s leitmotifs, which are often a part of

the very essence of the opera plot, reveals “a less tangible, more mysterious realm that

exists beyond the limits of external, objective reality,” in accord with the beliefs of

symbolist artists. 63 In Debussy’s opera, these motives are not used as pictures in a

storybook (indicators of action), but rather their intervallic development has structural

significance.

One finds similarities between the opera Pelléas et Mélisande and the Cello

Sonata in the dichotomy of musical motives within each work. Pelléas et Mélisande

includes a musical dichotomy between Real-life Humanity and Fate, which are

represented by certain musical styles. Humanity is represented by diatonic treatment of

motives (pentatonic, major/minor, modal) whereas Fate is represented by more abstract

treatment of motives (whole-tone scales, interval cycles, symmetry). 64 Instead of direct

motivic quotations, the motives change according to the situation and develop over time.

In the Cello Sonata a similar dichotomy exists between the more traditional diatonic

presentations of the hymn and relataed motives and abstract chromatic transformations.

62 For a complete analysis of the opera, see Elliott Antokoletz, Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartók: Trauma, Gender, and the Unfolding of the Unconscious (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004). 63 Antokoletz, Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartók, 7. 64 Ibid., 57.

24

This dichotomy represents a move towards either the French or German “strength” in the

work in which motives are transformed to create a “story” based on structural continuity.

In the Cello Sonata the hymn “Ein’ feste Burg” possesses a potential for motivic

fragmentation. In accord with the principle of dichotomy, France seems to be symbolized

by diatonicism, classical style, and folk-like material (as can be seen primarily in the

“Prologue” and “Finale”), while Germany seems to be symbolized more abstract motivic

development, intervallic expansion, and whole-tone scales, primarily in the “Sérénade”

movement.

MOTIVIC AND CELLULAR DEVELOPMENT IN PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE

Motivic development in Pelléas et Mélisande also appears in the form of

intervallic pitch cells.65 The following section is a summary of Antokoletz’s analysis.66

A brief overview of the analysis will cast light on Debussy's harmonic language and

treatment of motives, i.e., motives as theme or motives as cello (collections of pitches

that represent harmonic content). In the Cello Sonata, the hymn is exploited in terms of

such motivic fragmentation. Debussy refrains from simply presenting motives to allude

to a person or event, such as in Wagner's operas, but instead transforms the motives

intervallically according to the emotions of the characters and their cross references with

Fate and Destiny. By this development, the audience can “hear” Fate intruding into the

lives of the unknowing characters (controlling them), foreshadowing the events to come.

65 A complete analysis is provided by Elliott Antokoletz in his book Musical Symbolism in the Operas of Debussy and Bartók: Trauma, Gender, and the Unfolding of the Unconscious (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).

25

According to Antokoletz, the opening measures of the opera present a number of

motives to establish the dichotomy between Fate and Humanity.67 Measures 1 and 2

introduces the Forest motive, while including the notes G/A and D/C, separated by range.

These notes are part of a pentatonic scale, but D/C in the bass line moves to A in measure

4, transforming the D-C-A cell into a whole-tone fragment (from the scale C-D-E-G -

A -B ), already implying Fate. The resulting cell, A -C-D, the Fate-influenced Pelléas

motive, returns later in the opera at the time when Mélisande tells Golaud (her husband)

that she is not troubled by any person in particular, such as Pelléas, but by something

stronger than herself (Fate) (p.86 m. 2). It implies that her love for Pelléas is her destiny,

which she cannot control.

In this dialogue between Golaud and Mélisande, which begins in act 2, scene 2 (p.

76) the Pelléas motive is present in its pentatonic form first. Golaud recounts the events

from his hunt in the forest to Mélisande, and when he mentions that the horse must have

seen "something strange and unwonted," Pelléas's motive is heard in its pentatonic form

(representing humanity) (p. 77 m.4). Although Pelléas is Mélisande's destiny, his motive

is not here in its whole-tone (Fate) form because the motive has not been developed yet;

it is simply presented as a reminder that as Golaud was thrown from his horse, Mélisande

also threw her wedding ring and dropped it into the well as she spoke with Pelléas (p.

67). Soon after, Golaud says that the horse ran into a tree like "a blind fool," implying

66 The page numbers and measures given in the actual text are referring to the pages in the 1907 voice and piano edition of the opera . Claude Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande. (New York: Edwin F. Kalmus, n.d.) Reprint edition of the 1907 publication of the piano-vocal score. 67 Antokoletz describes this in detail in Musical Symbolism, 62-63.

26

that perhaps something had spooked him, but the horse was blind to Fate, just as the

people in the opera are blind to fate as well.

Another excellent example of the transformation of motives and the expansion of

intervals as the Human element moves towards Fate, is represented in act 3 in which

Pelléas and Mélisande are caught by Golaud in a meeting at night.68 In this section, one

can also see Pelléas's passion by way of the accompanying motives. On p. 122, m. 5 the

descending chromatic line contains the notes B-A#-A-G#(F# simultaneously), which is

interrupted by the note E between A and G#(F#). This chromatic line had previously

accompanied Pelléas when he first arrived in the opera (p. 33 m.10) and is viewed by

Lawrence Gilman69 as the “Awakening Desire” motive. In act 3 the motive accompanied

Pelléas as he kisses Mélisande's hand. Only a bar later (p.123 m.1), Mélisande's line is

accompanied by the whole-tone tetrachord D-E-F#-G#, an expansion of the previous

chromatic line. Fate increases its hold even more as Mélisande lets her long hair fall over

Pelléas (p. 127 m.1-2), the “Hair” motive being an extended whole-tone descent.

Through motivic development, one can compare Debussy’s treatment of the

various parameters of motives, intervals and pitches of Pelléas et Mélisande and the

Cello Sonata. While the two works are vastly different in terms of the types of motives

(in the opera there are cells, in the Cello Sonata there are thematic motives derived from

the hymn) it is clear that Debussy consciously chose to manipulate the motives in order to

develop the music so it sets up a conflict or dichotomy between elements.

68 Antokoletz describes this section in detail on pages 131-138 in Elliot Antokoletz, Musical Symbolism, 131-138. 69 Antokoletz informed me of this motive, which he read in Lawrence Gilman, Debussy’s “Pelléas and Mélisande”: A Guide to the Opera (New Yrok: Schirmer, 1907)

27

“EIN' FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT”

“Ein’ feste Burg” History

The famous Lutheran hymn “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott” is known by English-

speaking Lutherans today as “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” The hym was composed

in 1529 by Martin Luther who protested against many of the injustices of the Catholic

Church at that time. Although it was originally written for worship, it soon became a

battle-cry for many in the Protestant Reformation in Germany. But rather than its words

being overtly anti-Catholic like many other songs of the day, its message is more

symbolic.70 The symbolism was so strong in Germany that Heinrich Heine later called it

the “Marseillaise of the German Reformation.” 71

These are the words to the first stanza of the hymn, taken from Psalm 46:

A strong fortress is our God, A good defense and weapon. He frees us from all the need That now has met us. The old evil fiend Now means business. Great power and much cunning Are his frightful armaments, His like is not on earth.

The “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn was never officially used as a symbol for German

strength in World War I, but a number of composers used it in their work to symbolize

Germany. Debussy was not the first to do this; Bach was recognizably the first in the

opening to his 80th cantata, although its use is in religious context. Bach also removed

28

the syncopation in the tune, which was to remain the tradition for most future composers.

In a non-religious context, Giacomo Meyerbeer, a French opera composer employed

“Ein’ feste Burg” in the staging of Les Huguenots in 1836, in which the words of “Ein’

feste Burg” are written in red on the wall against which the Huguenots are murdered. The

German composer Felix Mendelssohn also used “Ein’ feste Burg” in his “Reformation”

Symphony.

Until now, Claude Debussy was known to have only quoted “Ein’ feste Burg” in

his piano duet En blanc et noir. Now it is known that the Cello Sonata of the same year

also includes the hymn, in an abstract setting, which lends itself to be hidden in the

variational process through which the motives are set.

After these compositions, Stravinsky, a good friend of Debussy's, also included

“Ein’ feste Burg” first in his work Histoire du Soldat (1918) as a symbol of Germany in

World War I as well. But the scholar Glenn Watkins claims that “Stravinsky's distorted

version of Luther's hymn reflects nothing so much as the chaotic moral state of affairs

throughout the war period.” 72 Watkins adds:

… in war all parties are convinced that they are on the side of right and are even known to adopt the symbols of the opposition in their campaigns. Stravinsky arguably intended his music to endorse ambiguity at both the symbolic and constructive levels. It was an attitude well known during World War I in the Russian circus, where variant readings of patriotism were purposefully projected in vague and ambiguous terms.73

70 Rebecca Wagner Oettinger, Music as Propaganda in the German Reformation (Aldershot; Burlington, VT, 2001), 45. 71 Oettinger, Music as Propaganda in the German Reformation, 47. 72 Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 92. 73 Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night, 151

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What makes the “Ein’ feste Burg” tune so attractive to composers? Besides the

symbolic meaning of the song as a “battle-cry,” Paul Reuter, in his article “Music and the

Reformation” claims that composers may have been drawn to the tune's revolutionary

spirit and the folk-like character of the melody. 74 Yet this still does not explain exactly

why “Ein’ feste Burg” was used so much by composers in World War I.

Why Would Debussy Use “Ein’ feste Burg?”

To admit the presence of “Ein’ feste Burg” in French wartime compositions is not

very difficult, but to trace the reason for its presence as a symbol of Germany can be

more of a challenging task. If the tune had been the German national anthem, the

explanation would be more clear, since it is often paired with the French national anthem,

“La Marseillaise,” but the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, as we have seen in the previous

chapter, is actually a Lutheran hymn, and was not used by the German propagandists to

represent the German nation. So what exactly did the hymn represent that composers felt

drawn to use it as a symbol of Germany?

Perhaps the hymn's words proclaimed rebellion so strongly that Debussy and

others felt it symbolized the battle cry of Germany in World War One, just as it had

become the battle cry during the Protestant Reformation. Debussy could have also been

aware of Meyerbeer's use of the tune in his work Les Huguenots (1836) and felt it had the

same significance during World War One.

74 Paul Reuter, “Music and the Reformation,” In Four Hundred Years: Commemorative Essays on the Reformation of Dr. Martin Luther and Its Blessed Results, edited by W. H. T. Dau (St. Louis, 1917), 240-253.

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Another possibility is the religious affiliations of the countries. France was seen

as mostly Catholic, while Germany was associated with the German religious leader

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation which began in Germany with

Lutheranism. Although Debussy himself never professed any religious affiliation it may

have been a kind of subconscious association concerning the Lutheran hymn in his

works. The French president at the time, Raymond Poincaré called for a “sacred union”

of the nation of France against Germany, and although both Protestants and Catholics

were enemies of even their spiritual counterparts in Germany, Catholicism was viewed as

the true religion of France 75 Therefore, even if Debussy had no religious affiliation, the

hymn could have been seen as a symbol of Germany in the war. Watkins speculates that

Debussy and Stravinsky may have used the hymn in reference to the German slogan used

during World War One, “Gott mit uns.” 76

Alan Gibbs, in his commentary article in the Strad magazine says that “perhaps

the words were comfort to the mortally ill composer.” 77 But the evidence for this proves

it to be an unlikely explanation since the words imply a call to arms rather than

comforting an illness, and evidence says that Debussy was not a Lutheran or even a

professed Christian. Also, Debussy was not the only one to have used the hymn, and

other composers also seem to have paired “Ein’ feste Burg” with the French “La

Marseillaise” during World War One, which rather strongly implies the opposition

between the German and French nations. One other piece of evidence is that Debussy

used the hymn in a very unflattering manner in the Cello Sonata, accompanied by

75 Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night, 166. 76 Ibid., 94. 77 Alan Gibbs, “Debussy’s Lutheran Side?” Commentary in Strad magazine 103/1228 (Aug 1992), 684.

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dissonances just as in En blanc et noir, and in abstract motives. The lack of positive

usage in the work is evidence against being a comfort to Debussy in his illness.

It is possible that a few of these speculations are true; that Debussy had included

“Ein’ feste Burg” to represent Germany in contrast to the French national anthem “La

Marseillaise” due to its symbolic meaning that had been formed by the French and

German cultures.

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EN BLANC ET NOIR

“Ein’ feste Burg” in En blanc et noir

The most convincing evidence for the particular use of “Ein’ feste Burg” in the

Cello Sonata of 1915 is found in the piano duet written in the same year, En blanc et noir.

Debussy blatantly uses the Lutheran hymn in this work, in which the two halves of the

hymn are separated by a two-bar interlude, and then follows it with a slightly less obvious

quotation of “La Marseillaise.” He also depicts strong images of battle such as bugle

calls and military drum rhythms. 78

On July 22, 1915 Debussy wrote a letter to his publisher Durand stating that he

did not have a piano with which to compose:

It doesn't upset me. The lack has concentrated my feelings and prevented them from floating off into improvisations which all too often allow one to give in to the perverse charm of telling stories to oneself. And now Playel informs me they have sent me a portable piano.79

One could speculate that without a piano to improvise his music, Debussy would

have refrained from composing music which deals mostly with color and mood, and

instead wrote more abstractly by manipulating and developing themes, such as what I

have found to be true in the use of motives and fragments of “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La

78 Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 92. 79 Claude Debussy, The Poetic Debussy : A Collection of His Song Texts and Selected Letters. Collected and annotated by Margaret G. Cobb. Translations by Richard Miller. (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1982)243.

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Marseillaise” in En blanc et noir. This could have then have been the case in the Cello

Sonata as well, which was written at about the same time and contains motivic variation.

Debussy dedicated each section of En blanc et noir to different people and adds

text that is significant to the intention of each section. These texts helped to make this

modern work more acceptable to a number of his contemporary anti-modernist critics by

giving the abstract expression actual meaning. 80 In addition, previous to the actual

quotations, fragments of the melodies can also be traced in this movement, creating a

foreshadowing of their arrival. In this way, En blanc et noir is a very interesting semi-

template for Debussy’s intentions in the Cello Sonata. Also, as will be apparent later in

this treatise, the use of “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise” in the Cello Sonata may

not be so blatantly obvious (or even admitted by the composer) because the Debussy

intended the Sonata to be a secret dedication. In this context, analyzing En blanc et noir

is important to understanding the context of the Cello Sonata’s composition. Let us first

look at each section more closely, paying the most attention to the middle section marked

“Lent. Sombre.” which contains the German and French melodies.

FIRST SECTION The first section of En blanc et noir is labeled “Avec emportement” and bears as

an inscription the following lines of text from Gounod’s opera Romeo et Juliet (1867):

He who remains in his place Qui reste à se place And does not dance, Et ne danse pas Of some disgrace De quelque disgrace Whispers a confession. Fait l'aveu tout bas. 81

80 Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power: The Dialogic Element in Debussy’s Wartime Compositions,” In Debussy and His World, edited by Jane Fulcher (Princeton and Oxford, 2001), 216.

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These lines were often used in wartime France to symbolize men who had

claimed disability in order to evade going into battle. 82 Debussy dedicates this section to

his Russian friend, A. Koussevitsky. It is not immediately clear who this A.

Koussevitsky was, although it is probably either the father (Alexander), mother (Anne) or

sister (Anna) of the composer Serge Koussevitsky. Debussy is known to have performed

Serge Koussevitsky’s music, and had stayed in their house as a guest in 1913.

THIRD SECTION

The third section, which Debussy calls a Scherzando is dedicated to Igor

Stravinsky, Debussy’s friend. It bears the inscription: “Yver, vous n’este qu’un

villain…” (“Winter, you are nothing but a villain…”) by Charles d’Orléans. This

inscription is also the title of the third section from Trois Chansons, three pieces for a

cappella chorus. The words in the song include the text:

Winter, you are nothing but a villain! Summer is pleasant and agreeable, as April and May testify on every hand. Summer clothes the fields, woods, and flowers in garments of green and many other colors, according to the prescription of nature. But you, Winter, are full of too much snow, wind, rain, and hail. You should be banished into exile! So I speak frankly and say: Winter, you are nothing but a villain!83

The music from this section of En blanc et noir contains more war imagery.

SECOND SECTION

The second section is the most important in the study of the Cello Sonata. It is

dedicated to Lieutenant Jacques Charlot, the nephew of Debussy’s publisher, Durand,

who was killed in battle on March 3, 1915. In the inscription Debussy quotes Francois

81 Translated in Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power,” 217. 82 Ibid., 217.

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Villon (1431-1463) from Ballade contre les ennemis de la France (“Ballad against the

enemies of France”):

Prince, be carried by Eolus on caribou? Prince, porté soit des serfs Eolus Through the forest governed by Glaucus. En la forest ou domine Glaucus. Or find thyself deprived of peace and hope Ou privé soit de paix et d’espérance For it is not worthy to be virtuous Car digne n’est de posséder vertus For whomever would bring harm to the Qui mal vouldroit au royaume de France. kingdom of France. 84

This is the section of En blanc et noir in which the “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La

Marseillaise” melodies appear. Debussy is known to have revised this section many

times, unsure of how much of “Ein’ feste Burg” to include. He ultimately decided to

include only the Abgesang section (the first first phrase of “Ein’ feste Burg”).85

Although “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise” are known to be quoted in

measures 79-88 and then starting at 163 respectively, in addition, fragments of the

melodies can also be traced in this movement, creating a foreshadowing of the actual

quotations. Jane Fulcher says that the work contains “almost collage-like abstraction, as

opposed to his earlier seamless interpolations or interweavings.” 86

83 The Bellevue Chamber Chorus web site: http://www.bellevuechamberchorus.net/Research/20thCentury/Music/TroisChansons.htm 84 Translated by Aurelian Pettillot. 85 Jurgen Vis, “Debussy and the War,” In Cahiers Debussy15 (1991), 32-33. 86 Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power,” 220.

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Analysis of the Second Movement of En blanc et noir in terms of “Ein’ feste Burg”

and “La Marseillaise”

The most obvious quotation of “Ein’ feste Burg” in En blanc et noir occurs in

measures 79-89 of the second section entitled “Lent. Sombre.” The most recognizable

representation of “La Marseillaise” begins in the anacrusis to measure 163. From these

points it is possible to analyze the remainder of the work in terms of motives based off of

these tunes and apply the concept of motivic variation to the Cello Sonata as well.

Figure 3, mm. 79-89, En blanc et noir

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Figure 4, mm.162-166, En blanc et noir

Figure 5, “La Marseillaise” with traditional rhythmic values

The “La Marseillaise” reference begins in the second piano part, with the

anacrusis to measure 163. It may not be imediately recognizable due to its changed

rhythm, as the repeated notes in the anthem are not repeated in En blanc et noir (compare

figures 4 and 5 ). Although the “La Marseillaise” melody is not initially discernible in En

blanc et noir, Debussy hinted that French victory over Germany is musically symbolized

“toward the end, [where] a modest carillon sounds a foreshadowing of the Marseillaise.”

87 He might have said this because some people could not initially hear the “La

Marseillaise” melody, and may have believed that Debussy sympathized with the

Germans.

87 Watkins, Proof Through the Night, 92.

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The work also includes developing fragments of the tunes that lead up to their

direct quotations.88

Figure 6, mm. 22-23, Second section, En blanc et noir


In measure 22 the repeated chords may be a foreshadowing of the opening three

repeated notes of “Ein’ feste Burg” (motive a).89 Later in the movement, in measure 53

there are once again repeated chords, but this time there are only three repetitions,

bringing the allusion closer to the actual hymn. The passage is followed by motive d (the

turn around motive comprised of G -F-G ), within an ostinato, beginning in measure 73.

It continues until the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn is quoted in measure 79 (see figure 3). This

88 Although his analysis is slightly different than the one in this treatise, Jurgen Vis also claims to see foreshadowing figures of “La Marseillaise” before the actual quotation in measures 162-166. Jurgen Vis, “Debussy and the War,” Cahiers Debussy15 (1991): 31-50. 89 Vis claims to hear a deliberate military rhythm in this figure. Vis, “Debussy and the War,” 38.

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ostinato is slightly varied, but retains the motive d in measures 103-106 in both piano

parts.



“La Marseillaise” is also foreshadowed before its actual arrival through the

presence of its characteristic intervals of a fourth followed by a major second and the

perfect octave leap from the first note to the highest note. First, at the “Joyeux” in

measure 129 one can find intervals of a fourth and then a third. This progresses to

measure 133 (four bars later), an ancrusis of measure 133, which contains four quick

notes F#-G#-A-B and continues to C#. These notes are an embellished version of the

opening two intervals, the fourth and the second. (F#-B-C#). They are even presented in

40

such a way that the passage would coincide rhythmically with a direct quotation of the

melody presented at the same time. The “La Marseillaise” melody is also foreshadowed

(in measures 140-144) by the notes E-A-C#-E, which continuously outline a major chord,

continuously quoting the first few notes of the anthem. In measure 160 there appears one

more variation of “La Marseillaise, ” this time with its intervals in condensed form. Both

F's (the first and last notes) are taken up and down a step, respectively; F-B -C-F

becomes G-B -C-E.

There are also significant similarities between the Cello Sonata and En blanc et

noir that require attention.


Figure 11, mm. 10-11, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata

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One similarity between the Cello Sonata and the second movement of En blanc et

noir is in measures 18-21 and again in measure 30-33 in which the figure repeats. Except

for a few differences, the melody is generally that of the consequent in measure 10 of the

Cello Sonata “Prologue” movement and that of other corresponding passages. The

melody also bears a slight resemblance to measure 3 in the second movement of the Cello

Sonata, demonstrating a correlation between the musical content present in the sonata’s

movements; the two sections both contain mostly eighth notes, with a few sixteenth

notes, that trace the arched contour of “Ein’ feste Burg.” All of these sections are

variations on the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, containing the contour of the melody, the basic

rhythmic motive of two short notes and a long note and scalar motion without the

characteristic three repeated notes from the opening. In En blanc et noir this melody is

presented simply, with no accompaniment of any kind; in the Cello Sonata the

accompaniment is minimized.


Another similarity is in measure 109 of En blanc et noir, a melodic pattern that

would seem at first glance to be a fairly common series of notes, but in this context, and

alongside the fact that it stands out a great deal in both works, has further significance.

The notes comprise the inverted f motive, a third followed by steps, which may be a

42

signal of the departure of “Ein’ feste Burg.” In both works, this simple figure is a soaring

melodic line, occurring before or alongside “La Marseillaise” and after “Ein’ feste Burg.”

When the figure occurs in En blanc et noir it is in E major; in the Cello Sonata the

figure only appears in the minor modes of A and G, the dominants of D and C. 90

Figure 13, mm.7-9, “Finale,” Cello Sonata

Figure 14, mm. 41-43, “Finale,” Cello Sonata

90 See pp. 107-108 to read an explanation for what I believe is the symbolic significance of this passage.

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THE CELLO SONATA

Concerning the Cello Sonata, Debussy did not divulge very much information

about its meaning and left it puzzling scholars for years. This chapter will contain the

information that exists regarding its existence within primary and secondary sources.

The next chapter, after the discussion of the Cello Sonata's history, will go deeper into an

analysis using “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise.”

Primary Sources

DEBUSSY'S REMARKS

Debussy actually said very little in terms of the Cello Sonata. The most famous,

and well-quoted remark by Debussy about it is “It’s not for me to judge its excellence but

I like its proportions and its almost classical form, in the good sense of the word.” 91

We also know that Debussy originally planned for the Cello Sonata to be the first

of a projected set of six sonatas for various instruments. He decided that the sixth was to

be comprised of all the instruments in the previous sonatas plus double bass. But of these

six, Debussy only was able to finish three: for cello and piano (1915), for flute, harp and

viola (1915), and for violin and piano (1917). Debussy remarked to Durand that his idea

for the set of six sonatas was born upon hearing that Saint-Saëns, his rival, also planned a

set of sonatas. 92

91 Moray Welsh, “Un Embarrase de Richésse,” Strad 103/1226 (June 1992), 519.

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One more piece of information concerning the sonata was in a letter from

Debussy to Caplet Caplet in June of 1916:

You're an amazing fellow... as bold as a lion you manage to find a piano, a cellist and a sonata and to get them all together just a few miles away from the Boches... such elegant bravure is and always will be the very ‘essence of France.’ 93

While this may just be Debussy’s enjoyment of seeing the bravery of a

Frenchman, the statement could also have a deeper meaning if the composer had intended

the sonata to be a symbol of German defeat and French victory. As was stated earlier,

Debussy did believe that the battles were fought on a cultural level as well as in the

trenches.

A SECRET DEDICATION? There is evidence that the Cello Sonata may have a secret dedication which would

support the use of “Ein’ feste Burg”. During the time of its composition and that of En

blanc et noir, Debussy wrote a letter stating:

I want to work not for myself, but to give proof, small as it may be, that not thirty million Boches can destroy French thought, even having tried to degrade it before annihilating it. I am thinking of the French youth stupidly ruined by these merchants of “Kultur” [sic] of which we have lost forever what should have brought glory to our country. What I am composing will be a secret homage to them – a dedication is superfluous.94

Since Debussy had already written the Cello Sonata at this time and was still

finishing his En blanc et noir, it is possible that he meant the dedication for the latter

work; however, En blanc et noir would not require a “secret dedication” since all who

92 Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power,” In Debussy and His World, edited by Jane Fulcher (Princeton and Oxford, 2001), 222. 93 Moray Welsh, “Behind the Moon-Eyed Mask,” Strad 103/1224 (1992), 327. 94 Victor Seroff, Debussy: The Musician of France (New York, 1956), 331.

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heard it at the time would have been aware of the symbolism of the two nationalist tunes.

In addition Debussy seems to be speaking not only of the young men who died in battle,

which is the battle that En blanc et noir suggests, but also about culture. He says that

Germans wanted to degrade French thought and that the French youth were ruined by

“Kultur.”95 In the Cello Sonata, the two melodies are set within German (abstract) and

French (classical) styles, a step beyond the simple battle sounds in En blanc et noir.

EVIDENCE FOUND IN THE MUSIC

Obviously, the most important aspect in regards to this study is the “Ein’ feste

Burg” hymn found at the top of the sketch of the Cello Sonata in the second movement.

Another clue that Debussy possibly meant for the work to reflect his feelings towards

World War I is his signature, which includes the words “Musicien française” after his

name, which indicate the composer’s pride in his country during the war. The Cello

Sonata was not the first time Debussy had used this signature; in a letter to Stravinsky

dated 1913, he also signs his name with the same title.96

Secondary Sources

Most of the remarks made by scholars concerning the Cello Sonata imply a

classical French tradition, a return by Debussy to the style of the old French masters in

the spirit of the Schola during World War I. They claim that the melodies are like the

declamatory recitatives,97 that the second movement is fantastical and sarcastic like a

95 German kultur is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: “Civilization; social organization; especially, the highly systemized social organization of Hohenzollern or Nazi Germany: now usually in application with reference to chauvinism, militarism, terrorism, etc.” 96 Edward Lockspeiser, Debussy: His Life and Mind, 2 volumes (London, 1962), 206. 97 Claude Abravanel, “Symbolism and Performance” in Debussy In Performance (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 36.

46

clown story, that they can find traces of Rameau and Couperin in its staves. Several

examples follow.

Louis Laloy gives his proof that Debussy purposefully published his sonatas in a manner

that imitated the old French composers:

The fly-leaf sets out the title as for a volume of Couperin or Rameau, and the address of the publishers is given, as it was done then, ‘at No.4 in the place de la Madeleine, near the grands boulevards.’ This is no amateur’s whim, but a deliberate resolution to affirm that, more than ever in these troubled years, he was faithful to the fine examples of yesteryear. 98

Paul Jacobs, in an article for Cahiers Debussy, writes:

Now that we know something about rhythmic alterations in 17th and 18th century French music, we are less surprised to find some of the features of the style (or it not exactly parallel, at least analogous) in Debussy’s music. 99

Jane Fulcher says that she can see a fragment of Rameau’s Les festes de Polymnie (1745)

a piece which Debussy had recently edited under the direction of Saint-Saëns. 100 She

sees the evidence for this in the rhythm of the opening measure in the Cello Sonata,

which has a quick triplet figure, just as in Rameau’s work.

Fulcher also speaks of Debussy’s choice of “sonata” for the cello work:

Debussy was rather turning to the sonata, in its earlier, or still amorphous, state. And as opposed to Germanic conceptions, he would here reappropriate the genre as French by attempting to utilize ‘French’ thematic material, and thus redefining an appropriate form. 101

98 Louis Laloy, Claude Debussy (revised edition 1944), 106 as cited in Louis Laloy, Louis Laloy (1874-1944) on Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky, (Aldershot, England; Brookfield, Vt., 1999), Laloy 235-6 n5. 99 Paul Jacobs, “On Playing the Piano Music of Claude Debussy,” Cahiers Debussy 3 (1979), 40. 100 Scott Messing, “Neo Classicism in Music: From the Genesis of the Concept Through the Schoenberg/Stravinsky,” (Polemic, Ann Arbor, 1988) as cited in Watkins, Proof Through the Night, 101. 101 Jane Fulcher, “Speaking the Truth to Power,”210.

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This statement is supported by the findings in this study, as Debussy used not

only the sonata, a German genre, but also a German hymn, and abstraction, which was

considered by many to be a German style, in a symbolic manner.

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Musical Elements of the Cello Sonata

MOTIVES FROM “EIN’ FESTE BURG”

Within the Cello Sonata, Debussy breaks the first phrase of the “Ein’ feste Burg”

hymn into small motives, which he then develops throughout the piece. In some

instances, only one or two motives are missing from the statement of the hymn, in other

instances, the motives are entirely mixed up so that the hymn is completely

unrecognizable.

Figure 15, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive a

Figure 16, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive b

Figure 17, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive c

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Figure 18, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive d

Figure 19, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive e

Figure 20, “Ein’ feste Burg” motive f

Some may claim that these motives from “Ein’ feste Burg” are common patterns

of pitches that can be found in many other works as well (for example, Mozart uses many

ascending and descending scalar passages). Yet the manner in which Debussy presents

and develops these motives suggest that they are not only the common patterns, but are

manipulated to realize Debussy’s musical idea as relating to “Ein’ feste Burg.”

RHYTHMIC MODIFICATIONS OF “EIN’ FESTE BURG”

Not all of the elements of “Ein’ feste Burg” in the Cello Sonata are motives that

are tied to pitches and intervals; Debussy transforms the “quick-quick-long” rhythm from

the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn. He rarely uses the actual order of “quick-quick-long” in

which the quick notes begin on the beat, but either turns the first duplet figure of the

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hymn (the ascending line) into a triplet figure, which only occurs in the “Prologue,” or

places the quick notes off the beat, which is the most common variation within the

context of the “Ein’ feste Burg” melody in the “Prologue” and “Sérénade” movements.

Figure 21, m.1, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata

The first measure of the work demonstrates both rhythmic variations. Debussy

has taken the quick notes from ascending line (C-D-E-F) in which the C-D-E would be

“quick-quick-long” and has turned them into a triplet. Towards the end of the measure,

the descending line F-E-D-C would have included the “quick-quick-long” motive on F-E-

D in “Ein’ feste Burg,” but Debussy has turned the rhythm into “long-quick-quick”

beginning on E-D-C.

The variation of putting the long note on the beat could perhaps be a way of

disguising the hymn in the sonata, or of reducing the strength of the quick notes as a way

of already weakening “Ein’ feste Burg.”

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ABSTRACTION The “Sérénade” movement of the Cello Sonata is obviously much more abstract

in style than the surrounding movements, although even in the outer movements,

commonly considered stylistically “classical,” there occur some elements of motivic

development as well. To certain artistic groups in France, who promoted a return to

French classicism, abstraction and modernism were seen as primarily German in nature,

and therefore a style to be avoided. It is possible that Debussy used these beliefs to

structure the use of “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise” in the Cello Sonata so that

the contrast between the classical and abstract use of the melodies could help strengthen

his depiction of the battles between France and Germany.

In the “Prologue” movement, motives from “Ein’ feste Burg” are set in a French

classical style which may represent the period before World War I in which French art

and music held elements of the German style. In the “Sérénade” movement, the motives

of “Ein’ feste Burg” are set abstractly, which may be Debussy's depiction of the war in

which he felt the Germans were taking over not only the country of France but the French

style as well. In the last movement, the “Finale,” almost all motives from “Ein’ feste

Burg” (except for the departure signal, the f motive) are gone, and the movement is set

once again in French classical style. It could be that Debussy meant for this last

movement to symbolize the defeat of Germany and a return to a “pure” French style.

Although in the “Finale,” “La Marseillaise” occurs in fragments before its actual

presentation (which is still hidden within another melody), the fragments are not

developed motivically in the same manner as “Ein’ feste Burg,” but instead simply

“grow” into the final quotation.

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DICHOTOMIES BETWEEN ELEMENTS Glenn Watkins quotes George L. Mosse who said that altering the “rules” of

music, so that it became a sort of game, “helped people to confront the war.”102 As in a

game, elements of the music were set against each other and meet in competition until the

battle was won. In Debussy’s Cello Sonata this competition is present on a number of

levels: tonal, motivic and stylistic. These elements will be discussed more specifically

during the actual analysis of the Cello Sonata.

Tonally, the areas of D and C appear, and are often represented by their

dominants, A and G. When “Ein’ feste Burg” is the strongest towards the middle of the

first and second movement, there is a strong tonal sense of C major. This excludes the

initial and final presentations of the melody in the beginning and recapitulation of the

first movement.

Motivically, the “Sérénade” and “Finale” are both dominated by fragments and

motives of the German and French melodies, “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise,”

respectively. This will be discussed in a detailed analysis later in the treatise.

Stylistically, abstraction and motivic development is found mostly in the second

movement where “Ein’ feste Burg” is the strongest; the other two outer movements are

more classical in style. Sometimes these dichotomies are combined to create a more

complex sense of conflict, such as motives of “Ein’ feste Burg,” in the tonal area of D

minor, or motives from “La Marseillaise” in the tonal area of G.

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Some Comments on Interpretation

For musicians who wish to play Debussy’s works, the following information may

be useful as well, even if most of it specifically refers to piano music and must be

“translated” to other instruments. Obviously, a thorough discussion of it would require a

separate treatise, but these are the main performance issues that I feel may be discussed

regarding the cello sonata in light of the recent discoveries which may very well change

cellists’ ideas concerning tempo and phrasing. This information is gathered from sources

such as: books by Debussy’s contemporaries and students, articles and letters by those

who heard his performances, letters by Debussy concerning pianists whose

interpretations he liked, and Debussy’s own performances through recordings of songs

and Welte recording piano rolls.

One source for discussion on the interpretation of Debussy’s works are the Welte

recording piano rolls, which I came across through Kenneth Caswell in Austin, Texas.

He claims to have the most historically accurate renditions of the rolls due to careful

adjustments on the piano for each piece that ensure a close duplication of the original

musician’s performance. The performer originally sat down at a piano and played, which

then simultaneously recorded the notes, pedaling, dynamics, and articulations. 103 The

result is a ghostly beautiful performance of each musician in a “live” concert today.

When listening to Debussy play his own compositions, one is struck by the lack of

characteristic elements we normally associate with his music. Musicians today (just as in

102 George L. Mosse, Fallen Soldiers: Reshaping the Memory of the World Wars (New York, 1990), 143, as cited in Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 139.

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his own day, as illuminated by Debussy’s letters) interpret his music in an exaggerated

manner, emphasizing all the details Debussy indicated in the music. But when the

composer performed it himself, the details appear to be much more subtle, and the

rhythms and tempi are much more flexible. I am therefore under the impression that

details such as crescendi and decrescendi are often more of a sign for phrasing, to

determine whether a phrase ends or continues on, even though still in many instances

they also indicate the crescendo or decrescendo we normally envision. Some may claim

that composers are not the best performers of their works, that they rely on others to

execute the performance correctly, yet there are many personal claims that Debussy

performed the pieces well, and did not lack the technique required to play his own works

the way he envisioned them.

Debussy harshly criticized many of the pianists who performed his music. He is

noted as saying “Believe me, you cannot imagine to what extent my piano music has

been deformed, to such a degree that I often hesitate to recognize it.”104 In fact, only a

couple of pianists ever found favor with the composer, including Walter Rummel,

Marguerite Long and André Caplet. The positive comments he had to say about each of

these pianists reflect the kind of performance for which Debussy searched. What did he

admire so much in Rummel and Long’s playing? He admitted to liking “refinement in

the details, rather than grand gestures” with effortless mastery in Marguerite Long’s

playing,105 and how Rummel could change from “the grandest to the smallest apparently

103 Kenneth Caswell says that the Welte pianos are so valuable because the piano itself recorded all aspects of the performance at the same time, as compared to other pianos which would record the notes, and then other aspects (dynamics, articulation etc) would have to be added into the roll by hand at a later time. 104 Cecilia Dunoyer, “Early Debussystes at the Piano,” in Debussy In Performance, ed. James Briscoe (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999),102. 105 Dunoyer, “Early Debussystes at the Piano,”109.

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without effort.” 106 It seems that subtleties and effortless sensitivity were of utmost

importance to Debussy. Of Caplet, he said,

This Caplet is an artist. He knows how to find a sonorous atmosphere and, with an attractive sensitiveness, he is more aware of proportion; something which is more rare than one would believe in our musical epoch patched up or closed like a cork. 107 In addition, Rummel may have been responsible for the music of Debussy’s later

years. After the year in which Debussy did not write any music, he wrote to Rummel

“Very simply, I am sincerely grateful to you for having reawakened in me the appetite for

music at a time when I fully believe I would never again be able to compose.”108

Rummel and his wife then premiered the piano duet En blanc and noir on Jan 22, 1916.

But why did so many pianists fail to achieve Debussy’s admiration? It is not just

a matter of technique and mastery of touch on the piano, but also of interpretation of the

composer's intention. Many pianists often saw the specific musical directions and

exaggerated the effects. Copland asked him about interpretation on one occasion and the

composer replied,

I think it is because they try to impose themselves upon the music. It is necessary to abandon yourself completely and let the music do as it will with you – to be a vessel through which it passes. 109

106 It is also known that Rummel liked 17th century music just like Debussy, which may have added to Debussy’s admiration for the pianist. James R. Briscoe, Debussy In Performance (New Haven: Yale University Press,1999),103. 107 Williametta Spenser, “Caplet and Debussy.” Musical Quarterly 66 n.1 (1980), 112. 108 James R. Briscoe, Debussy In Performance (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), 105-6. 109 Aaron Copland, “Debussy the Man I Knew,” Atlantic Monthly (January 1955), 38, as cited in Kyung-ae Lee, “A comparative study of Claude Debussy's piano music scores and his own piano playing of selections from his Welte-Mignon piano roll recordings of 1912” (D.M.A. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 2001), 113.

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Concerning the melodies, they seem to be influenced by French recitative rather

than the Italian bel canto style, and are “to be sung naturally and without emphasis” with

“rhythmic and expressive plasticity… as if it were a text to declaim.” 110 When it comes

to melody, Laloy says:

Pianists must give up the presumption of ‘bringing out the tune’: when thoroughly understood, the melody will take on by itself the slight prominence which is needed; to insist would be to fall into Romantic affectation. 111

This point is important to consider in the Cello Sonata, because we now

understand what parts of the music are considered “melody” in terms of the motives, and

that “melody” will come more easily with that understanding.

Laloy also says that the performance must not have “any ugliness, even

intellectual ugliness,” meaning that “care must be taken that bows do not grate, that reeds

do not snap, flutes do not rasp, brass do not blare out, piano strings are not ripped out,

vocal chords not worn bare.” 112

Tempo and amount of rubato are also issues that have not been interpreted in the

same way with various musicians playing Debussy’s works. Paul Jacobs, author of “On

Playing the Piano Music of Debussy” in Cahiers Debussy, interprets rubato in the

beginning of a work as meaning flexibility of tempo throughout, but rubato in the middle

of the work as meaning something akin to meno mosso. 113 Durand asked Debussy for

metronome markings to put in his scores and he replied,

110 Dunoyer, “Early Debussystes at the Piano,” 36. 111 Laloy, Louis Laloy (1874-1944) on Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky, 108. 112 Ibid., 109. 113 Paul Jacobs, “On Playing the Piano Music of Claude Debussy,” Cahiers Debussy 3 (1979), 40.

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You know what I think about metronome markings: they’re right for a single bar… only there are ‘those’ who don’t hear music and take these markings as an authority to hear it still less! But do what you please. 114

This gives evidence that Debussy did not expect musicians to perform his music

with a strict tempo throughout, but to change when the music itself dictates. He gave a

few tempo indications, but otherwise left the interpretation up to the performer, as can be

heard when one hears Debussy’s own playing. There are many changes in tempo and

rubato that are not indicated at all in the score. In fact, Debussy left many factors up to

the performers, including fingering, tempo, pedaling in piano parts and bowings in string

parts115 It is likely that if a musician understands the origin of the Cello Sonata, these

tempo changes and phrasing interpretation will become clarified when perceived in

relation to their significance in light of the whole work.

114 Claude Abravanel, “Symbolism and Performance,” 99. 115 Louis Laloy, Louis Laloy (1874-1944) on Debussy, Ravel, and Stravins, 109.

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“Sérénade” (Second Movement)

"To believe that one can judge a work of art upon a first hearing is the strangest and most dangerous of delusions." 116

OVERALL DEVELOPMENT OF THE MOVEMENT

The “Sérénade” movement of the Cello Sonata is in the form of a rondo, in which

the order of sections is ABACA, such that A marks similar sections. Between these

statements of section A, section B and C provide contrasting material and further develop

the motives and contour of the hymn in various techniques. The process that results from

this development implies musical battles that have victories and defeats.

Section A begins virtually unchanged each of the three times it occurs in the

movement, except for a short two-measure introduction at the beginning of the first A

section which never returns. The A section then finishes in a different manner each of the

three occurrences. Excluding these introductory bars, the initial A section includes

measures 3-11, the second A section, measures 18-28, and the third A section, measures

54-58. Following the third A section are six measures that act as a transition from the

“Sérénade” to the “Finale.”

The apparent purpose of the A section is to present the motives is such a way that

masks the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn. Within the first four measures the motives c and b,

the rising motive and fourth motive, are presented in various forms. Following this in

measures 5 to 7 are the rest of the motives - d, e and a (descending line, turn-around,

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three repeated notes), and in the first A section only, motive f (third with steps). While

this section does not immediately illuminate “Ein’ feste Burg,” all motives are present to

some degree, basically in the same range, and all pizzicato, implying solidarity. This is

significant because Debussy will symbolically show the demise of the German army by

setting the motives in the last A section in various ranges and styles (i.e. pizzicato and

arco). The end of each of the three A sections is also significant, as the first ends on a D

in the cello, the second ends with no D in the cello but continues onto more motives from

“Ein’ feste Burg”, and the last includes the non-cohesive setting of the motives, with a

final battle that finishes on A, the dominant of D.

Section B, beginning in measure 12, is very short, but presents variations of the

“Ein’ feste Burg” hymn twice, in the beginning and the end of the section, expanding the

intervals used from half-steps in the first statement to a whole-tone scale rendition of

“Ein’ feste Burg” in the second statement. The section finishes on a pure C major chord,

which could be implying a temporary victory of the Germans in this musical battle since

C major is associated with “Ein’ feste Burg.”

Section C begins with a three bar introduction of tonal and rhythmic ambiguity,

which suddenly lands into a passage that develops motives (especially motive a) in a

broad, expanded contour of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn. One can trace the major

components of the hymn's contour - three repeated notes, a skip, an ascending line, a

descending line, a pause on a low range part that might symbolize a fermata, then starting

high once again, a descending line, and a quick descent to the final note.

116 Claude Abravanel, “Symbolism and Performance,” 44.

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ANALYSIS OF THE “SÉRÉNADE” MOVEMENT

Section A

In Debussy’s sketch of the Cello Sonata, one can find a musical idea which

Debussy quickly rejected and which may point out the significance of the first two

measures. The notes begin with A -A-B in ascending motion, which Debussy kept in of

“Sérénade” final manuscript, but following these notes are descending scalar sixteenth

notes (C#-B -A-A ). Together these motives give one the impression of the “Ein’ feste

Burg” contour in diminished intervals (half-steps).

Figure 22, Sketch of opening bars of “Sérénade” with initial passage in upper left corner

In the final version, Debussy has decided to omit the descending passage, and

repeat the ascending motive a second time, starting an enharmonic fourth higher, on C#.

From this evidence, it is very likely that Debussy intended for this ascending line to be a

motive from “Ein’ feste Burg.” These initial two measures do not return in later A

sections, begging the question of why Debussy included them at all. It could be

speculated that he wanted to make these two measures an antecedent so that the following

two measures (measures 3 and 4, which are much closer to the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn)

are the consequent. When analyzed in terms of its significance it gives one the

impression that “Ein’ feste Burg” is sneaking in to the movement, as it will gain more

presence in later A sections.

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Robert Moevs may also be correct in believing that the first two measures

introduce the overall principle of intervallic expansion that is present throughout the rest

of the movement since the first two measures are comprised of half-steps, which then

immediately expand to a whole-step in the piano accompaniment, to the diatonic in the

following measure, and then expand to a tritone at the end of measure 3.

Measure 1 is comprised of two statements of motive c in chromatic intervals, the

second of which is transposed a fourth higher, enharmonically. Following this, the piano

enters with the notes G and A (a whole-step apart) in octaves, creating an immediate

expansion of the half-step which is moving towards the intervallic spacing of “Ein’ feste

Burg”.117 The second measure then varies rhythmically the pitch material of the first

measure and also simulates the rhythm within the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn.

In general, the impression of these two measures is one of rising, as none of the

motives that include descending lines are present. The first descending interval is the E

to C at the end of measure 2, played without piano accompaniment. Whereas the first

two measures together make a complete antecedent phrase, the low C begins a

consequent, ascending to F which becomes the first recognizable part of “Ein’ feste

Burg” with motive b and c together. The rhythmic variation is one of the reasons that this

melody is not immediately recognizable. Measure 3 is also a warped palindrome; if one

were to trace the notes in retrograde in this measure from the Db, one would find similar

inverted intervals that started at the F – a fourth rise and a descent past the d motive.

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Figure 23, mm. 1-4, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

Beginning in measure 4 Debussy varies the motivic material by placing it out of

sequence from the actual “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn. The ascending motive c stops just

short of continuing on to motive d (to turn around) as in “Ein’ Feste Burg” and instead

continues with another motive b, this time as a tritone instead of a perfect fourth. This

figure is then repeated three times, each time rising a half-step (which in itself is motive

117 Robert Moevs, “Intervallic Procedures in Debussy: Serenade From the Sonata for Cello and Piano,

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c). The sequence of ascending tritone is an extension of the consequent and already a

variation of the preceding material. This is also an example of variation by mixing the

motives; whereas in measure 3 motive c and b are consecutive as occurs in the hymn, in

measure 4 they are morphed into one, creating a new idea. Accompanying this in

measure 4, the piano’s notes are A-B -C , in patterns of motive c and d. The d motive is

possibly a foreshadowing of the d motive that will be immediately present in the next

measure.

In measure 5 Debussy finally presents motive d, the continuation of the hymn that

had been lacking from measure 3. Following the turn-around of motive d is the of motive

e in the cello (the descending line, F-E-C#) interrupted by motive c (the ascending line G-

A-B -C#), in diminution in the piano. Lastly, motive a, the opening three notes of “Ein’

feste Burg” is played by both cello and piano in octaves. The next measure is very

similar to measure 5, except that the motives include d-c-a in the cello (with the rising

motive c) instead of the motives d-e-a (with the descending motive e). The piano part

during this measure includes the notes B -C#-D-F#, which are similar to the previous

measure, but are not in ascending scalar motion anymore; this could possibly be a

variation of the minor third with steps motive, combined with an ascending line. This

skip in the piano coinciding with the cello ascending line also gives one a stronger

impression of rising, as will be seen in the C section ascending line in the contour of

“Ein’ feste Burg.” One other important observation concerning these two measures is that

the piano bass line begins with G on each down beat, implying a move towards C major.

1915.” Perpectives of New Music 8:1 (Fall/Winter 1969), 82.

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Measure 7 begins the first presentation of motive f in the movement, which had

been present in the first movement and pervades the “Finale” as well. It gives the strong

impression of D minor by way of the notes D-F-G-A, a return to the original key and

away from the C major key of “Ein’ feste Burg.” The piano plays the notes in basically

ascending in quarter note rhythm while the cello line has the same line descending in

retrograde-inversion diminution. Following motive f in the cello (A-G-F-D) the cello

line then begins the motive again, but instead of continuing on to D to complete the third,

it expands the skip to C, a fourth. Then the C proceeds to an F, expanding the interval

even further, to a fifth. The cello and piano both then play a G dominant chord, a

surprise considering that the measure it is ending sounds mostly like D minor, but not so

surprising when one considers that the intervallic expansion symbolizes the move

towards “Ein’ feste Burg” and therefore C major. This is a battle of the keys, each

struggling to gain foothold in the music.

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After the sudden G dominant chord, the cello strums an E diminished chord at the

end of measure 7, since the G (the third), while being absent from that particular chord, is

still ringing strongly in the ears of the listener from the previous piano chord. This chord

is the same as it was written previously in measures 5 and 6, in which the top E was the

first note of motive d. While the G dominant tends to go to C, the E diminished wants to

bring the music back to the key of F (the relative major of D minor). But instead of either

one of these outcomes occurring immediately, the cello continues to hold the E in

measure 8, accompanied by a C# minor chord and then an F major chord, which produces

a strange sort of V-I progression. The first time this occurs, the cello resolves the E to F.

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In the measure after this the cello sounds the E harmonic again, accompanied once again

by the C# minor chord, but instead both piano and cello return to D minor.

Figure 26, Sketch of passage in “Sérénade” with E harmonics

In the sketch, the false harmonic E that is an octave above the E in the final

manuscript, and there is a glissando after each E harmonic, which also did not survive the

final cut. Perhaps this is Debussy’s indication of the falling E towards D, whose victory

may symbolize a temporary defeat of C major and therefore “Ein’ feste Burg” by D. But

as is shown in the next two measures, the defeat is not lasting.


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In measure 10 and 11, all of the motives from “Ein’ feste Burg” are present out of

their original sequence and in a more compact form. Measure 10 is in loose contour of

the middle of “Ein’ feste Burg,” and has elements of the chromatic motive c, motive d (in

inversion in the piano line and expanded to a whole-step in the cello line) and motive e,

but motives c and e are hardly recognizable due to their varied form. In the first piano

chord the motive c which occurred at the beginning of the work can be found

simultaneously in the notes A -A-B and D-E (missing an E initially). The cello line

then enters on D#-E, seeming to complete the c motive (D-E -[E]). The cello continues

to add to the motive D#-E-F-E, finishing with a D on the downbeat of measure 11; this

completes the tritone in the cello part from Ab to D that the piano has played as a

harmonic interval on the half-bar throughout the two measures. Also during this measure

the piano part has included “Ein’ feste Burg” motive d in inversion (G-F#-G) and motive

a in the piano part in which a short passage is repeated three times. The tonal area of D

(minor) is present, but is strongly influenced in this section by the motives from “Ein’

feste Burg” and especially the tritone, a variation of the characteristic fourth. It now

appears that the defeat in the measure 9 was not strong enough to be lasting. Once the

cello plays the final D in the harmonic tritone on the downbeat of measure 11 (the end of

the A section) the piano begins another ascending motive c within “Ein’ feste Burg,”

leading into the B section which is dominated by the whole-tone scale ostinato in the

piano line.

In this A section, as can be seen by the preceding analysis, Debussy has presented

the motives in a different order, set up a sense of intervallic expansion and has given the

initial victory to D over C.

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Section B Section B contains the process of expanding the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn motives

from half-steps to whole-tone scale within five measures. It is also possible that this B

section is much shorter than the other sections because it contains a compacted version of

the motives without much development.

Figure 28, mm.12-16 (first part of B section), “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

The anascrusis to measure 12 starts the B section. These measures involve an

ostinato figure in the piano, which is a fragment of “Ein’ feste Burg” (motives b and c)

and continues until measure 17. The ostinato is comprised of b motives, as tritones, and

motive c, in whole tones. By way of the whole-tone ostinato version of motive b and c

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under the half-steps in the cello, Debussy once again seems to be foreshadowing the

expansion of the intervals.

Figure 29, Sketch of “Sérénade” with initial B section passage in diatonic

In the sketch of the Cello Sonata, Debussy originally composed a different cello

line in measure 13. Instead of the chromatic line that traces the contour of “Ein’ feste

Burg” without the initial leap of a fourth, he had the cello repeat the G#, skip down to D

and begin the notes of “Ein’ feste Burg” in G major in the rhythm from measure 10 in the

first movement. Perhaps he rejected this idea because the three G#’s with the contour of

the melody sounded too much like “Ein’ feste Burg,” and listeners most likely would

have recognized it. Or perhaps Debussy thought that this presented the tune too strongly

for the meaning he wanted the music to convey (although the music comes close to the

“Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, it never actually presents all of the motives of the first half in

order). Another reason, though all of these reasons may also be true, is that Debussy may

have wanted to exaggerate the expansion of intervals by expanding from half-steps to

whole-tones rather than from diatonic, which contains half-steps and whole-steps, to

whole-tones. For whatever, Debussy chose to use the chromatic contour of the hymn that

exists today in measure 13, yet still leaves out the most characteristic interval, the fourth.

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The cello part in the B section from measure 12-18 gradually expands from half-

steps to a mix of half and whole steps in measures 14-15 (a section of which is marked

ironique and later expressif) to a whole-tone scale, and finally to a close rendition of the

“Ein’ feste Burg” hymn in measure 17. Measure 13 and 14 contain chromatic notes in a

melodic manner and all of the motives contained in “Ein’ feste Burg.” In measure 13

alone, at ironique the motives a, c, d, and e are present in various forms, along with the

additional tritone motive b in the piano. Measure 14 also includes a variation of a number

of motives put together. The notes at the beginning of measure 14 are reminiscent of the

motive f, as the notes are C#-A-G# (minus the passing B), and motive d (the small arch).

Motive b also appears in the cello part as a tritone (G-C#), in the piano part the tritone

and ascending motive ostinato is still present.

The next section marked expressif is legato, but continues the same ideas of

expansion and variation, with the added tritone A#-E in the piano bass line. In measure

16 Debussy finally employs almost an entire whole-tone scale in the cello part containing

the notes D-E-F#-G# with an A# and B# previously in the piano line.

The progression in the cello part from measure 13 to measure 16 that is marked

by an expansion of the intervals from half-steps to whole steps to whole-tone scale is

very likely a variant of the opening transition from half steps to whole step in measure 1.

Tension is created by the expansion of intervals to whole-tones, which produces a large

amount of tritones, which are presented all at once in the downbeat of measure 17.

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Figure 30, mm. 17-18 (second part of B section), “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

These last two measures (17 and 18) in this B section are probably the closest to

“Ein’ feste Burg” than any other section in the second movement, perhaps symbolizing

the strength of the Germans at this point in the musical war occurring in the sonata.

These measures contain all the motives that make up the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, even if

slightly out of order. Also, if one were to delete the G#’s and A’s from measure 17, the

measures would contain a perfectly arched contour of the melody in whole-tone scale.

This section ends with a pure C major chord, returning to the A section once again in

measure 19. Considering how Debussy wrote the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn in C major in

his original sketch, the arrival on a perfect C major chord seems significant, especially in

a work that contains few purely major chords that involve both parts.

The previously discussed passage in the sketch of the Cello Sonata indicates

pizzicato on the last low C of the B section in measure 18 instead of the E in measure 19

where the second A section begins. Many cellists who perform this work today pause

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after the low C momentarily before beginning measure 19, but the indication of pizzicato

on the low C in the sketch implies that the tied C is reminiscent of the tied low C in the

original A section in from measure 2 to 3. Therefore, I believe that after the cédez,

Debussy intended for the music to continue into section A without a pause.

Figure 31, mm. 18-19, Sketch, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

Section A The second A section is exactly as the first A section for 4 measures (excluding

the introductory two measures of chromatic notes in the first A section), except for the

variations in dynamics from the corresponding measures, which imply a strengthening of

the “Ein’ feste Burg” motives. Then, when the A section begins to completely change in

measure 23 and 24, there is an emphasis on the perfect fourth at the end of these two

measures, some of the only perfect fourths in the second movement that are not tritones.

There is also a strong G dominant chord, pulling towards C, and the section does not end

on D, but continues into the next section, implying a weakening of D.

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Debussy varies the dynamics in the new A section; in measure 20 the ascending

tritones have crescendi instead of decrescendi, the decrescendo in measure 21 begins

directly on the three repeated notes rather than the note before them, and in measure 22

the hairpin goes to the second repeated note of motive a rather than the third. This is an

example of the variational process with which Debussy treats his thematic material. It

could possibly be symbolic of the strength of “Ein’ feste Burg”as well, by emphasizing

the notes in the ascending tritones that lead to C major (the lower notes of the tritones, D-

E -E as opposed to A -A-B ) and giving more strength to motive a through dynamics

that emphasize the three repeated notes rather than letting them die away.

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Measures 23-25 are analogous to, but different from, measures 7-9; then measure

26 returns to the similar passage from measure 10. Whereas the first A section included

the f motive for one measure and then the false harmonic E’s for two measures, which

resolved eventually to D minor through F major, this A section seems to extend motive a

from the measures 21 and 22 until measure 24, accompanied by interval expansion in the

piano part. Measure 23 in the cello part contains the notes A -G-F#(G ), oscillating

around the note G, which is then followed by B -F, motive b as a perfect fourth. The next

measure begins like the previous one, but a half-step higher. The cello line contains A-

A -G-B at first seeming to oscillate around A , but then the last group of three is

75

ascending instead of surrounding the note. The last two notes are once again a perfect

fourth on B-F#. After so many presentations of motive b in tritone form, this appears to

be an example of increasing clarity of “Ein’ feste Burg” in the cello line while intervallic

expansion is occurring beneath it in the piano part, further implying a strengthening of

the hymn.

There is even more to this passage in measures 23 and 24 when one considers the

piano part. The piano bass notes begin with tritones A -D, but then expand to a perfect

fifth, A -D . The next measure begins once again with a tritone, A -D, but expands to a

perfect fifth a half-step higher, A-D. Both measures also include motive d twice in rising

half-steps in the piano line where D-E -D and E -F-E becomes D-E-D and E-F#-E.

This overall expansion and rise of melodic material is perhaps an expression of tension

generated by the increasing clarity and gathering strength of “Ein’ feste Burg” motives in

the A section. Measure 25 then starts with a G dominant 13th chord – a powerful chord

that includes many potentially resolving notes in C major.

Figure 34, m. 25, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

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Measure 25 is not the same as its corresponding measures 8 and 9. Just as in the

latter, it begins with an E and has fifths, but in measure 25, Debussy repeats the figure E-

A-B-D, falling an octave with each repetition. The last repetition ends in a triplet whose

last note, D, is in the piano left hand. The D minor has now hardly resolved, whereas in

measure 9 it had already resolved before the down beat and had been strengthened by F

major, even though its victory was soon lost to the whole-tone scale.


Measure 26 is exactly like measure 10, but the figure in the cello part extends into

measure 27 as well. Whereas in the previous A section the cello finished with a D and let

the piano take over the ostinato, this time the cello continues the D#-E-A -B fragment

over the same piano part and repeats it an octave higher until it reaches five high C’s,

which are a lengthened variation of motive a, and is marked crescendo molto. These C’s

are an interruption of the whole-tone scale ostinato. Together with the C major

symbolism of the hymn in the sketch, the C’s being the opening motive of “Ein’ feste

Burg,” and the hymn being a symbol of the Germans, it is likely to be symbolic in this

piece as meaning that the Germans have fully arrived. The piano, meanwhile, initially

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begins its ostinato, but ends abruptly before the next measure in which section C begins.

Throughout this A section, Debussy has musically portrayed the gathering strength of

“Ein’ feste Burg” by varying motives and emphasizing G dominant and C major.

Section C The body of section C lasts for 26 measures, the longest yet, and has a general

shape of the “Ein feste Burg” hymn. It seems as if Debussy chose certain characteristics

of the hymn to set as the contour of this section as a whole – the repeated three notes, the

ascending line, the descending line, the repeated two descending lines in the second half

of the tune and the last note (ending on C of course, as he has in the sketch). Within

these general characteristics, he also varies other motives within as well.

Figure 36, Contour of C section corresponding to “Ein’ feste Burg,” “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

This section has a number of aspects that divide the music into two parts. One of

the divisions concerns the piano accompaniment, which starts in measure 31 in the time

signature 2/4, against the cello 3/8. The second half of this section begins in measure 44,

in which the accompaniment begins in 2/4 against 3/8 once again. The second split

concerns the melodic phrasing in measure 31 in the cello line, which is repeated in

measure 42 an octave higher and continues the melodic similarity in measure 43,

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analogous to measure 32. The third split concerns the “Ein’ feste Burg” contour in the

cello part. In the hymn, the second half begins after the fermata; in the Cello Sonata the

second half of the “Ein’ feste Burg” contour begins in measure 48.

Section C begins with a three measure introduction in which the C’s in measure

27, perhaps a foreshadowing of the variation to come, gradually progress down to

measure 31 in which B is the new tonal key area. The C’s are repeated, as a variation of

motive a, but then rhythmic and tonal ambiguity causes the C to lose its foothold as the

tonal area. In measure 28 the C section of the rondo begins with a sigh-like figure on the

notes C-B-D# in the cello, and alternating chords (these chords contain the notes F-A -

B -C-D and F#-A-B-C-D#) in the piano. The cello joins the alternation in measure 29 in

which the groupings containing the notes C-B -D and C-B-D#. These groupings of notes

are then transformed into a triplet figure, and accelerate until they become a whirl of

notes that mix into C-B-D, a combination of both groups. This leads into a melody in

measure 31, comprised of the same notes.

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Figure 37, mm.28-30, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

From measure 29 until 32 the cello part continually repeats C-B[ ]-D[#] in

various rhythmic patterns. In measure 29 there is a foreshadowing of B’s ultimate

victory, for the piano strikes a low B even while the cello is still playing B -C-D. In

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measure 30 the cello part changes its notes to B-C-D, and the piano attacks the B one

more time during this measure as if to emphasize its victory over B . This supposed

victory of B could mean a leaning towards C, as the former is a leading tone to the latter

(as opposed to the B pulling down to A, the dominant of D), although B becomes a key

in itself for a short time in the following C section.

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Figure 38, mm.31-54, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

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In the first nine measures of this section, one can trace the actual notes of “Ein’

feste Burg” within the general contour of the hymn, and even specific notes from the

hymn in C major, which are shown here by an underline. Later, it is apparent that this

contour does end in C as well, as the last and lowest note of the passage in measures 51-

53 are low C’s. The three repeated notes from the opening of “Ein’ feste Burg” can be

found in measures 32-34 (three C’s in measure 32, F’s and G#’s in measure 33 and 34);

in addition, motive a is continued in the triplets throughout measures 37-40 which contain

the rising line from the contour of the hymn as well. This rising line can be traced in the

movement from G-A (in m. 37, which also contains motive d) to A -A-B (m. 38) to G-

A -C (m. 39 this is also motive f) to B -C -E (m. 40); each measure’s reach is higher

than the previous measure. The highest point of this first half is the G in measure 41,

analogous to the climax of the “Ein’ feste Burg” phrase. The descent of the “Ein’ feste

Burg” contour occurs in plateaus contained in measures 42-44. Debussy has the cello

stay down in the lower range for a short time, giving it a sur la touche melody. The

second half of “Ein’ feste Burg” occurs in measure 48, a return to higher notes once

again. In the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, the descent happens twice, one slightly lower than

the other, and here it is the same – first starting at the F which descends relatively slowly,

and then at the A which descends rapidly down to C in the cello pizzicato, the C being

the last note of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn in Debussy’s sketch of the Cello Sonata.

The body of section C begins in measure 31 with the new theme, grown out of the

three bar introduction in which the transformation occurred. In the cello part, the triplet

figure with the notes B-D-C (previously the emphasis had been on the order C-B-D)

becomes a figure in duplets, though the cello part is in 3/8 time. The triplets resume

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beginning on the note C in measure 32. Underneath this the piano is in duple (2/4) time

with a “boom-chick” accompaniment. The notes in its line make up a half-diminished

chord on B (B-D-F-A) which includes the tritone B-F, with the bass line’s notes

alternating between B and F as well. The tritone is strong and the B half-diminished

chord is probably borrowed from C minor as a seventh chord, which could mean that the

tonal area of C, and “Ein’ feste Burg,” is sneaking into the music. It could also be a

borrowed half-diminished ii chord from A minor. At this point, the music is ambiguous

in terms of contour, tonality and rhythm.

The next two measures are slightly different, for even as the piano line remains

exactly the same, the cello rhythms are becoming noticeably more in 2/4 time. While the

cello line still fits comfortable within 3/8, the notes F-G# appear to respond to the bass

notes of the piano in 2/4. This rhythmic development seems to progress from 3/8 with

2/4 (mm. 31 and 32) to 2/4 (mm. 33 and 34) to 6/8 (mm. 35 and 36) and finally to a stable

3/8 in measure 37. In measure 33, G# assists in modulating to the key of A by way of the

leading tone, which begins on an E major chord. Interestingly enough, the only cello note

in the preceding passage that had not been present in the piano chords (C, the destination)

is a tritone away from the only note in the cello line that in measure 33 is not present in

the piano chord (G#).

In measure 35 the piano chords change, although the piano time signature is still

2/4. This new chord is a dominant ninth chord on E, which is the dominant of A. Also in

these measures, the cello part has grown in tonal and rhythmic ambiguity, as it is

comprised of almost constant wandering triplet figures which seems to suggest 6/8 when

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played with the piano line’s 2/4 time signature. The wandering passage ends in measure

37 on G, as an elision to the next section, which begins the ascent of the contour of “Ein’

feste Burg.” This G is the fifth in a C major chord, the tonal area of “Ein’ feste Burg.”

One question that may be asked is, “within this contour, where is the

characteristic descending fourth from ‘Ein’ feste Burg’?” I believe Debussy has

transformed the interval into a change of color more than range, creating an impression of

descent. The passage of triplets in measure 36 seem to wind down even though they in

actuality they only change the range by exactly an octave between the preceding and

following notes. Also, the music changes suddenly in measure 37 and the cello and piano

parts are marked subito pp, leggiero, meno mosso poco. Therefore, it seems possible

that in two measures Debussy has taken the music from the high repeated notes of “Ein’

feste Burg” in measures 32-34 to the gradually ascending passage in measures 37-41 by

way of a drop in intensity (color) and a feeling of winding down, without the actual

descending fourth.

In measure 37, the triplet figure is in full force and begins the ascending part of

the “Ein’ feste Burg” contour. Without a break or other transition, the piano part is

transformed from 2/4 to 3/8, and the cello’s triplet figure becomes motive a. But motive

a is also mixed with motive d, where for each note in motive d is repeated three times.

The piano during the cello’s line also has motive d without the three repeated notes of

motive a; however, these single notes rise and fall with the cello’s motive d. At the end

of measure 38 the last triplet is not three repeated notes but A -B-A , creating an

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expansion of the intervals from major second to augmented second, and a rise in the

melodic line that traces the contour of the rising line in “Ein’ feste Burg.”

Measure 39 and 40 appear at first glance to be a continuation of 37 and 38, but in

fact they contain almost entirely new motives. The cello line still employs motive a, but

now the triplets are arranged in the frame of motive f in retrograde (rising half-steps and

then third). This rising motive helps the cello line to follow further the rising contour of

“Ein’ feste Burg.” Then the figure is repeated in the next measure, transposed a minor

third higher, perhaps exaggerating the rising contour of “Ein’ feste Burg” and bringing

the range of notes even higher. The piano line, meanwhile, changes by rising in the right

hand (motive c) and descending in the left hand (motive e) which emphasizes the ascent

by widening the range with contrary motion. From this point in measure 41, the cello

skips the repeated note motive a entirely and races up to the high G , which will become

an F# in the next measure when the figure from measure 31 repeats. This high G may

be seen as the top of contour of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn.

Measure 42 marks the beginning of the second half of the “Ein’ feste Burg”

contour where hymn descends, pauses on the fermata, and then begins again for its final

descent. Measure 42 is the figure from 31 transposed a perfect fifth higher, in a major

rather than a minor mode, and with a different accompaniment. This accompaniment

seems to be derived from the cello part of measure 33 and 34, and is now comprised of

the notes C#-B in 3/8 time which is no longer an augmented second, but is now a whole

step.

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The fact that it takes considerably less time to complete the second half of the

hymn contour is perhaps symbolizing a move away from the strength of “Ein feste Burg.”

The lessening strength is also apparent when comparing the initial chord on the downbeat

of measure 42 (a major 7 chord on D) with measures 31 and 32 (a half-diminished chord

on B, the leading tone to C major). Therefore, it is possible that this second half, the

descending portion of the “Ein’ feste Burg” contour is losing strength as it falls farther

away from C major and closer to D. Even though the range of the cello hovers around

the highest note of the contour, the accompanying chord is already bringing the hymn

back down.

Measures 42-44 mark the actual descent of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn. The cello

and piano line both drop an octave from the previous measure rather than staying in the

same range. The following measure, part of the second half of this second section, is an

octave lower, marking a further decline in range that traces the contour of “Ein’ feste

Burg”.

The second half of this second section, starting at measure 44, is marked by a

change in tempo and color, being marked rubato and sur la touche, and could possibly

represent the fermata in the middle of “Ein’ feste Burg,” especially since it is slow and its

two measures are repeated, elongating the line. The cello part begins with the triplet

figure from the previous measure but then descends with motive e and presents motive b

in tritone form, which is accompanied by another tritone E-B in the piano bass line.

Following the note F is the ascending c motive. The second presentation in measure 46

begins the same way with the triplet figure and unexpectedly jumps up to an F an octave

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above the B instead of below. The resulting group (B-F-G-A -B ) seems to be a

variation of the motive f (skip with steps) employing a tritone instead of a third. The

figure has gone from using the fourth skip with contrary motion (from the “Ein’ feste

Burg” contour) to the “third” with steps motive by changing only the octave of the notes.

Therefore, so far within this second section, the motives that have been used are b, c, e,

and f. These measures end the contour of the descending part of “Ein’ feste Burg.”

Measures 48/49 and 50/51 are exact repetitions of each other and sound very

much like an inversion of what came before in measures 45 and 47, since the rhythms are

very similar. In measure 48, this descending passage starts on the high F in the cello and

can be traced back to the contour of the “Ein’ feste Burg” melody towards the end, the

descending passage beginning high once again after the fermata. 118 After the descent the

notes return to the C#-B figure that was derived in measure 42 and possibly symbolized

the waning strength of the Germans by intervallic compression. In the piano part, the

ascending chromatic line is motive c in chromatic motion, a further compression of

intervals, also implying that “Ein’ feste Burg” is losing strength in this section. The

motive ends on the second beat of measure 49 with perfect fifths plus an F, followed by

the cello in quick pizzicato descent on all open strings. This quick descent matches the

end of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, that originally included the “quick-quick-long”

rhythm, from which motive f is originally derived. After an exact repetition in measures

50 and 51, as if to signal the end of “Ein’ feste Burg,” the cello once again reiterates the

C with a sforzando, vibrato, tenuto and carrot (quite a bit for pizzicato on an open string!)

and then echoes the C in the next measure again to end with a total of three repeated C’s.

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On an interpretive note performers have often broken this section from measures

32-53 because of the indicated change in tempi, dynamics and color. Yet, in light of

interpreting the C section as the contour of “Ein’ feste Burg,” it would seem to suggest

that despite the changes in dynamics and tempo, the parts of this section should display

unity, and that the changes in color and tempo indicate Debussy’s own impression of the

different parts of the hymn. One example of this is in measures 37-41 (the ascent), where

it might be wise to moderate the accelerando that is so typical of many performances,

since it detracts from motive a in measures 32-34. Also, the descent in measures 42-44

could perhaps be connected in a performance, as if they were descending as one line,

without as much of a break as is usually given in the changes of tempo, dynamic and

color. In measures 42-53 (the second half of “Ein’ feste Burg” and quick descent to the

end), the cello part should seem like a quick end to a phrase, ending on C.

Section A The third A section is a final battle between D and C, plus a symbolic falling apart

of the motives from “Ein’ feste Burg.” Whereas in the first two A sections the motives

had some unity through range and continuous, Debussy changes the treatment of the

motives here perhaps to musically symbolize the weakening of the German army, and

prepares for the victory of France in the next movement.

118 It is interesting to note that in the sketch Debussy composed a similar section here with harmonics, indicated by diamond-shaped notes. In the final manuscript this passage is not written as harmonics, but the cellist is told to play it flautando.

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Measure 54 brings us to the last A section of this rondo form beginning exactly as

it had been when it was first presented in measure 3, excluding dynamics once again.

While the ascending tritone figure (motives b and c) has diminuendi just like the first A

section, the previous measure (measure 54) has a hairpin on the initial motives c and b,

which emphasizes the note G that does not belong in the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, but

goes beyond.

In measure 56 the notes are the same as in measure 5, continuing the motives

from the A section, but there are also many changes in the presentations of the motives

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that break their continuity. In the cello part, the figure is now arco and sur la touche with

no crescendo on motive d. There is also a glissando from the D to the C#, the latter being

an octave lower instead of in the same range as the D, as it was in measure 5. In measure

57 the entire figure begins an octave lower, whereas in measure 6 it had begun in the

same octave as the previous measure, once again with no crescendo, and the D falls even

lower to the lowest C# on the cello, instead of ascending the second time as it did in

measure 6. The figure is getting weaker when it cannot rise any longer.

The piano part also supports the idea that the motives are being weakened; instead

of an E minor chord to strengthen the first E of motive d, the piano plays an F#, creating

a melodic dissonance. This chord is followed by quarter note chords in the piano, unlike

measure 5 that had presented the ascending motive c in sixteenth notes. When analyzed,

these chords spell two dominant ninth chords on F# and G. In the next measure the first

chord is missing entirely, which gives an even weaker impression of the off-beat E; the

cello starts motive d on its own and is soon accompanied by a dominant seventh chord on

A with a doubled seventh (G). Perhaps as a doubled seventh, the G is trying to push

through to become the dominant of C once more, leading to the final battle in measure

58.

Measure 58 is the thickest measure in the entire movement and symbolizes a final

musical battle. The cello’s sixteenth notes, comprised mostly of a motives which seem to

be trying to break through, are accompanied by successive eighth-note chords comprised

of six notes each in the piano part. The top notes of each of the chords spell out a whole-

tone scale (B -C-D-E-F#-A ). The bottom notes are a fifth apart from the cello part,

spelled enharmonically (A -A-C-C#-E-F). These chords are all minor ninth chords in

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different inversions, although ever other chord is missing its third degree, which can be

found in the previous chord.

Figure 40, m. 58, “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

Measures 58, with its running sixteenths and building tension, could perhaps

resolve to an A in the same register, and one would expect some sort of lively motion to

continue after the passage. Instead, the cello and piano lines jump two octaves to a

higher A which the cello holds in measure 59 with no change in accompaniment for half

of a bar. This leaves the audience wondering what will happen next, asking about who

won this musical battle. When something does happen in the second half of measure 59,

the piano plays the notes E -F -D -E -C -D consecutively in three octaves for each

note.

The notes in measure 59 seem originate from a C major scale. Later, in measure

61 and 62, the figure in the piano is repeated in C major, a half-step higher than the

previous measure, perhaps symbolizing a last gasp for air by C whose defeat is imminent,

before falling back to C in measure 63 and 64.

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Figure 41, mm. 59-64 (end), “Sérénade,” Cello Sonata

Over these last six bars, intervallic expansion is also represented, as the cello is

mainly holding the high A (the dominant of D), but bursts into a short flourish of half-

steps (A-B -C -Bb-A), perhaps symbolizing the distance from “Ein’ feste Burg” at this

moment since, throughout the movement, intervallic expansion reflected a move towards

the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn. This is in contrast to the piano’s whole-steps that symbolize

the “last breath.” In the end of this movement, one could speculate that Debussy has

symbolized musically the French victory over Germany.

“Prologue” (First Movement) Analysis

The “Ein’ feste Burg” motives can also be found in the “Prologue” and “Finale”

movements of the Cello Sonata. The most frequently occurring motive “Ein’ feste Burg”

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is the third with half-steps (motive f), and many instances of the contour of the “Ein’

feste Burg” melody.

Exposition The opening bars of the first movement already contain a variation of the “Ein’

feste Burg” hymn. Debussy has taken the hymn in F major and transformed it into a D

minor theme by adding a D minor chord, so that the first note of “Ein’ feste Burg” (F) is

the third of the chord. He also adds a new note (D, on the third beat) and changes the

rhythm to mask the true melody.119 If one were to delete the D on the third beat, and put

the sixteenth notes on F-E instead of D-C, the first half of “Ein’ feste Burg” would be

immediately recognizable in the first bar of the sonata.

119 See section entitled “Rhythm.”

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The second measure continues the hymn, but is disguised by a new harmony.

Debussy also presents motive d in inversion; this motive had been interrupted in the

upper voice by the D on the third beat. After this, there is a G dominant seventh chord,

which will return throughout the entire piece as leading to C major, the key of the hymn

in the sketch.

One could trace the notes of almost the entire hymn if one were to elide the first

and second half of “Ein’ feste Burg” on itself; upon analyzing the hymn, there are two

descending lines, each using the same notes (in F major, F-E-D-C) before and after the

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fermata, and Debussy has taken away one of the descents. When these two descents

become one, the result is the melodic line in the first few bars of the Cello Sonata.

Figure 43, “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn condensed

In measure 2, Debussy has not left out the D (the top of the f motive) but has

instead given it to the piano left hand. The tune then continues with B -C. At this point,

it appears that Debussy has cut “Ein’ feste Burg” short; but if one were to look closer

once again, one could see that the G-F of the very end is present in the middle voices of

the piano in the correct range. Between the first and second statements of the hymn in

measures 1-3 and 3-(unfinished hymn) respectively, there is an elision which further

masks “Ein’ feste Burg.” The last F then becomes a chord-tone of the harmony for the

next statement in measure 3. Although it is not immediately clear, the cello will have this

complete line in measures 45-46, continuing the phrase until the end without interruption

or elision. These are the only two sections of the work that contain the entire “Ein’ feste

Burg” hymn. The two statements of it at the beginning and end of the movement reflect a

kind of presentation of the melody, thereby preparing “Ein’ feste Burg” for further

development in the rest of the work.


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Measure 3 begins the same as the first, except that instead of the descending

motive e the line rises again to state a second presentation of the ascending part of “Ein’

feste Burg.” The low C interrupts the hymn (the first instance of a disruption by the note

C) , and continues finishing the first half of the hymn in C major rather than F major,

ascending and then quickly descending in a triplet figure in measure 4, repeating it an

octave lower. In this measure, the tritone (in the form of B and F) also appears for the

first time. This measure could be a preliminary “battle” between F major/D minor and C

major to foreshadow the conflicting tonal areas of the second movement.


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In this same measure as the triplets in measure 4, the cello enters for the first time.

After an initial tirade120 which contain the notes D and G,121 the cello line presents a

portion of the hymn and continues on to a flourish of notes. This embellished line is in

the key of D minor while the piano is clearly in C major, presenting the tonal conflict that

will continue to haunt the work. It could perhaps represent the French and Germans since

the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn is in C major in the sketch of the Cello Sonata and D minor is

the key of the work. The unexpected minor chord on E in measures 6 and 7 is puzzling,

but might be explained as sinking down to A (dominant of D) from G (dominant of C) by

way of the high B in the cello line. The last note in measure 7, the A , acts as a G# by

leading to A in measure 8. It appears that even with the slight interruptions of C, D is

still dominant in the work so far.


120 A tirade is described by Paul Jacobs as “rapid scales as upbeats to a strong beat. These notes were to be played rapidly and with articulation, but not in the pedantic values of their actual notation.”( I have included this passage, even though it consists of two notes instead of a scale, because it has as similar impression and purpose here.) Paul Jacobs, “On Playing the Piano Music of Claude Debussy,” Cahiers Debussy 3 (1979), 41.

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In measure 8 the cello line includes the notes A-F-E, the descending third with

steps motive f from “Ein’ feste Burg;” these notes are exactly the notes of the original f

motive in the sketch in C major. In the piano part during this measure the motives e and

b subtly appear as D-C#-C-B and D-G# respectively. These are not as bold as in the

“Sérénade” movement, but creep along beneath the cello line. In measure 9 there appears

twice a variation of motive f as the cello line continues, and beneath this the piano is the

same as measure 8 but is lacking the tritone at the end of the measure. It is almost a

“decrescendo” of motives in which the motives are presented and disappear or lose their

strength through repetitions that start on consecutively lower pitches. In measure 10

there appears a line that is rhythmically similar to a part of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn,

although it lacks the opening three notes that make up motive a. Also in measure 10,

there occurs again a larger portion of the hymn without the repeated three notes of motive

a, and uses eighth notes instead of the triplet figure from the beginning. The rhythmic

ambiguity has grown, but the hymn is still present. So far, the music has presented the

“Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, the tonal conflict and a number of motives, but they are subtle,

undisruptive elements.

Measures 12 and 13 are a restatement of measures 8 and 9 in the cello part, except

for the surprising A , creating a melodic tritone between E and A . This could be seen as

a strengthening of the characteristic fourth from “Ein’ feste Burg,” perhaps growing as an

adversary, since it is dissonant. The piano line is entirely new, consisting of an F major

chord to an F minor chord with a Bb in the bass (creating a dissonance between A and

B and a tritone between B and E). This new accompaniment is less active in terms of

121 These notes are found in ascending fourths and fifths that are more similar to the “La Marseillaise”

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motivic development but creates a thicker chordal texture within a more classical

idiom122 to support the melody. In measure 14 motive f is presented once again, in the

notes A-F-E, in diminution, as part of a larger phrase. This theme ends in measure 15

with a plagal cadence in D minor. The turn towards a classical idiom, D minor and the

retaining of disjunct motives instead of the entire “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn could be a

foreshadowing of the end of the work, that France (symbolized by a D tonal area,

classical style and a move away from “Ein’ feste Burg”) will be victorious.

Development The middle section of the first movement starting in measure 16 can perhaps be

seen as comparable to a development section in which “Ein’ feste Burg” grows in

strength through victory in tonal battles, motivic prominence and similarity to the actual

hymn. It begins with a sequence of rising steps in the cello line that alternate between A

minor and A major with the change from C to C#. A major is significant because it is the

dominant of D, most likely symbolizing France. The passage begins twice, first in

measure 16, which finishes in G minor (a chord from the tonal area of D, rather than G

major which is the dominant of C, perhaps implying the temporary victory of that key)

with a reminiscent version of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, and then again in measure 18,

which continues to be a minor version of the actual hymn and ends with sequences of the

descending f motive. This motive then continues to become an ostinato in the cello line

until measure 27. This second statement ends on an A minor chord, as a deceptive

cadence in C major, which could mean that C major is gathering strength (whereas in

measure 17 the chord on G had been minor, not acting as a dominant to C).

anthem, which could possibly be foreshadowing the anthem in the third movement.

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The next section seems to be based on the progression of growing domination by

motive f, which first appeared in measure 8. It enters simply, as a undisruptive fragment

of a phrase in measure 8 with minimal accompaniment, but then starts to become stronger

as it is influenced by the changing modality from major to minor in measure 12. By

measure 19 and 20, it is repeated as a fragment that makes up a large portion of the

melodic material, and then in 21 it finally becomes a kind of melody itself, as an ostinato.

Rollo Myers also said that this treatment of a simple melody could also be similar to

Claire de Lune in which the simple “melody” is transformed by the changing harmony.123

122 Here, classical idiom means melody and accompaniment instead of abstract motives. 123 Rollo Myers, Claude Debussy: The story of His Life and Work, (London, 1972), 32.

101

After this large section of ostinato, motive f does not appear in the movement again until

the recapitulation in measure 39. In the second half of this ostinato section, the piano

begins the technique called planing, which Debussy so often used in his earlier music to

promote a feeling of staticism, in which the intervallic spaces of each chord remains the

same as the previous chord. In measure 27 the planing technique ends, which creates a

feeling of new energy and motion, preparing for the final climax of sequential fourths in

measure 28 and into the “Ein’ feste Burg” melody in measure 29.

Figure 48, m. 28, “Prologue,” Cello Sonata

In measure 28 the cello bursts into sequences of ascending fourths, the most

prominent interval in “Ein’ feste Burg.” Along with these fourths, the piano alternates

inversions of the G dominant chord that ultimately lead to the widely spaced C major

chord in measure 29. This could imply the dominance of the “Ein’ feste Burg” since one

of the strongest motives (the fourth) appears with a strong feeling of tonal dominance to

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the symbolic key of C major and the wide spacing gives the chord a unique color,

emphasizing it.


Measures 29-30 once again present the variation of “Ein’ feste Burg” from the

opening of the work, and following this, measure 31 gives an embellished variation of the

a motive (three repeated G’s). It also appears that a tonal battle is being waged in this

section, particularly in measures 29, 31, and 32, in which the first beat of the measure is a

C chord without the third degree, the second beat is three octaves of C together with three

octaves of D, and the fourth beat is a D minor chord. In measure 32, the third time this is

presented, the fourth beat does not resolve clearly in D minor, but to F major (the key of

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“Ein’ feste Burg” in the opening measures of the movement), which then leads to the

“Ein’ feste Burg” hymn in measure 33 in the cello line. The progression implies a

temporary victory of “Ein’ feste Burg.”

Figure 50, mm. 35-36, “Prologue,” Cello Part in Cello Sonata

In measure 35 the intervals suddenly expand into fourths and fifths, and the

expansion and presentation of the intervals from “Ein’ feste Burg” foreshadow the

strength of the hymn. All of the notes contained in this measure are C-E-G-D-A. It

could be speculated that Debussy has chosen these notes because they are found in the

chords used to symbolize Germany and France in the Cello Sonata. C-E-G is from the

key C major, D-A could be the key of D and G-D is an ambiguous G chord. From this

we could also speculate that at this point the battle between D and C is being won by C.

Soon after, however, C major already appears to be losing its strength, as C# and A occur

immediately after, in measure 36, implying the dominant of D. The intervals then seem

to contract, as in the next measure 37, C# diminished (containing a G) alternates with C#

minor (containing G#, which pulls to A) in the piano. Therefore, the music is getting

further from C major and further from “Ein’ feste Burg” (in motive development and

contour) which may imply the lessening strength of the Germans.

Debussy may have then planned for the recapitulation to have more than a formal

function, as he had musically portrayed the gathering strength of the Germans and then

104

the lessening strength soon after in the development. At the recapitulation, motive f

appears once again, which may signal the departure of the Germans.

Recapitulation The Recapitulation begins in measure 39, and remains the same as the exposition

until measure 43 when Debussy decided to leave out the initial A (and therefore the

descending minor third) from the descending f motive. He had considered the A at first,

as can be seen in the sketch, but crossed it out. In measure 43 motive f is weak, as it is

presented with even less accompaniment (no tritone and an ascending line in measure 44

rather than a second descending line); the motives are falling apart towards the end. This

is also true concerning the ascending motive c in measure 47; instead of continuing to F

as in “Ein’ feste Burg,” it simply repeats. At the end, starting in measure 47, the chords

alternate between minor-major instead of major-minor, and the piece ends on a major

chord, creating a sense of hope.

“Finale” (Third Movement) Analysis

Just as in the second movement of En blanc et noir, there is evidence that

elements of “La Marseillaise” appear in the third movement of the Cello Sonata.

Although these quotations are not obvious, there is ample evidence that Debussy would

have included “La Marseillaise” in a work that also contains “Ein’ feste Burg.” If one

were to analyze the Cello Sonata without any respect to “Ein’ feste Burg,” it would be

impossible or quite unlikely to see “La Marseillaise” in the last movement, but in the

context of the Lutheran hymn, and its symbolic meaning in the work, a lack of the French

national anthem would be even more puzzling, since it would mean imply no victory for

France. Debussy in his comments on En blanc et noir, admitted to the presence of “La

105

Marseillaise” so that his work would not be misunderstood as sympathetic to the

Germans.124

In En blanc et noir, “La Marseillaise” occurs in various fragments until a

quotation towards the end. In the Cello Sonata the quotation of the French anthem is also

masked in as an anacrusis to the soaring figure (based on motive f, that marks the

departure of “Ein’ feste Burg”) that occurs three times throughout the work and leads into

the major melody that also has fragments of the French anthem.

The “Finale” movement does not follow a traditional form such as sonata or

rondo. It contains elements of both, as sections return and modulate, but the overall form

is not standard. As a result, sections will be labeled as in the following order:

ABA`CDAC`(Coda)

Section A Similar to En blanc et noir, the “La Marseillaise” melody is presented in

fragments before Debussy writes a passage that resembles the melody more closely. The

first instance of a fragment of “La Marseillaise” is in measures 3 and 5, which contain the

ascending fourth. Although the fourth was also a motive from “Ein’ feste Burg,” the

fourth in that melody was descending, and often used in the form of a tritone.

Figure 51, The “La Marseillaise” melody in A Major

124 Glenn Watkins, Proof Through the Night: Music and the Great War (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), 92.

106

(within the key of D minor in the “Finale”)


The second presentation of a fragment that more closely resembles “La

Marseillaise” is in measure 6-7 in which the cello has the notes E-A-E-A. Although it

does not look like the French anthem at first, adding the note B after the first A and then

C# after the second high E would complete the anthem; Debussy has provided these

missing notes in the piano left hand.

Following this passage in measures 7-9, in the key of A minor, are a rising

variation (inversion) of motive f, which is similar to a measure in En blanc et noir.125

The significance of these measures is that could be a symbol of German departure or

distance from France, since it is the last motive of the “Ein’ feste Burg” hymn, turned on

its back. But the figure in measures 7-9 returns in measure 41-43 as well, this time in G

minor, the dominant tonal area of C major, and does not continue eventually to material

related to “La Marseillaise” as in measures.

125 This figure is discussed on pp. 42.

107


Figure 54, “La Marseillaise” melody as it would be completed with B and C#

108

In measure 15-18, Debussy has written a cheerful D major melody in the cello

line that will be picked up by the piano in measures 19-22. It seems at first that this

melody, too, has no similarity to “La Marseillaise” until closer examination: this time, by

subtracting the D’s and F# in measure 16 the anthem is more apparent. In measure 15,

the passage from measure 16 is in retrograde motion.


Section B Measures 23-34 are an interlude completely different from the preceding material.

The melodic line, mostly in the piano, has a certain Spanish flavor, perhaps harkening

back to the Spanish music that Debussy loved so much, and the style of which can be

109

found in his violin sonata. In this section, there are many perfect fifths, which could be

symbolic as being associated with “La Marseillaise,” but other than this, I have not found

any “Ein’ feste Burg” or “La Marseillaise” motives in this section, and so it would not be

helpful to this study to analyze the section in detail. But it could perhaps be seen as

Debussy’s homage to the Spanish people, who aided France in their war with Germany.

Section A’ and C Measures 37-44 give a presentation of the “La Marseillaise” material from

measures 4-14, but this time in the key of G, the dominant of C, (instead of A ,the

dominant of D in mm. 6-11), which had been in conflict with D in the previous

movements. Debussy also writes sur le chevalet (near the bridge) for the cello, which

produces a scratchy, nasal sound when playing the music he indicates. It could be

speculated that Debussy used the contrast of G and “La Marseillaise” in this passage as

looming danger when victory had seemed sure, especially in light of the following

material in section C that takes the music into various keys, even as far as B minor in

section entitled Lento, molto rubato con morbidezza. This section has no precedent

before it and contains wandering tonalities in which the piano is mostly a chordal

accompaniment to the cello’s soaring lines. This abruptly changes in measure 69 to the

key of A major and back to the original tempo of the last movement.

Section D In this section of measures 69-85 Debussy utilizes the perfect intervals (fifths and

octaves) that comprise the “La Marseillaise” anthem.

110



Section A and C Measure 85 also marks the beginning of the recapitulation for the movement, in

the same tonal area. It is almost identical to the beginning until measure 100 when the

cello trills B -C over the “La Marseillaise” anthem in the piano part. Perhaps it indicates

a final push towards the end, another interruption of C, reflecting Debussy’s anguish with

the long-lasting war. B and C also could symbolize the move away from C since B is

not the leading tone to C, but rather pulling the music down to A. In the following

measures, it seems almost as if the intervals want to expand once again. A similar

passage to the previous C section from measure 45-67 occurs again in measures 104-111.

Yet while the previous section wandered in terms of tonality, this new section centers

around both C and D (and the primary notes associated with them, such as their

dominants), leading to a final battle of wills in measure 112 between C major (by way of

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G dominant seventh) and D minor whose notes are found in both the piano and cello

parts. For a moment the listener is not sure what will happen, if the music will take a turn

for C major or D minor; it seems as if the sonata could end at the next down-beat in

measure 115 with a C major chord, but Debussy has the cello play a strong A and hold it

for almost two beats.


Coda Following the cello’s A, the coda begins as an embellished variation of motive a

(repeated three times), but after that all traces of “Ein’ feste Burg” are gone. There is no

longer a fourth, ascending scale, or turn around. Measures 120 and 121 shake off the last

of the C and G, leaving a pure D minor chord in measure 122 and a four octave D in

measure 123 which ends the work.

It appears that Debussy was sure of this ending; he did not make any changes to his

sketch when he composed this last section.

112

Figure 59, mm. 115-End, Sketch of last section of “Finale”

113

CONCLUSION

When France entered World War I in August of 1914, Debussy began his

despairing obsession with the conflict which some believe eventually led to his illness

and death. As a result, his later works, written after a period in which he felt he could not

compose because of his depression, continually refer to the war and the Germans, whom

the French were fighting at close range. Although the public desired to hear positive,

patriotic music that would boost their morale (propagandist music, as Saint-Saëns

composed), Debussy felt drawn to write the truth about the reality of the conflict and

horrors of war, leading to controversy over his works.

The Cello Sonata and the piano duet En blanc et noir particularly reflect this

conflict by setting “Ein’ feste Burg” and “La Marseillaise” as an analogy for the French

and German nations and ultimately depicts victory for France, a victory Debussy would

never live to see. Although the melodies are quoted somewhat directly in En blanc et

noir, this piano work also includes motives derived from them. These motives then stand

as a starting point for analysis of the Cello Sonata, in which motivic development serves

a much more significant portion of the abstract music in the “Sérénade.” The “Prologue”

and “Finale” movements of the Cello Sonata are more classical in nature, and it is

possible that these movements harken back to the French classicists, though Debussy

never discussed the inspiration in this particular work.

114

Debussy never overtly admitted to the presence of “Ein’ feste Burg” in the Cello

Sonata, but there is ample evidence to prove that he originally intended for it to be the

basis for the work. Besides the numerous motives used throughout the melodic material,

there is also a quote of the hymn in a sketch of the Sonata. Another piece of evidence is

in a letter to his publisher Durand stating that he had been working on a piece with a

secret dedication; the only two works he was composing at the time were En blanc et

noir, whose dedication is certainly not a secret, and the Cello Sonata of which he spoke

very little.

The interpretation of the Cello Sonata will be affected by this discovery, as

knowledge of the “Ein’ feste Burg” motives and how they relate to the structure affects

performance characteristics such as tempo, phrasing and continuity between sections. In

the past, cellists have clung to the notion that the abstract second movement was meant to

portray the commedia dell’arte clown Pierrot, the program which calls for a vastly

different interpretation and of which there is no conclusive evidence.

Hopefully this new knowledge concerning the Debussy Cello Sonata will renew

in cellists the interest in a work that is already timeless, yet whose true meaning has been

misunderstood for so long.

115

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Vita

Janelle Ragno was born in Ft. Leonardwood, Missouri on November 14, 1978.

She is the daughter of James Richard Ragno, Jr and Janet Grenon Ragno. Janelle

graduated from John F. Kennedy High School with honors in May 1996. She then

attended Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University for a Bachelors in Cello

Performance with Julian Tryczynski, and graduated summa cum laude in May 2000.

Janelle began her studies with Phyllis Young at the University of Texas at Austin in

August of 2000. She first attained a Master of Music in String Literature and Pedagogy

in May 2002, summa cum laude, and then began her studies towards a Doctorate of

Musical Arts in Cello Performance at the University of Texas at Austin in August of

2002.

Permanent address: 46 Fairview St, Willimantic, CT 06226

This dissertation was typed by the author.

123

Documents

Copyright by Janelle Suzanne Ragno 2005 · Janelle Suzanne Ragno, ... variational process based on the hymn and hidden quotes of the French anthem “La Marseillaise” in the third