Music Trade Review
Issue: 1918 Vol. 66 N. 17 - Page 7
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
APRIL 21,
THE
1918
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
^
A Tribute to the Genius and Work of Claude Achille Debussy, Whose Clear
Vision Evolved an Original System of Harmony Which Makes His Compo-
sitions Inimitable for Their Beauty of Style and Peculiar Clarity of Expression
A week or so ago Claude Achille Debussy
passed away in Paris, in the city where he had
lived his remarkable life and amid the excur-
sions and alarums of a war into which his be-
loved native land has been forced and in which
she has again covered herself deep with glory.
Debussy was only fifty-six when he passed away
and his work was by no means finished. He had
much more to say, nor was there any likeli-
hood that his Muse would have deserted him for
a long time to come. But if we must reconcile
ourselves to the loss of this wonderful and com-
pelling, albeit subtle rather than strident, voice
in modern music, we are also privileged to lay
on his grave a wreath of appreciation and grati-
tude; not less sincere because it comes from
one who represents the as yet officially unrecog-
nized class of player-pianists.
Inimitable
The music of Debussy is something that
stands all by itself, that has been imitated by
innumerable smaller men whose ambition has
outrun their talents, and that still is found to be
wholly inimitable in any but its superficial and
therefore unimportant aspects. What is this
strange music that we hear with such strange
delight in the haunting atmospheres of the
"Afternoon of a Faun?" What is it that makes
us anticipate with such keen pleasure the hear-
ing of the pieces which Debussy has assembled
under the title of "Images," inspirations of pure
heavenly delight like "Light Reflected From the
Water," "Sirens," "Moonlight?" What is the
secret of the subtle charm that surrounds the
opera "Pelleas and Melisande," over which peo-
ple rave who cannot so much as pronounce the
title? These are interesting questions and
worthy of some analysis.
Anti-Wagner
Debussy came on to the stage at a time when
the influence of Richard Wagner in Europe was
still pre-eminent. Wagner's power and the
overwhelming richness of his style had so thor-
oughly conquered the imagination of musicians
and music-lovers that his peculiarities and man-
nerisms were in danger of becoming perpetuated
ad nauseam. To the characteristically French
genius of Debussy, the Teutonic heaviness of
Add Another
Profit Maker
To Your Line
the Wagnerian melody and what Gilman has above the conversational, the effect of them,
called the "tyranny of the ascending half-tone upon a sensitive mentality, is astonishing.
progression" (witness fhe opening of "Tristan" Chopin has taught us what a Ballade should
and the principal thematic idea of that work as be. He has given us in his G minor and A flat
exemplified in the Tristan theme) were insup- pieces works of tremendous power, musical set-
portable. He saw clearly that if music were tings in which, above all, the narrative stands
not to retrogress, it must be revivified under out clearly and defiantly. A Ballade must tell
new auspices. His natural French clearness of a connected story, if it is to be true to itself.
thought caused him to look into the inner mean- Debussy's Ballade does this. But this is no
ing of all this idea of expression of music quite tale of mediaeval chivalry or of war's alarums.
unusually keenly. Out of his genius he elab- Rather it is a poem of Maeterlinck, or one of the
orated a new musical idea, based upon a com- dreams of Edgar Allan Poe, one of his more
plete recognition of the equal tempered scale. meditative, less horrible dreams. Or again it is
He wished to escape from the Wagnerian semi- Tennyson's tale of Guinevere's half-whispered,
tone progression, as was said, and to do this half-petulant talk with the little novice maid
he saw that he must invent a new tone-series. just before her great Arthur discovers her in
This he did by abolishing the diatonic scale for her convent retreat whither she had fled from
his work and substituting for it a scale of suc- him. It is a woman's voice in the dusk speak-
cessive whole-tones. This, of course, is some- ing to her lover, a woman of passion but of
thing that any one might have done at any time power, a voice low, contralto, thrilling.
since the universal adoption of the equal tem-
This is wonderful music, and it is fortunate
perament, but in fact no one else had done so.
that a very good music roll can be had of it.
The "Whole-Tone Scale"
The wonderful tone pictures like the "Eve-
This whole-tone scale is the basis of Debussy's ning in Granada," "Moonlight" and the two
work, but a mere mannerism it is not. His charming "Arabesques" are equally worthy of
whole system of harmonies and the whole atmos- analysis. But in reality Debussy defies an-
pheric setting, as it were, of his music, are alysis. You cannot analyze the sensation of
from beginning to end new and original. He pleasure or of noble aspiration that the sight of
aims at clothing his notions in an aureole of a great picture, the hearing of a great symphony,
clear, cool but strangely fascinating quiet har- the reading of a great poem, gives to you. You
monies, never approaching the rude, never noisy, may analyze the thing, but not its effects. So
avoiding blatant brassiness as much as squeak- you may analyze Debussy's music, but you can-
ing fife or shrill pipe; but solid, rich and color- not then say that you have explained the pleas-
ful to a degree which only appears after close ure it has given you.
analysis and many hearings. His works for
There is really not much use in analyzing at
orchestra are peculiar in this respect. At first all. One can do better by simply saying that
hearing they seem thin, watery, evanescent; but Debussy is a composer who has learned how to
it is the thinness only of a rapier blade, the translate into tones his impressions with mar-
wateriness only of the "pale beams of the watery velous vividness, and marvelously, too, has
moon," the evanescence only of a gorgeous discovered the secret of making clear through
dream dimly remembered. The "Afternoon of his art the most obscure language and the most
a Faun" is the most wonderful piece of work evanescent thought. Debussy is thus not only
ever done in the way of putting before the a musician but an interpreter. In his music
hearers a mood, of making real a non-existent the obscure meanings of the Symbolist' and the
world long dead and gone. Mallarme's ex- decadent poets live again. In his art the misty
traordinary poem, on which the music is writ- thought of Maeterlinck lives and breathes. In
ten, is wholly unintelligible in itself. One is the genial but never-scorching glow of his in-
reminded of Tolstoy's biting analysis of such spiration the woods, the winds, the sheen or
work as this and Verlaine's, in his trenchant sunlight through trees, the sparkle of light upon
essay "What Is Art?" where the absurdities and water, the brown drip of raindrops on grass, are
exaggerated atmospheres of the modern deca- magically transmuted into living tone speaking
dent poetry are unsparingly torn asunder. But to the heart in magic accents and to the inmost
Debussy's music has really made sense of Mal- thought in whispers too subtle for articulate
larme's obscurities. Or, better still, one may speech.
say that the meaning which Edmund Gosse reads
Player-pianists can get a good many Debussy
into the "Afternoon of a Faun" is marvelously rolls. It is well to begin with the two "Ara-
made clear in Debussy's music. The piece is besques," go on to the "Images," then try the
a triumph of art and of inspiration. It ap- Ballade and lastly the "Afternoon of a Faun,"
peared in 1892.
not neglecting first to read Gosse's interpreta-
tion of Mallarme's poem. You will find it in
His Works for the Piano
Debussy's works for piano solo alone are even the program book of any concert where the
more interesting to the writer. Here he has piece is to be performed.
indeed worked out an entirely new scheme of
musical expression. There is nothing else just
Simplest and Best
like it, and withal the sense of artificiality, of
difference for the sake of being different, of
something which smells of the midnight oil and
the study, is wholly absent. Debussy is gen-
Mechanical Tracking Device
uine. He speaks as he does because he speaks
his own natural tonal language. And the re-
sult is immeasurably beautiful.
Destined to be the Standard
Take for instance, the Ballade in F. Here
in the trade
we have the most complete recognition of the
form that has attached itself to the term, to-
Manufactured by the
gether with an atmosphere so rare, so subtle,
BRAND PLAYER ACCESSORIES COMPANY
so thrilling withal, that, although its tones never
140th Street and Jacluon Avenue, New York
become in the least noisy, never in fact rise
The GEORGE P. BRAND
HIS machine will appeal to every player
T
owner for his home. It cuta any desired com-
position on a player roll. Easily operated and a
pleasant pastime. More profits in future supplies.
Send for descriptive circular and terms
The LEABARJAN MFG. CO.
HAMILTON
OHIO
APRIL 21,
THE
1918
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
^
A Tribute to the Genius and Work of Claude Achille Debussy, Whose Clear
Vision Evolved an Original System of Harmony Which Makes His Compo-
sitions Inimitable for Their Beauty of Style and Peculiar Clarity of Expression
A week or so ago Claude Achille Debussy
passed away in Paris, in the city where he had
lived his remarkable life and amid the excur-
sions and alarums of a war into which his be-
loved native land has been forced and in which
she has again covered herself deep with glory.
Debussy was only fifty-six when he passed away
and his work was by no means finished. He had
much more to say, nor was there any likeli-
hood that his Muse would have deserted him for
a long time to come. But if we must reconcile
ourselves to the loss of this wonderful and com-
pelling, albeit subtle rather than strident, voice
in modern music, we are also privileged to lay
on his grave a wreath of appreciation and grati-
tude; not less sincere because it comes from
one who represents the as yet officially unrecog-
nized class of player-pianists.
Inimitable
The music of Debussy is something that
stands all by itself, that has been imitated by
innumerable smaller men whose ambition has
outrun their talents, and that still is found to be
wholly inimitable in any but its superficial and
therefore unimportant aspects. What is this
strange music that we hear with such strange
delight in the haunting atmospheres of the
"Afternoon of a Faun?" What is it that makes
us anticipate with such keen pleasure the hear-
ing of the pieces which Debussy has assembled
under the title of "Images," inspirations of pure
heavenly delight like "Light Reflected From the
Water," "Sirens," "Moonlight?" What is the
secret of the subtle charm that surrounds the
opera "Pelleas and Melisande," over which peo-
ple rave who cannot so much as pronounce the
title? These are interesting questions and
worthy of some analysis.
Anti-Wagner
Debussy came on to the stage at a time when
the influence of Richard Wagner in Europe was
still pre-eminent. Wagner's power and the
overwhelming richness of his style had so thor-
oughly conquered the imagination of musicians
and music-lovers that his peculiarities and man-
nerisms were in danger of becoming perpetuated
ad nauseam. To the characteristically French
genius of Debussy, the Teutonic heaviness of
Add Another
Profit Maker
To Your Line
the Wagnerian melody and what Gilman has above the conversational, the effect of them,
called the "tyranny of the ascending half-tone upon a sensitive mentality, is astonishing.
progression" (witness fhe opening of "Tristan" Chopin has taught us what a Ballade should
and the principal thematic idea of that work as be. He has given us in his G minor and A flat
exemplified in the Tristan theme) were insup- pieces works of tremendous power, musical set-
portable. He saw clearly that if music were tings in which, above all, the narrative stands
not to retrogress, it must be revivified under out clearly and defiantly. A Ballade must tell
new auspices. His natural French clearness of a connected story, if it is to be true to itself.
thought caused him to look into the inner mean- Debussy's Ballade does this. But this is no
ing of all this idea of expression of music quite tale of mediaeval chivalry or of war's alarums.
unusually keenly. Out of his genius he elab- Rather it is a poem of Maeterlinck, or one of the
orated a new musical idea, based upon a com- dreams of Edgar Allan Poe, one of his more
plete recognition of the equal tempered scale. meditative, less horrible dreams. Or again it is
He wished to escape from the Wagnerian semi- Tennyson's tale of Guinevere's half-whispered,
tone progression, as was said, and to do this half-petulant talk with the little novice maid
he saw that he must invent a new tone-series. just before her great Arthur discovers her in
This he did by abolishing the diatonic scale for her convent retreat whither she had fled from
his work and substituting for it a scale of suc- him. It is a woman's voice in the dusk speak-
cessive whole-tones. This, of course, is some- ing to her lover, a woman of passion but of
thing that any one might have done at any time power, a voice low, contralto, thrilling.
since the universal adoption of the equal tem-
This is wonderful music, and it is fortunate
perament, but in fact no one else had done so.
that a very good music roll can be had of it.
The "Whole-Tone Scale"
The wonderful tone pictures like the "Eve-
This whole-tone scale is the basis of Debussy's ning in Granada," "Moonlight" and the two
work, but a mere mannerism it is not. His charming "Arabesques" are equally worthy of
whole system of harmonies and the whole atmos- analysis. But in reality Debussy defies an-
pheric setting, as it were, of his music, are alysis. You cannot analyze the sensation of
from beginning to end new and original. He pleasure or of noble aspiration that the sight of
aims at clothing his notions in an aureole of a great picture, the hearing of a great symphony,
clear, cool but strangely fascinating quiet har- the reading of a great poem, gives to you. You
monies, never approaching the rude, never noisy, may analyze the thing, but not its effects. So
avoiding blatant brassiness as much as squeak- you may analyze Debussy's music, but you can-
ing fife or shrill pipe; but solid, rich and color- not then say that you have explained the pleas-
ful to a degree which only appears after close ure it has given you.
analysis and many hearings. His works for
There is really not much use in analyzing at
orchestra are peculiar in this respect. At first all. One can do better by simply saying that
hearing they seem thin, watery, evanescent; but Debussy is a composer who has learned how to
it is the thinness only of a rapier blade, the translate into tones his impressions with mar-
wateriness only of the "pale beams of the watery velous vividness, and marvelously, too, has
moon," the evanescence only of a gorgeous discovered the secret of making clear through
dream dimly remembered. The "Afternoon of his art the most obscure language and the most
a Faun" is the most wonderful piece of work evanescent thought. Debussy is thus not only
ever done in the way of putting before the a musician but an interpreter. In his music
hearers a mood, of making real a non-existent the obscure meanings of the Symbolist' and the
world long dead and gone. Mallarme's ex- decadent poets live again. In his art the misty
traordinary poem, on which the music is writ- thought of Maeterlinck lives and breathes. In
ten, is wholly unintelligible in itself. One is the genial but never-scorching glow of his in-
reminded of Tolstoy's biting analysis of such spiration the woods, the winds, the sheen or
work as this and Verlaine's, in his trenchant sunlight through trees, the sparkle of light upon
essay "What Is Art?" where the absurdities and water, the brown drip of raindrops on grass, are
exaggerated atmospheres of the modern deca- magically transmuted into living tone speaking
dent poetry are unsparingly torn asunder. But to the heart in magic accents and to the inmost
Debussy's music has really made sense of Mal- thought in whispers too subtle for articulate
larme's obscurities. Or, better still, one may speech.
say that the meaning which Edmund Gosse reads
Player-pianists can get a good many Debussy
into the "Afternoon of a Faun" is marvelously rolls. It is well to begin with the two "Ara-
made clear in Debussy's music. The piece is besques," go on to the "Images," then try the
a triumph of art and of inspiration. It ap- Ballade and lastly the "Afternoon of a Faun,"
peared in 1892.
not neglecting first to read Gosse's interpreta-
tion of Mallarme's poem. You will find it in
His Works for the Piano
Debussy's works for piano solo alone are even the program book of any concert where the
more interesting to the writer. Here he has piece is to be performed.
indeed worked out an entirely new scheme of
musical expression. There is nothing else just
Simplest and Best
like it, and withal the sense of artificiality, of
difference for the sake of being different, of
something which smells of the midnight oil and
the study, is wholly absent. Debussy is gen-
Mechanical Tracking Device
uine. He speaks as he does because he speaks
his own natural tonal language. And the re-
sult is immeasurably beautiful.
Destined to be the Standard
Take for instance, the Ballade in F. Here
in the trade
we have the most complete recognition of the
form that has attached itself to the term, to-
Manufactured by the
gether with an atmosphere so rare, so subtle,
BRAND PLAYER ACCESSORIES COMPANY
so thrilling withal, that, although its tones never
140th Street and Jacluon Avenue, New York
become in the least noisy, never in fact rise
The GEORGE P. BRAND
HIS machine will appeal to every player
T
owner for his home. It cuta any desired com-
position on a player roll. Easily operated and a
pleasant pastime. More profits in future supplies.
Send for descriptive circular and terms
The LEABARJAN MFG. CO.
HAMILTON
OHIO
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).