Claude Debussy's Music

Despite the complexity and obscurity upon first sight of Claude Debussy's music, a closer look implies otherwise. This statement holds especially true for Debussy's Nuages, where simple harmonies govern the entirety of the piece. The interplay between the B minor scale (B-F#) and the octatonic scale (B-F) can be traced throughout every harmony. The ingeniousness of Debussy lies within his ability to showcase the F-B-F# tension through smooth voice leading and constant variation of modality.

One instance of where Debussy obscurely hides the F-B-F# tension was between m 13-14 and 19-20. All the notes of m 13 to the beginning of m14 could be condensed to the B-F# relationship. Realize how there is a prolonged B note being held for the entirety of measure 13. This tonal center reminds the listeners of the B minor scale. Notice the voice leading of m13 as an upward motion in all voices. While the bottom two voices move in chromatic scale at minor thirds apart, the top voice stresses the harmony. The general line of the harmony goes from C#-C#-E-F#. The bottommost voice is especially interesting in that it starts out as the same note as the top voice at an octave apart in order to emphasize the harmony. It then travels by stepwise motion to the F#. This F# is then transposed to the uppermost voice in the next measure, thus emphasizing the importance of this note. Realize how the two notes are stressed by their register difference: B being the lowest note of m13 and F# being the highest note of m 14. However, to ensure smooth voice leading, Debussy purposely build a chromatic scale leading up to F# in m13 in the lower voice. This F# is then easily carried over to the next measure. Another aspect to Debussy's detail to smooth voice leading from m 13-m14 is the repeated A between the first chord of m 14 and the last chord of m13.

Debussy diverts to other harmonic progression before coming back to the significant harmonic tension mentioned previously in m 19-20. Notice how this time Debussy inverts the two notes, and left the F natural to contrast with the B-F# relationship from m13-14. From a harmonic point of view, m19-20 may seem like a varied sequence to m17-18 at impulse, but a closer look suggests otherwise. For one thing, the scale is much more complicated, with a mixture of G Dorian or G Aeolian for the first four notes of the scale and G Lorian for the rest of the scale. While m 17-18 is completely modal, Debussy purposely left the A un-flatted in m19-20 to make the harmonies more interesting. If the A was flatted, the scale would be modal, and all the pitches would completely fall on the G Locrian scale (taking the bass as the root of the scale). Realize how the reduction of m 19-20 no longer consists of only one chord being tied over two measures as in m 17-18. Instead, it consists of the prolonged G9 minor chord from the beginning of m19 to the Bb minor chord at the end of m 20. This gives