Example 3: Diminished thirds in whole-tone passages. My brand new premium course: https://pianotv.net/design Limited-time sale — 30% off only until June 6th, 2020! Complete prelude If Debussy wants to emulate trumpets and then recapitulate his whole-tone scale pattern forcefully on a piano, he just goes for it. However, the composition was significantly revised in 1890 prior to publication. This results in a whole tone scale. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Click over a section for the analysis. a) Italy b) Paris c) Austria d) Germany 8) What musical term is defined as the lack of harmony among musical notes? a) Consonance b) Atonal c) Whole - tone scale d) Dissonance 9) Where is Debussy's birthplace? Omissions? Several examples of the whole-tone scale are found in Claude Debussy's work. The Prelude Voiles is in compound ternary form. The following example faithfully reproduces a passage from that work. Debussy avoided the formal recapitulations and developments of the but also makes use of the pentatonic and whole-tone scales • Octatonic scale. The first composers to begin experimenting with the chromatic alterations that imply whole-tone harmony within a generally tonal framework were Franz Liszt and Russian composers such as Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, and Aleksandr Borodin; these were followed in the early 20th century by the more attenuated tonal experiments of Anatoly Lyadov, Aleksandr Scriabin, and Vladimir Rebikov. This… Debussy’s piano piece “Clair de Lune” illustrates the unique whole tone style of the French composer. With elements from the first movement reappearing in the last, the work is unified, therefore suggesting the influence of the symphony. Some authors have suggested that Debussy uses the whole-tone scale as an analogue of the 7 note pelog tuning. I think of this as the 20th century’s take on Drake’s “YOLO.” [4:55] Triumphant Theme 2. Another great example is … Whole-tone scale definition, a scale progressing entirely by whole tones, as C, D, E, F♯, G♯, A♯, C. See more. The other movements replicate these intervals on differing pitch levels. I suggest to use it just on the dominant 7th chord. A very well known example of a song that uses the whole tone scale is Stevie Wonder’s You Are The Sunshine Of My Life. An early use of the octatonic scale is found in the Chopin Mazurka, Opus 50#3 (1841). Whole tone scales always look a bit odd because our notation is not designed for them. Voiles, Claude Debussy José Rodríguez Alvira. ... Impressionist composers explored the whole-tone scale. Whole-tone harmony thus became a means of suspending or dissolving the perception of tonality in music of this period. Non-diatonic scales based on modes and seemingly abstract intervals such as the half step and whole step proved tantalizing to composers during the last part of the nineteenth, and early part of the twentieth century. Debussy is considered a part of the Impressionist movement in music that was considered a subset of music within the Romantic Period. Debussy’s Voiles, the second Prélude from Book I, moves between whole-tone and pentatonic harmonies. Finally, Debussy ends the suite with “Passepied” a fast-paced dance that helps end the suite on a high note. As we can see right from the opening, Debussy is using the whole-tone scale: Click to enlarge. This time, the theme doesn’t breathe, it shouts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pieces_which_use_the_whole_tone_scale A number of important twentieth-century scales satisfy DS, but not NCS or DT: Mes- siaen’s modes 3, 6, and 7, the “whole-tone plus one” scale used by Bartók among others, and the so-called “bebop scales.”26Whether to treat these as supersets of the locally diatonic scales is a matter that very much de- pends on analytical context. True. Sit at a piano and play all of the white and black keys consecutively to play consecutive half steps. Example 2: Whole-tone Scale transposed. Whole tone scale is used above all in Jazz music. The motif consists of five notes that move down and up in a twisting motion before descending at the end. Check it out below. The first movement includes a piece in the key of F called “Prélude.” This piece is indicative of most preludes and has a festive and energetic feel. It’s a very distinctive sound that creates a blurred and eerie sound. Whole-tone harmony, with its similarly structured chords and absence of semitones, lacks the harmonic contrasts and resolutions of the major-minor system and its different keys; with whole-tone harmony, the sense of key centre depends instead on repetition and melodic emphasis. Later composers to use it include Alban Berg in his Violin Concerto, and Béla Bartók in his String Quartet No. Russian composers such as Glinka in his opera Ruslan and Ludmila and Borodin in Prince Igor used the whole-tone scale. Claude Debussy who wrote Clair de Lune use the whole-tone scale, instead of traditional scale of Western music (Claude Achille Debussy, 2020). Debussy based Violes (Prelude # for Piano) on the whole tone scale. 2) and “Cloches à travers les feuilles” (1907; Images, 2nd series, No. Corrections? Richard Mueller (1986) has argued that Debussy’s prior knowledge of both the pentatonic and whole-tone scales prepared him to hear (and to remember) certain elements of those Javanese performances (160–61). Whole tone scale – It contains only whole tones. Debussy uses the whole-tone scale a lot in his music, but he was not the first to do so. Since then it has been used often in classical music by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Berlioz, and Schubert. Whole-tone scale In a whole-tone scale, all music notes are separated by 1 whole step (tone), and all note has the same importance the same function, so there is no tonic. Most likely, Debussy has changed his mind about the style of the piece and wanted to improve it based on his current ability. You’ll hear it in the first 10 seconds of the intro with its distinctive sound. Updates? An important result of this travel was the use of folk modes, pentatonic scales, and whole tone scales derived from native music in works by composers such as Bartók, Stravinsky, and Debussy. The second movement “Menuet” involves two themes that contrast between light and playful and dark and mysterious moods. The first four measures are shown below. If the whole-tone scale itself is ambiguous, so is the title. The whole-tone scale has six notes separated from one another by a whole step. Measures 1 to 41 Whole tone scale. Impressionist composers such as Claude Debussy were quite fond of the scale and used it often in their compositions.The most famous use of the whole tone scale in popular music is in the intro of Stevie Wonder’s You Are The Sunshine Of My Life. A classic “dream sequence” sound, the whole tone scale is just that - all whole steps. He is one of the most important exponents of the whole tone scale in classical music history. The Whole Tone Scale – a scalar arrangement (scale) of pitches, each separated from the next by a whole-tone step (or whole step); and has six tones per octave, as … In the mid-nineteenth century composers began to exploit the octatonic scale (a symmetrical scale that alternates half steps and whole-steps) as the basis of triadic progression. In music, tone are separated by equally spaced intervals called half steps. The pentatonic scale is a 5-note scale (penta = 5) that originates with folk music from Scotland, to Ireland, to China. Russian. 5. The title translate to “moonlight” in French. Debussy's Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun" was later choreographed by the great - dancer Vaslav Nijinksy. It has often been suggested that the whole-tone scale, and its ambiguities, forms the basis of Debussy's music. Here is the opening idea; whole tones in thirds descending from #III to bVI, then via an octave displacement to bV: Click to enlarge. Describe Debussy Melody and Harmony - exotic scales/modes Prelude from Pour le piano (a aeolian, C whole tone, a aeolian) - pentatonic - Pagodes/Voiles (B section) - octatonic - Feuilles Mortes (tall diminished chords; Les sons et les parfums - Melodic octatonic use. Subtitled ‘Trois esquisses symphonique’ (Three symphonic sketches), ‘La mer’ occupies an interesting position within the development of orchestral writing. Microtonal scales, requiring intervals smaller than the conventional half step, also appeared sporadically in the 20th century. This results in a whole tone scale. Some outstanding examples incorporating extensive whole-tone harmony are Debussy’s “Voiles” (1909; Préludes, Book 1, No. Voiles translates as sails or veils; the piece might be about either, or both. However, whole-tone relationships are used by him in conjunction with, or as part of, a much more complex group of melodic and harmonic usages -- interlocking pentatonic structures , for example, based on a fundamental principle of symmetry. a) Italy b) France c) Paris d) Germany 10) Which of the following is a characteristic of Debussy's music? Another process occurred concurrently with the assimilation of folk music sources. Debussy's impact was far reaching. Below is an example of a whole-tone scale: The whole-tone scale is one of the modes of limited transposition, because there is only transposition of this mode. • Form. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. In Western art music, the whole-tone scale is associated with the decline of functional harmony in the late 19th century. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). This interesting piece from Debussy I think is one of the best examples of the whole tone scale in classical music. However, compared with the work of, say, Brahms, considered a master of the symphony, or the similarly-regarded Mahler (who wrote his Fifth, Sixth and Seventh symphonies in the first 5 years of the 20th century), Debussy’s lo… Whole tone scales are quite rare in music but there are some examples that are worth checking out. For instance, the second movement starts on a G. The first movement starts on F, but instead of moving down a whole step to E-flat, Debussy moves down a half step to E. The complete set of movements entails four distinct pieces. The piano piece “Clair de Lune” is tied to the other pieces with a common motive that helps to create a sense of cohesiveness. Among microtonal structures, the most important, perhaps,…. 1), as well as Dukas’s opera Ariane et Barbe-Bleue (1907). Microtonal scales, requiring intervals smaller than the conventional half step, also appeared sporadically in the 20th century. The scale provides a nebulous, unsettled feeling with its lack of fa-mi or ti-do resolution. This simple piece for piano was started in 1880 and published 15 years later in 1905. Measure 4 resolves to an E major chord, with Ab now acting as a G#, Fb as E, and Cb as B. Debussy and Ravel used this scale. See S > Scales for related entries Search • … He was also inspired by other aspects of music from the far east, such as the different rhythms and instruments. In the third movement, the motif consists of a F, E-flat, F, E-flat and down to a D beginning in the fist and second measure. In 1662, Johann Rudolf Ahle wrote a melody to the lyrics of Franz Joachim Burmeister's "Es ist genug" (It is enough), beginning it with four notes of the whole-tone scale on the four syllables. This simple piece for piano was started in 1880 and published 15 years later in 1905. Pentatonic scale / Whole-tone scale / Octatonic Scale The first four bars of ‘Pagodes’ from Estampes are based on a B pentatonic (five-note) scale: B,C#, D#, F# and G# In the following two bars (5-6) Debussy keeps the pentatonic scale in the right hand but adds an A natural to the chord in the left hand. The whole-tone scale (comprising six whole steps) was used prominently by French composer Claude Debussy and others, especially in France and England. Exotic Eastern scales came into play, such as the whole-tone scale, which Debussy was fascinated by. Thus, the whole-tone scale comprises six degrees per octave. However, the composition was significantly revised in 1890 prior to publication. Debussy does not only use traditional church modes (e.g. “Clair de Lune” comes in at the third movement and provides a lilting lyrical contrast to the second movement. Two mutually exclusive whole-tone scales are formed by choosing alternate notes of the chromatic scale (which has 12 notes per octave). Measures 42 to 47 Pentatonic scale. To play whole steps, play every other key. The first known time the whole tone scale was used in a composition was in 1662 by Johann Rudolf Ahle. The whole tone scale enters in measure 3 when the A drops another half step to Ab (Ab, C, Gb) with a D and E in the melody, giving us an Ab7#11b13 (or just Ab7alt). Aeolian, Dorian etc.) In this work an octatonic scale (D-F-… His compositions flowed without a strict sense of metre or rhythm, and are considered the pioneering works of the Impressionist genre of classical music, named in comparison with the visual arts movement. Measures 48 to 64 Whole tone scale. 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