Sara Elmer TH 342 Final Project 12/14/11 Comparing Debussys Reflets dans leau to Monets Nympas

This paper will analyze some similarities to the motives, form, and texture in Debussys Reflets dans leau to Monets Nympas (1916-19). By looking at specific musical examples of motives and texture of accompaniment to certain aspects of Monets painting, there is an obvious analogy between the two works. Despite both works not being in exactly the same form, there is a similar structure between the composition and the artwork.

The descriptive titles of Claude Debussys works help provoke a visual picture when listening to his pieces. Nature scenes will come to mind particularly scenes involving water. Since Debussy was captivated by water, he was able to depict it within his compositions (Lederer, 69). According to Lederer, Debussy captured the light that reflected off the water that was not yet still, moving more rapidly, then slowing again (69). In describing Reflets dans leau, Marguerite Long creates a visual picture of pebbles dropping into water, with resultant ripples spreading outwards for the opening texture (Smith and Potter, 209). Frank Dawes even associates specific sections of Debussys Reflets dans leau to show how there is a musical pattern that symbolizes eddies and whirlpools (29). Many have compared Debussys music to Impressionist art in an artist terms while the opposite is rarely done.

Inspite of this, there is a source that shows how Monet discussed his works in musical terms. Monet in commenting on his Water lilies paintings said that the water flowers are far from being the whole scene; really, they are just the accompaniment. The essence of the motif is the mirror of water whose appearance alters at every moment, thanks to the patches of sky which are reflected in it, and which give its light and movement (House, 221). Here Monet uses the familiar musical terms of accompaniment and motif.

There are two main motives of the melody that is woven throughout Reflets dans leau. The form of this piece is a modified rondo based on those two motives (Howat, 23). Motive A first appears in mm. 1-2 in the middle voice (Figure 1). Motive B is considered more of a melodic development of motive A (Howat, 23). The last three notes of motive B are simply a retrograde of motive A with the minor third expanded to a major third (Howat, 23). This B motive does not always appear in the original form. The original form happens in mm. 25-28 in the middle voice (Figure 2). In mm. 51-52, motive B appears again transposed up a minor third (Figure 3). There is also a slightly modified version of motive B in mm. 58-59 (Figure 4). In this modification the first four notes of the motive are still in the same interval sequence. Besides there being a change in the interval sequence there is also an added note to the original eight notes of the B motive. It is also transposed up an augmented fifth from the original form of the B motive. After this modification of the B motive, there are two places that contain fragments of this motive. Those fragments are the first five notes of the previous form of motive B (mm. 60, 62; Figure 5).

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5 The form of this composition is a modified rondo because it only consists of the two motives described above. This piece alternates between the two main themes and includes transitions between some of the themes (Schmitz, 101). Schmitz divides the piece into the following sections: A - mm. 1-15, Transition - mm. 16-24, B - mm. 25-35, A - mm. 36-43, Transition - mm. 44-48, B - mm. 49-71, and Coda - mm. 72-95 (101).

Motive A is repeated twice (mm. 1-2, 5-6) in the A section (mm. 1-15). After the transition (mm. 16-24), the B section (mm. 25-35) contains entrance on motive B in mm. 25-28. In the return of the A section (mm. 36-43) the A motive is also repeated twice (mm. 36-37 and 40-41). The following section is a shorter transition that only lasts for five measures (mm. 4448). The next B section starts in mm. 49-71 yet the B motive does not start until three measures into the section. This next entrance of motive B is transposed a minor third up (mm. 51-53). In this second B section, motive B is repeated but is slightly different than the first entrance of motive B as well as being transposed an augmented fifth up (mm. 58-59). There are also fragments of this modified motive within this same section in mm. 60 and 62. The final section is the Coda that includes the final return of motive A that appears in mm. 72-73. This motive also is repeated three more times in mm. 76-77, 82-83, 86-87.

In looking at Monets Nympas, there is a similar form to that of Debussys piece just described. When viewing this artwork from the bottom to top, there is an appearance of a ternary form. The water lilies at the bottom and top of the painting are the A sections (Figure 6a & 6b) while the area where there is simply a reflection of the sun on the water is the B section (Figure 7). The vines that hang down on either side of the painting are transitions bridging the three sections together (Figures 8a & 8b).

Figure 6a

Figure 6b

Figure 7

Figure 8a

Figure 8b

The texture of the material in the accompaniment corresponds to the texture of some of the motives in the painting. Within the first A section (mm. 1-15), there is material in mm. 9-10 (Figure 9a) that repeats and is expanded in mm. 10-11 (Figure 9b). This same expansion happens in Monets Nympas with the texture of the water lilies. At the bottom of the painting, the water lilies are rather sparse but further up to the middle of the painting the water lilies become thicker (Figure 6a, 6b, & 7). The texture in part of both transitions is comparable to the texture of the vines that can be considered as the transition within the painting. The free flowing cadenza material of the first transition in mm. 20-24 is similar in texture to the freely dangling vines on either side of the painting (Figure 10, 8a, & 8b). The second transition (mm. 44-48) has a similar cadenza-like texture to the first (Figure 11). This transition is also similar to those hanging vines.

Figure 9a

Figure 9b

Figure 10

Figure 11 mile Vuillermoz saw parallels in Debussys music to many of the different painters during his time (Lockspeiser, 147). Vuillermoz pointed out the fragmentation of chords in Reflets dans leau to the fragmentation of clouds reflected in water in Monets La Grenouillre (Lockspeiser, 147). This concept of the fragmentation of the chords and comparing it to the fragmentation of the clouds can be seen also in the Nympas, but looking at the fragmentation of the accompaniment to fragmentation of the water lilies. Most of the second B section (mm. 4972) contains this fragmentation of the accompaniment (mm. 49-54). The material in m. 49 is repeated in m. 50, but after this point it is varied in rhythm and pitches (Figure 12). In m. 51 the material is fragmented and different in rhythm (Figure 13). This is also repeated in the following measure. The material in the next measure is fragmented even more and the rhythm changes again (Figure 14). In m. 54 the material of the previous measure is simply repeated. This

fragmentation also happens in Monets painting, yet it is between the two A sections. At the bottom of the painting, the water lilies are clearer and mostly in whole forms while at the top the water lilies are merely fragments of those water lilies from the bottom (Figure 15). Those at the top are more blurred in small sections of the cluster in the previous A section (Figure 16).

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Figure 16

There are also sections in both the musical example and the art example where there are similarities in timbre. In the last few measures of the first B section (mm. 25-35) of Reflet dans leau, there are fragments of material that begin on the third beat of m. 31 and ends before the third beat of m. 32 (Figure 17). This is repeated in mm. 32-33. At mm. 33-34, the original chords are thinned out to only the single notes in the right hand (Figure 18). This fragmentation also happens in mm. 34-35 with yet another modification in m. 35 where it is only eight notes instead of the descending sixty-fourths in the previous measures (Figure 19). Also in the first two measures where the original material happens there are frequent changes in timbre. On the third and fourth beat of m. 31, the chords crescendo from mf to f and then immediately decay to pp on those descending sixty-fourths (Figure 17). This changes in mm. 33-34, which goes from p to pp (Figure 18). Lastly, in mm. 34-35 there is not as sudden and dramatic change as before since it starts at p and decrescendos back to p (Figure 19). This fragmentation and change in timbre happens in both A sections of the painting. In either section, the middle of the water lily cluster is of one timbre and material. Toward the outer edges of each cluster, fragmentation happens more and the timbre changes and becomes rather blurred.

Figure 17

Figure 18

Figure 19

It is interesting to note, that according to Henry S. Francis, Monet spent more than a quarter-century to perfecting his ideas and invention of the Nympheas; Paysages deau; developing the freedom of technique, the observation of the flowers on water, and the shade and accent of surrounding foliage (195). These details that Monet developed over time are obvious when looking at his Nympheas. In his mature technique within that painting there is a great deal of similarity to Debussys piece.

Works Cited Dawes, Frank. Debussy Piano Music. Seattle: University of Washington, 1971. Print. Debussy, Claude. Reflets dans leau, 1904-05. Francis, Henry S. Claude Monet Water Lilies. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 47.8 (1960): 192-198. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25142411>. House, John. Monet, Nature into Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986. Print. Howat, Roy. Debussy in Proportion: A Musical Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Print. Lederer, Victor. Debussy: The Quiet Revolutionary. New York: Amadeus Press, 2007. Print. Lockspeiser, Edward. New Literature on Debussy. Music & Letters 40.2 (1959): 140-149. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/728984>. Monet, Claude. Nympas, 1916-19. Schmitz, E. Robert. The Piano Works of Claude Debussy. New York: Dover, 1966. Print. Smith, Richard L, and Caroline Potter. French Music Since Berlioz. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006. Print.