musical syntax in the sonatas of debussy

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Musical Syntax in the Sonatas of Debussy: Phrase Structure and Formal FunctionAuthor(s): Avo SomerSource: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Spring, 2005), pp. 67-95Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society for Music TheoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4499825Accessed: 23/06/2009 15:20

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c571[usical Syntax in the Sonatas ofDebussy: Phrase Structure and Formal Function

AVO SOMER

The articulative meaning of Classical musical syntax-of the elements of the sentence, period, and

hybrid-is significantly modified in the late chamber sonatas of Debussy through the vivid colors of turn-of-the-century modal-chromatic language. Analytic correlation of tonal design with harmonic organization and melodic segmentation demonstrates Debussy's persistent preference for

asymmetrical and open-ended phrase structures, marked with novel divergent or half-cadences, and for the augmentation of syntactical units. Debussy's musical narrative of expressive gestures, recalling the "loose construction" (William Caplin) of Classical syntax, invites a comparison of initial statements with their later transformation and suggests new, emerging interpretations of formal function and expressive import.

HE STYLISTIC INNOVATIONS that distinguish the music of Debussy have threatened to obscure our awareness of the intricate web of associations that

joins the composer to the past. Debussy's modal-chromatic harmonic language has justifiably figured at the focus of recent analytical concerns, but such a language did not per- suade the composer to abandon his allegiance to some of the essential aspects of traditional musical syntax.' Classical

phrase structure, formal functions, and patterns of repetition

and transformation, albeit profoundly affected by Debussy's novel tonal language, continued to assert their presence. The late sonatas of Debussy are sometimes cited for their "neoclassicism," their economy of means and their conservative tendencies; the earlier works of the youthful Debussy, however, even if they occasionally show a certain independence of mind or foreshadow later, more typically Debussyean de-

velopments, display even more transparently their indebted- ness to traditional models. Yet detailed studies of musical

syntax and phrase structure are surprisingly rare.2

Debussy himself, in his writings after the turn of the

century, repeatedly testifies to his allegiance to tradition. The Whittall 1999, 9: "[...] twentieth-century modernism emerges, not as

wholly new, but as a continuation of profound changes in aesthetic and technical orientation which became apparent in the early nineteenth

century [...]." For recent summaries of Debussy's tonal-harmonic lan-

guage, see Howat 2001 and Pomeroy 2003; for a Schenkerian and thematic study of the Predude ai "'Apris-midi d'un Faune," see Brown 1993; valuable insights may also be found in a study of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp in Allen 1983 (although this work does not discuss

phrase structure). Debussy's innovations have inspired some scholars, most notably Richard Parks, to search for new analytical methods, to

approach the music from the vantage point of set theory (see Parks

1989 for example); or to construct radically novel interpretations of familiar formal markers, essentially without any reference to traditional

phrase structure or syntax (see Parks 2003, 207-25, which examines the

Premiere rhapsodie and Syrinx). 2 Debussy's neo-classicism is acknowledged in Messing 1988, 45-47, and

in Morgan 1991, 50. Parks 1999, however, apparently represents the

only recent study of phrase structure in Debussy's chamber sonatas.

67

68 MUSIC THEORY SPECTRUM 27 (2005)

approach of the Great War and its associated nationalist fervor seem to have stimulated not only Debussy's appeal to the models of the eighteenth-century French "classicists," Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau, but also to the great Viennese composers.3 In 1910 he declared that "Berlioz, Mozart, Beethoven-they are the great masters whom I venerate, the last two above all."4 And in 1913, re-

acting against the nationalism around him, he lamented

mockingly: "What a pity Mozart was not French. He would have really been worth imitating!"5 He never tired of prais- ing the art of Johann Sebastian Bach, the master of the

arabesque, beyond whom "no one could go further [...] to- ward freedom and fantasy in both composition and form."6 And it is Couperin whom Debussy regarded with special reverence, "the most poetic of our harpsichordists, whose tender melancholy is like that enchanting echo that em- anates from the depth of a Watteau landscape, filled with

plaintive figures."7 Debussy not only expressed his admira- tion but recommended Couperin's works as worthy of emu- lation: "We should think about the example Couperin's harpsichord pieces set us: they are marvelous models of grace and innocence long past. Nothing could ever make us forget the subtly voluptuous perfume, so delicately perverse, that so

innocently hovers over the Barricades mystirieuses."8 Debussy's musical classicism and its syntax merge with

his "symbolist" aesthetics and highly original exploration of harmonic language and coloristic textures. While one of the most innovative and profoundly original composers, his musical style arose, nevertheless, from an amalgamation of

impulses from heterogenous sources: the salon music of Emmanuel Chabrier; the polyphony of Lassus and Pale- strina; the music drama and chromaticism of Wagner; the

modality of French folk song; the arabesques of J. S. Bach; Indonesian gamelan; the lyric sonata forms of Mozart; and the preludes, ballades and etudes of Chopin. To this one must add his lifelong interest in the art of painting--from Turner to Monet-and of poetry--from Baudelaire to Ver- laine and Mallarme.9 That Debussy absorbed elements from such a variety of sources, however, or was in some way influenced by them, should not fill us with alarm; his adoption of elements of traditional musical syntax underwent the same

processes of personal transformation that made him one of the most original creative minds of recent history.10

PRECEDENTS, MODELS

The late-nineteenth century French musical milieu, within which Debussy grew and matured, provided clear af- firmation of the Classical models. Orchestral and chamber music genres tended automatically to be associated with Viennese classicism," while the Socidt6 Nationale de Mu-

sique attempted "[...] to meet the historical demands of the moment without abandoning the classicist premises of in-

strumental music,,'2 even if it meant the pursuit of "[...] afata morgana, imagining a form as tightly knit as a Haydn quartet and, paradoxically, as luxuriant as a score by

3 For a summary of the relations between Debussy and French politics and musical institutions around the time of World War I, see Fulcher 2001 and Kelly 2003, 37-42.

4 Debussy 1977, 243.

5 Debussy 1977, 298. 6 Debussy, 1977, 296-97.

7 Debussy, 1977, 273. 8 Debussy, 1977, 296.

9 Lesure 2001, "Debussy and Currents of Ideas," 100-2; "Models and

Influences," 102-4.

Io Anna Balakian 1977, xi, commenting on the history of the symbolist movement in European poetry, notes: "The concept of 'influence' is often viewed as an imperialistic invasion, and given a pejorative mean-

ing. No one is willing to admit to being influenced, and everyone is loath to study influence simply because of its unfortunate association and confusion with the word imitation."

Hi Dahlhaus 1989, 283.

i2 Dahlhaus 1989, 288-89.

MUSICAL SYNTAX IN THE SONATAS OF DEBUSSY: PHRASE STRUCTURE AND FORMAL FUNCTION 69

Wagner."13 The pedagogical activities of Vincent d'Indy at the Schola cantorum-symbolized by his monumental Cours de Composition musicale and its staunchly historical orientation, culminating with the legacy of Beethoven, and embracing Camille Saint-Sains and especially the later works of Cdsar Franck-indicate a general approach for which Debussy, at least indirectly, showed considerable sympathy.14 Al- though Debussy could be critical of the music of d'Indy and especially of Saint-Saans, these composers, together with Gabriel Faure, defined a powerful clarity of musical language difficult to ignore.

Among the sources of Debussy's earlier instrumental style, it is essential also to recall the music of Chopin and Tchaikovsky, witnesses to the persistence of Classical syntax and phrase rhythm in the nineteenth century.15 Chopin was the composer most favored by Debussy in his performances as a piano student at the Paris Conservatoire (including the First Ballade, the Scherzo from the Third Sonata, and the Fantasy in F minor) and seems to have left an indelible mark on Debussy's musical personality, including the adoption of Classical forms;16 and it was during his visits to Russia and Italy, while in the employ of Tchaikovsky's patroness von Meck in the early 1880's, that Debussy came to know the music of Tchaikovsky as well as Alexander Borodin, Bala- kirev, and Rimsky-Korsakov.17 The young Debussy was especially observant of Cesar Franck and proclaimed in his conversations with Ernest Guiraud, in 1889-1890: "The Symphony of Franck is amazing. I could do with less four-

bar phrases. But what splendid ideas! I even prefer it to the Quintet, which I used to find thrilling."18 Even after his visits to Bayreuth, in 1888 and 1889, and a fresh infusion of Wagnerianism, Debussy thus felt compelled to admire Franck's musical language; but a study of Franck reveals a persistent loyalty to a number of eighteenth-century syntactical traditions that also surface in the works of Debussy.

Although the music of Franck and d'Indy may be largely dominated by stretches of sprawling symphonic development, the initial impetus commonly appears in the form of the Classical sentence or period. While in his Symphony in D minor Franck reserves the familiar antecedent-consequent phrase relations of the parallel period for the most important thematic materials, for example, the climactic fortissimo theme at the end of the exposition of the first movement (mm. 129-45) or the opening theme of the third movement (mm. 7ff., its consequent hugely extended), sentential structures appear nearly everywhere-distinct, relatively indepen- dent thematic materials, in addition to the sentences serving as antecedent and consequent segments within period forms. The concepts of sentence and period, borrowed from rhetoric and current in the Baroque period, persisted throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; but they were reintro- duced and refined by Arnold Schoenberg in his Funda- mentals of Musical Composition and developed recently into an exhaustive theory of musical syntax by William Caplin in his Classical Form.19 Sentences, periods and their hybrids also serve as essential elements in the music of the French eighteenth-century classicists. The chamber and keyboard suites of Couperin, for example, present them within the very different, compact dimensions of binary dance forms, in contrast to the more expansive Viennese sonata. Both Debussy's sonatas and Couperin's suites, however, are funda- mentally concerned with the lyric impulse; naturally they

I3 Dahlhaus 1989, 293.

14 Debussy 1977, 110-13; Fulcher 2001, 209-13.

I5 Howat 1992, 259, asserts that in the composition of L'islejoyeuse, for

instance, "[...] Debussy appears to have looked to Chopin for help in

solving the problems posed by its length and structural complexity." For a discussion of phrase structure in Chopin, see Rothstein 1989, 214-48.

16 Clevenger 2001, 314-19.

17 Lesure 2001, 103. 18 Lockspeiser 1978, 208.

i9 See Schoenberg 1967, 1-81; Ratz 1973; and Caplin 1998.


share certain syntactical formations as well as an attention to

phrase structure and the art of joining segments of different formal function as vehicles for the expression of lyricism.20

According to the theories of Schoenberg and Caplin, the sentence and period are clearly differentiated by their patterns of repetition of materials. The opening "presentation" function of the sentence is identified by the immediate, har-

monically or melodically varied repetition of a relatively compact "basic idea" of one or two measures, famously illustrated by Schoenberg in the opening of Beethoven's first

piano sonata (op. 2, no. 1, in F minor).21 In the period, however, the essential repetition encompasses a pair of relatively longer and (initially) melodically parallel phrases.22 The dis- tinctions between sentence and period may not be always unambiguous, of course, for both combine shorter segments to form larger units; and sentences may also function as segments within larger period forms. While the sentence at once confirms the thematic importance of a twice-stated idea, the antecedent segment of a period usually contains two different ideas, either contrasting or digressive yet complementary.23 While the antecedent remains cadentially open, concluding with an imperfect authentic or half-cadence, the consequent

traditionally closes more firmly, often with a strong authentic cadence. The sentence, however, depending on the context, may end either open or closed.

While the Beethoven example cited above illustrates perhaps the more common Classical version of the sentence, two thematic statements from the works of Cesar Franck represent a somewhat different sentence, where the initial idea is

repeated essentially literally, or with only peripheral modification or embellishment. In the antecedent segment of the climactic theme at the end of the first-movement exposition of Franck's Symphony, shown in Example 1, the two-measure basic idea and its repeat are given over a tonic prolongation, typical of Classical sentential presentations. The opening piano statement from the Symphonic Variations, however, shown in Example 2, begins with the repetition of a one- measure idea over a chromatic, dissonant decorative har-

mony (an inverted secondary dominant altered to a passing augmented-sixth chord) more characteristic of the harmonic restlessness of the nineteenth century. Both sentences create

rhythmic symmetry, 2+2+4 measures in the phrase from the

Symphony and 1+1+2 in the Variations; but the continuation from the Symphony digresses to a relatively new, one-measure chromatic figure, whereas the continuation in the Variations is directly derived from the basic idea. (The phrase from the

Symphony concludes with a half-cadence, in preparation for its immediate return as the consequent of a parallel period.) Sentences beginning with an essentially literal repeat of the basic idea occur widely in the Classical style and are fully documented by Schoenberg as well as Caplin;24 but they also

represent the preferred sentence type of Debussy, in his earliest instrumental works as well as the late sonatas. This may indeed cast a different light on Debussy's puzzling reputation for immediate "duplication" of phrases or short, one- or two-measure motives; that is, the formal function of such duplication should not be heard in isolation but in the

20o The intricacies of "[...] a hitherto unsuspected power of sustained melodic thinking" in Debussy's late sonatas are discussed in Mellers

1947, 47-49. In the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Fulcher (2002, 225-27) finds that, "in spite of the incorporation of minuet and rondo elements [...]," Debussy mixes "later eighteenth-century Germanic

genres with stylistic features that recall the French Baroque. Not only does he invoke baroque dance styles, and emphasize the period's syntactical traits, but again in the manner of Couperin, he gives the movements theatrical titles-Pastoral, Interlude, and Finale." See also the Concerts royaux, or the Pikces de clavecin, Book III, of Couperin.

21 Caplin 1998, 9-10, uses "basic idea," while Schoenberg 1967, 63, seems to prefer "basic motive" and "varied motive-forms."

22 Schoenberg 1967, 29-31ff; see also Ratz 1973.

23 Caplin 1998, 49-51, insists on "contrasting" idea, but in many instances it seems more appropriate to refer to a "complementary" relation between the different materials. 24 Caplin 1998, 37-9; Schoenberg 1967, 73-74.


presentation continuation

4 4 129 133 136 basic idea basic idea repeated I - I I i " i - I - 2 2 1 1

ff sosten.

ff

F:J I 0HC HC

EXAMPLE I. Franck, Symphony in D, i, mm. 129-36: sentence

presentation continuation

Piu lento ad lib.

PAlet

Pfte. mf espress dim.

t PAC

EXAMPLE 2. Franck, Symphonic Variations, mm. 6-9: sentence


context of a sentential presentation-together with a subse-

quent, possible continuation function.25 The repetition of the basic idea at the opening of a sen-

tence creates an assertive thematic statement, building up a firm ground from which to launch further motion, followed

by the more dynamic action of the continuation function (see Example 1, mm. 5-8). Continuations, either directly derived from the basic idea or introducing relatively new, complementary material, often display a "fragmentation" of the rhythmic unit, a quickening succession of one-measure or shorter melodic elements in quasi-developmental forward motion, in comparison with the two-measure basic idea. Continuations also may engage in more exploratory chromatic or sequential harmonic activity, compared with the stable tonic-dominant axis or tonic prolongation of the presentation (see Example 1); or they may dissolve the basic idea of the presentation, creating the motivic "liquidation" observed by Schoenberg, where characteristic, individualized materials lose their distinctive identity in favor of more generalized, scalar activity (see Example 2).26 While the parallel period, symmetrical and cadentially closed, creates a sense of balance and solidity, the sentence represents on-going, fluid musical motion and often implies a sense of urgency. Even sentences may be symmetrical, of course, when the presentation function equals the continuation in duration; but such

symmetry by no means represents the norm. The developmental processes of continuation tend to build momentum and to spill over, as it were, in a gesture of expansion. Ex- tended continuations are frequent in the instrumental forms of Couperin, Mozart, and Haydn, as well as in the earlier works of Debussy.27 Expansion of continuations through se-

quential repetition of figures, however, plays a relatively lim- ited role in the late chamber sonatas of Debussy, unlike the forms of Baroque composers; Debussy prefers a circular, static or winding melodic motion, or the introduction of new melodic ideas or fragments, often permitting the cadential function to fuse with and even to absorb the continuation.28

Elements of the sentence and the period were frequently combined in "hybrid" themes already in the eighteenth cen-

tury. Hybrids commonly open with a typical antecedent

phrase, recalling the first part of a period, or with a "com-

pound basic idea," essentially an antecedent without the conventional half-cadence; this is followed by a sentential continuation.29 Hybrid groups constitute an essential ingredient of the lyric style of the instrumental works of Couperin. As an illustration, Example 3 shows the first part of a binary form in one of the movements from Couperin's XVI ordre, L'Himen-Amour. It consists of a succession of four different, digressive yet complementary ideas, articulated, first, by an authentic cadence at the close of a hybrid phrase pair (m. 8), and second, by a half-cadence at the midpoint of the binary form (mm. 13-14). The first segment of the hybrid consists of two different ideas, recalling an antecedent of a parallel period (mm. 1-4), closing with a weak authentic cadence in

25 The discovery of such "duplication" of phrases or motives has been at- tributed to Andre Schaeffner and Nicholas Ruwet (see Monelle 1992, 69-70 and 115-16), and to Jean Barraqu6 (see DeVoto 2003, 179 and Mellers 1947, 51-52).

26 Schoenberg 1967, 58.

27 For instance, in the Cortmge from the Petite Suite (piano four hands, 1889), the sentential antecedent of the opening parallel period (moder-

ato, mm. 1-10) achieves an elegant asymmetry, its presentation (2+2)

complemented by an extended continuation (2+2+1+1). The opening sentence of the Menuet (mm. 1-11) from the Suite bergamasque (1890-1905) includes an implied metrical shift (mm. 5-8) that expands the continuation function to seven measures; its presentation is somewhat hidden yet "redundant," in that it opens with a basic idea in an inner voice (A-B-C-D, etc.) set above the subdominant and at once

repeated, transposed to the dominant (m. 3), but also partially repeated even earlier (varied and transposed, m. 2).

28 For a discussion of sentence forms and a type of continuation-

Fortspinnung-typical of German Baroque composers, see Fischer

1915, 29-33 f.; the fusion of continuation and cadential functions is discussed in Caplin 1998, 42-47.

29 Caplin 1998, 59-63. Elementary texts on musical form occasionally identify such hybrids as "contrasting periods"; see Green 1979, 66.


L'Himen-Amour

Majestueusement.

PREMIERE PARTIE.

O. 1 _ U I..

L i_

Q ..... .... ....

PAC HC

EXAMPLE 3. Couperin, XVI ordre, ii, L'Himen-Amour, mm. 1-14. hybridphrase group, extended

the tonic key. The subsequent continuation introduces new melodic material and engages in harmonic exploration- modulation to the mediant-and more animated rhythmic motion. The conclusion of the hybrid, at an elided perfect authentic cadence (m. 8), overlaps with the beginning of an additional, asymmetrical continuation segment (4+3) that

typically involves sequential motion (shorter, one-measure units) extended to include several secondary dominants and a return modulation to the tonic key (the Phrygian cadence, m. 14).

Hybrid phrase forms should not be considered anom- alous, even in traditional syntax. In Franck's Symphony a hybrid theme appears prominently near the beginning of the first movement (mm. 6-12, later repeated in mm. 54-60); coupling an abbreviated, three-measure antecedent segment with a four-measure continuation, it contributes to the asym- metricality of the opening group, overlapping with the ca-

dential tonic close of the first theme (m. 6). Hybrids also appear in the earlier instrumental works of Debussy; in the familiar opening theme of Passepied, from the Suite bergamasque, an antecedent segment comprising two different ideas (mm. 3-6) closes with a half-cadence, followed not by a consequent but a sentential continuation characterized by the diagnostic sequential melodic motion based on a new, more animated melodic figure.

It is important to recall the many instances of exceptional or irregular syntactical behavior found in Classical Viennese music-the possibility of phrase extension, of internal expansion, of the addition of prefixes, suffixes or interpolations. Of special relevance to Debussy is the distinction between "tight-knit" and "loose" construction, which introduces the possibility, even in the eighteenth century, of asymmetrical segments and groupings, significant modulatory activity and chromaticism, phrases lacking cadential closure, and phrases


or groups comprising diverse or contrasting motives or textures.30 The significance of Debussy's preference for an

improvisatory mode of musical continuity-a loose surface of formal construction, in the context of a novel harmonic

language-has been aptly described by Pierre Boulez: "[...] what interested me in Debussy was not his vocabulary itself but its flexibility, a certain immediacy of invention, and

precisely the local indiscipline in relation to the overall

discipline."31 One of the most characteristic aspects of Debussy's late

sonatas, in addition to asymmetrical phrases or groupings, is the decided prevalence of open-ended syntactical units, particularly sentences and hybrid phrases. Melodically parallel phrase pairs, approximating the Classical parallel period, commonly also conclude with a cadentially open consequent segment. Although this may call into question the very no- tion of "period"-and in this study such open formal units will be identified as "parallel phrase pairs"-it is nevertheless important to acknowledge the kinship between the period and such open pairs. Debussy follows the precedent of the Classical "modulating period," which had already abandoned the distinctive, closed form of the normative type; its authentic cadence, albeit relatively conclusive, arrived in a new, subsidiary tonal region and left the tonal structure palpably open. In the sonatas of Debussy, phrases may terminate either with a half-cadence, at a "plagal half-cadence,"32 or

most frequently at a novel "divergent cadence" (marked "Div.C." in the analytical examples), a caesura or brief pause at any one of the secondary diatonic or chromatic scale degrees, often at a dissonant sonority.33 Such articulations

usually do not provide a fully "cadential" sense of tonic closure, except when occasionally a consonant triad is reached

through a sudden "tonicization"; but they are nevertheless

highly significant in marking syntactical divisions.34 The di-

vergent cadence, in particular, does not represent merely an

interruption but is essentially analogous to the half-cadence

-marking an internal formal segmentation, yet without the

strong arrival at an important dominant. Such a cadence is

especially remarkable for effecting a sudden, brief deflection from the established tonal path to a novel harmonic region, or even a dissolution of harmonic functions altogether at a medial structural articulation created primarily through rhythmic or gestural means (ritard or pause, descending melodic contour, diminuendo, occasionally a crescendo, or

any combination of these). In the analyses that follow, Debussy's musical style is

viewed as a distinctive amalgamation of Classical phrase structure and modal-chromatic pitch materials. Linear syn- opses of tonal and harmonic factors form an essential part of the analytical sketches, along with the phrase-structural dia-

grams, for it is the harmonic language-the tonal design, its colorful vocabulary and cadential articulations-that reveals

30 Caplin 1998, 84-86, 99-100, 111-21.

31 Quoted in Whittall 1999, 18.

32 The plagal half-cadence is extremely rare in the Classical style and does not figure, of course, in Schenkerian theory; nevertheless, among American theorists, one may occasionally find a reference to the possibility of a cadence that "ends with IV" (Green 1979, 14), or in reference to music of the nineteenth century (Berry 1966, 10-11). The term itself

appears in Rimsky-Korsakov [1886] 1930, 22-23, and in the works of theorists indebted to the Russian tradition (see Sillakivi 1988, 68-71). Richard Parks seems to accept only the authentic arrival at the tonic as

truly cadential; Parks 1999, 205, however, refers to some of the caesuras at divergent or half-cadences as a "truncation" of phrases. Parks 1999,

218, also acknowledges the articulative effect of a "full expiration" at a

plagal half-cadence, but without using the term, in the Violin Sonata, i, m. 14; Parks 1989, 126, discovers a "termination figure" at another plagal half-cadence in the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, i, m. 13.

33 Half-cadences (arriving on the dominant) can be found in the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, iii, mm. 96-97, and the Violin Sonata, iii, mm. 162-72; Example 12 illustrates a plagal half-cadence (arriving on subdominant harmony); and Examples 4, 6, and 8 feature divergent cadences.

34 See for instance the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, i, mm. 24, and the Violin Sonata, i, m. 84; see also the mock-tonic divergent cadences in the Cello Sonata, ii, mm. 18 and 52-53.


the particularly Debussyean modification of traditional formal functions. The linear analytical sketches owe a great deal to Schenkerian theory but deliberately eschew some of the characteristic voice-leading complications of that theory and, in particular, avoid questions of "fundamental structure." The sketches are intended to suggest only one of several possible contrapuntal-harmonic interpretations, without

attempting to suppress the ambiguity that is an essential part of Debussy's musical thought.35 The goal here is to elucidate and to interpret the music, and to enlist analyses of tonal structure in the task of explicating Debussy's syntax, not to demonstrate a new application of Schenker's ideas, nor even to argue that the linear analyses are particularly Schenkerian. The study also includes comparisons of passages of different formal function and their expressive import-a "hermeneu- tic" juxtaposition of initial musical statements and their later transformations.36 Such a comparative analytical approach seems especially fruitful in revealing the structural function of syntactical elements, and in suggesting interpretations of the unfolding expressive "narrative," inviting the analysis to move beyond purely technical features to the drama or

"poetry" embedded in the musical work.37

SENTENCES, PERIODS, HYBRIDS

The Prologue of Debussy's Cello Sonata, the first of the sonatas composed during the composer's final efflorescence of creative energies, in the late summer of 1915, offers a sys-

tematic demonstration of the essentials of Classical musical

syntax-a sentence and a period of traditional proportions, manifesting traditional formal functions. As Example 4 shows, the movement opens with the presentation of a normative two-measure basic idea, proclaimed in the piano and at once repeated, recalling typical Classical presentations, within a D-Aeolian tonic prolongation. The continuation

overlaps with the end of the presentation (m. 4), however, while the cello enters prematurely, as it were, impatiently; it

begins with a transformation of the basic idea, including a

major subdominant representing D Dorian, and typically involves more animated rhythmic motion and shorter, one- measure units, in comparison with the opening. Especially characteristic of Debussy is the deflection of the harmony towards a divergent cadence on a "lowered-dominant," Ab ninth chord (mm. 6-7). The approach to the cadential sonor-

ity is marked by connective, middleground linear motions (the treble B-B in contrary motion against the G-A1 in the bass), while the diatonic harmony of the opening yields to chromaticism typical of Debussy's middle years-the chromatic third-relation between the subdominant, G, and the minor Neapolitan, EB (mm. 5-6), the latter at once absorbed into the divergent-cadential Ab ninth chord that creates the tritonal resolution back to the tonic, D minor (m. 8).38

The opening of the Prologue demonstrates the dynamic mobility commonly a hallmark of the sentence. Against the

four-square, festive nobility of the presentation segment, firmly establishing the central tonality and one of the principal thematic motives of the movement (mm. 1-2), the continuation at once digresses to an improvisatory, declamatory manner that importantly reappears later in the sonata (including the quasi-"flamenco" passages in the first and second movements and the passionate cadenza before the final close of the third movement). In the opening of the Prologue, the

agile melodic contour of the cello statement, implying subtly

35 Whittall 2003, 15. Parks 1999, 201-06 and 212, argues similarly for a

preservation or at least an acknowledgement of ambiguities of meter as well as phrase structure in the performance of Debussy's sonatas, for

instance, in the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Pastorale, mm. 1-17, and Interlude, mm. 1-53.

36 This idea is explored in the comparison, discussed below, of Example 5 with Example 6, 8 with 9, 12 with 13, and 15 with 16.

37 For a fruitful instance of "hermeneutics" applied to a musical work, see

Dreyfuis 1991; Agawu 1996 discusses the relations between "analysis" and "interpretation."

38 For a discussion of the role of chromatic third-relations in Debussy's harmonic language, see Somer 1995.


presentation > continuation 1 4 6/7 (8)

basic idea a' (a2)

I 2 2 4

I"~ Div. C.

-Div. -- C.

Div.C.

EXAMPLE 4. Debussy, Cello Sonata, Prologue, mm. 1-8. sentence, compressed

conflicting meters, unfolds in delicate, arching lines that tra- verse contrasting registers. The phrase essentially preserves the traditional proportions of the sentence (2+2+4), only minimally disturbed by the asymmetry (loss of one measure) introduced by the overlap of the presentation and continuation segments.

The "narrative" of the S&rMnade, the second movement of the Cello Sonata, is centered around the destiny of a pair of short sentences that evoke a strikingly "modernist" air. The first of these suggests an obscure, nearly non-tonal pitch context, its harmonic ambivalence underscored by the placement of the instruments in their darkest, almost unreadable

register (mm. 1-4). But it serves as an introductory prefix, a

structurally dissonant element (loosely centered around Ak) that captures some of the essential expressive import of the movement-hesitant, angular and fragmentary. The second sentence (mm. 5-9, its later restatements in mm.

21ff. and

56 ff) provides the principal thematic idea of the Sirinade. The presentation segment does not prolong the tonic, however, as shown in Example 5; its repeated predominant, first-inversion supertonic harmony (of the principal tonality, D minor) represents an ironic, self-contradictory gesture of lament: lyric yet pizzicato! Initially, both its anticipated mo-

tion to the dominant and its attempt to convey a sense of

lyricism fail, evoking a sense of longing as well as frustration -"Pierrot angry at the moon."39 The phrase retains the traditional sentential proportions (1+1+2) and quickly arrives at a divergent cadence on a leading-tone sonority (C# minor, m. 8). While the repeat of the cadential arrival (m. 9) adds a

faintly reassuring sense of structural clarity, it also introduces

asymmetry (an extra measure) and reinforces the harmonic deflection. The approach to the leading-tone sonority, both

through tritone-motion from the subdominant (G-C#) and

through the chromatic third-relationship from the mediant (F-C#), emphasizes the haunting, distant "otherness" of the cadence.

In each of its appearances, the sentence serves as a mem- ber of a larger group. In the first instance, it extends beyond the cadence to an interpolated, transitional whole-tone

segment (mm. 10-12) and leads to a lyric hybrid phrase (ironique, mm. 13-18).40 This phrase contains, in addition to

39 Mellers 1947, 52-53; Fulcher 2001, 222-23. Parks 1999, 223, finds that "a sense of burlesque pervades the Sdernade."

40 Some of Debussy's performance directions, using figurative language- ironique, con fuoco, con morbidezza, melancoliquement, sfogato-may per-


5 8 9 10 (13/14)

present. contin. trans.

I 1+1 3

5 Div. C.

EXAMPLE 5. Debussy, Cello Sonata, Serenade, mm. 5-14.: sentence and transition

the whole-tone colors, a tentative suggestion of C# minor

(mm. 14-16), a region previously introduced at the cadence

(in mm. 8/9), before suddenly diverging to a cadence on C

(m. 18).41 In the second instance, the expressivity of the sentence is palpably intensified, principally through the stepwise rising, briefly sequential melodic line that comprises increas-

ingly insistent repetitions of short chromatic figures, included in Example 6 (mm. 22-24; in summary, E-F-F#-G-

Ab-Bb, plus A-B), and through the chromatic rise from a D6

("appoggiatura") ninth chord to the secondary dominant-

functioning D seventh chord. The sentence is transformed to evoke a theatrically exaggerated mock-lament, a parodistic gesture that quickly explodes in a "fiery" plagal half-cadence

(fuoco, m. 25); and it is once more joined to the previous in-

terpolation but then almost disintegrates in a brief cadenza

(mm. 28-30)-an exotic diversion that drifts into a new tonal region (secondary dominant-seventh sonority on B, in

preparation to a move to A major). In a fluttering wail, the cello (arco) negates and, as it were, in a clownish gesture thumbs its nose at the preceding attempts at lyricism-an evocation of the commedia dell'arte imagery fashionable

during the early decades of the century.42 In both instances the sentence asserts its dramatic open-endedness, at first marked by a divergent cadence, later by a plagal half-cadence

(mm. 7-9, 24-25). It is the openness of the sentence that

helps to integrate the elements of the larger phrase group, contributing to the continuity of the movement.

Most of the parallel phrase pairs in the sonatas are also

open-ended, their melodic parallelism usually considerably modified. Only rarely does Debussy establish a parallel period true to the Classical model; the period near the beginning of the Prologue of the Cello Sonata (mm. 8-15), for example, is unusual only in terms of the details of its cadences, while its four-measure constituent segments create the traditional

haps seem redundant to the performer, if not altogether baffling; but

they provide considerable clues towards grasping the larger expressive narrative.

41 It is difficult to agree with Parks's analysis of the phrase structure of this

passage, that is, his division of the hybrid in mm. 12/13-18 into three distinct "phrases," without a sense of the larger unity. Additionally, Parks apparently does not hear the "truncation" of the phrase at the di-

vergent cadence in m. 18; see Parks 1999, 221-22. 42 Green and Swan 1993.


sentence ext.

21 23 25 26 30

present. contin. interpl. cad. -------------

1+1 3 2 3

Paii I (V7) T .

Plag.HC Div.C.

EXAMPLE 6. Debussy, Cello Sonata, Serenade, mm. 21-30: sentence and transition/extension

symmetrical arrangement.43 The antecedent phrase, com-

prising two different, complementary ideas, arrives at a plagal half-cadence (m. 11), while the consequent repeats the basic idea of the antecedent and concludes with a mixed, "bifunctional" cadence type, including the modal (Dorian) dominant and immediately thereafter also the subdominant, before the resolution to the tonic (mm. 15).44

The final movement of the Cello Sonata contains a parallel phrase pair that is asymmetrical and includes a modified, transposed consequent segment. But, as shown in Example 7, it concludes with an especially assertive authentic cadence -after a sudden, sharp turn to a contrasting tonal region (mm. 35-37). Characteristic of Debussy, the harmonic functions are ambivalent throughout; the C# focus of the an-

tecedent phrase resolves as a dominant to the tonic F# of the consequent, but both functions are represented by "dominant-seventh" sonorities, and both are colored by the

Phrygian half-step (C#-D, F#-G). In each case, the

Phrygian harmony invites further diatonic unfolding that conflicts with the presumed tonal focus, implying considerable freedom of movement away from the center (mm. 27- 28, 31-34). The melodic correspondence between the antecedent and the consequent is quite close; moreover, the

group also recalls traditional syntax in that both the antecedent and the consequent segments individually represent sentence formations; their presentation functions involve the characteristic, immediate repeat of the basic idea (2+2; mm. 23ff and 29 ff). The continuation function of the antecedent is abbreviated essentially to three measures (including the measure of overlap at the cadence, m. 29); that of the consequent expands to five, straining to achieve a more

grandiloquent cadential arrival (mm. 35-37). Despite the tonal ambivalence, the sudden modulation, and the dramati-

cally divergent final cadence, the parallel phrase pair nevertheless creates a sense of equilibrium that resonates from its traditional repetition scheme. Parallel phrase pairs (and peri-

43 One other parallel period also closes with the (local) tonic, but in a

tritone-removed, contrasting tonality (see the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, ii, 95-106; for a different view of this sonata, see Allen 1983).

44 A somewhat different bifunctional cadence, combining dominant and subdominant in a simultaneity, occurs in the Prologue of the Cello Sonata in m. 29, at the point of overlap of two phrases. A discussion of "functional mixture" appears in Harrison 1994, 64-72.


antecedent (sentence) consequent (sentence)1 23 27 29 33 37

x y x

2+2 3 2+2 5

V7 17 ii V I

(CO: 17) - - t Div.C.(PAC)

EXAMPLE 7. Debussy, Cello Sonata, Finale, mm. 23-3 7. parallelphrase pair

ods), although relatively infrequent in Debussy's sonatas, nevertheless form a significant departure from the prevailing dynamic mobility of sentences and hybrid groups.

The differences between the balanced, relatively securely resting parallel phrase pair and the more fluid sentence or

hybrid phrase is graphically illustrated in a comparison of the initial theme of the Interlude of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp with its later reprise as a rondo refrain. Even the initial phrase pair creates a sense of openness, of pre- carious balance and an air of restrained urgency, not least

through the ambivalence of the harmonic setting; yet its re- semblance to period form remains strong. The antecedent, included in Example 8, unfolds above a C pedal that functions simultaneously as the dominant of F minor (its tonic established briefly at the beginning of the consequent, m. 8) and as the tonal focus of C Phrygian (or even C-Locrian!). Both the antecedent and the consequent phrases are caden-

tially open-ended; after a brief shift from the tonic to the relative major (F minor to Ab major/mixolydian), the phrase pair concludes with a divergent cadence on an ambiguous Ab ninth chord. The formal symmetry of the pair is undermined

through material interpolated between the antecedent and

the consequent phrases (mm. 4-7), over a prolonged dominant that extends the transparent harmonic setting of the

opening. It is also undermined through the expansion of the consequent itself to a six-measure response (mm. 8-13) to the four-measure antecedent. The balance within the period seems weighted in favor of the consequent, yet the antecedent should not be understood as merely "introductory," for it per- forms a central thematic role in the movement. In view of the

interpolated material at its center, it is also possible to inter-

pret the phrase group as a small ternary form, even though the rather generalized melodic substance of the interpolation presents a weak motivic profile, based on a rhythmically neu- tralized variant of the opening motive of the antecedent; the form of the parallel phrase pair is clearly expanded, and the

significance of the interpolation cannot be ignored.45 (A new

developmental sentential group follows in mm. 14-22.)

45 Parks 1999, 195, analyses this phrase group essentially in three distinct

segments, including the partial repetition of opening material in the third segment, mm. 8-13, thus implying the presence of a small ternary form; he does not consider the possibility of a parallel period with in-

terpolation. For a discussion of the internal, small ternary form, see

Caplin 1998, 13-15 and 71-84.


antecedent > (interpl.) consequent 1 3 8 11 13 (14)

x v x I - --

rj v t Div.C.

EXAMPLE 8. Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Interlude, mm. 1-13: expandedparallelphrase pair

The initial statement of a principal theme in the form of a

period-like parallel phrase pair is itself a thoroughly traditional, Classical gesture, emphasizing the special "formality" of the moment. None of the later restatements forms a

phrase pair; the antecedent is subsequently always heard

singly, albeit itself expanded. In each instance, the refrain

may be interpreted as a hybrid theme, embracing the antecedent as well as fragmented activity of rhythmically abbreviated figures characteristic of the continuation function. Two of the refrains essentially consist of the original antecedent extended either through a dissolving, disintegrating transitional passage (mm. 49-53), or an expansion of a cadential gesture (mm. 111-16). Only when the antecedent is

given by the harp alone, transmuting the phrase into an es-

pecially fragile musical image (espressivo e delicatissimo, mm. 85 ff.), does the refrain represent a telling departure from the opening parallel phrase pair. Here the closing figure of the antecedent is taken up by the flute and viola-in octaves, accompanied by the harp-and developed within an expand- ing melodic contour into an animated motivic "liquidation" (mm. 88-91) that concludes with a whole-tone-colored half- cadence included in Example 9 (m. 92). It is the remarkable color of the flute and viola in octaves that evokes a poignant

air of intimacy, as it were, a vivid memory. This color has ap- peared already twice earlier in the movement-at first playful yet energetic (grazioso; mm. 26-29)-then quite unrestrained

(sfogato), indeed almost ecstatic (mm. 60-61), emphasizing the contrasting character of the episodes within the larger rondo design. During the continuation function of the harp refrain, the texture in octaves creates an intensification of the

surging, expressive gesture that was already implied in the initial thematic statement. During the recapitulatory passages at the end, the same color appears twice more, bursting forth in a brief, piercing outcry, the flute and viola now

sounding in unison (mm. 99-100), but ultimately resigning in a final gesture of gentle melancholy, once more in octaves -as it were, a memory already fading (dolce e tristamente,

sospiroso; mm. 108-10). An important aspect of the phrase structure of Debussy's

sonatas is the augmentation of the constituent elements of the sentence, while retaining the essential formal functions -the presentation of considerably longer basic ideas and the

subsequent expansion of the continuation function. Caplin describes Classical sixteen-measure sentences, where a four- measure "compound basic idea" and its repetition constitute the presentation function, while the continuation is expanded


antecedent continuation 85 89 92 (95)

x (x) 4 6

?iHCi

k

lJ iI, 116 V

HC(wt)

EXAMPLE 9. Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Interlude, mm. 85-95.: hybrid theme

to eight measures (or may be compressed to four or six mea-

sures).46 The proportions within the sentence (1+1+2, 2+2+4, 4+4+8, etc.) may be included among the critical elements in the definition of the form, but whether a sentence is initiated

by a one- or two-measure motive, or by a four-measure or even longer basic idea, may seem peripheral. Longer, imme-

diately repeated basic ideas, however, tend subtly to alter the

interpretation of their formal function. Twice-stated four- measure phrases may sound almost indistinguishable from

period-like, antecedent-consequent phrase pairs; only the

subsequent continuation can clarify the formal relations in

question. The first contrasting episode of the rondo design of the Interlude of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, for ex-

ample, begins with the presentation of a four-measure basic idea and its immediate repeat in Ab major (mm. 22-29), while the subsequent, brief developmental passage (mm. 30-37), using a figure extracted from the end of the basic

phrase (m. 24), transparently serves the continuation function. It engages in more animated rhythmic motion (eighth- and thirty-second-notes, mm. 30-34) and actively explores

the mediant region, C major, including a medial cadence on its dominant (mm. 32-33), shifting to C minor in the end; it thus transforms the initial parallel phrase pair into a sentential presentation. (An added sentential extension, mm. 38- 45, lies outside the boundaries of the sentence outline above.)

Augmented sentential groups may occasionally also create considerable ambiguity. In the expansive sentence at the center of the third movement of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (mm. 50-67), the tonality is at once complicated by the "bitonal" conflict between the D-Dorian focus of the flute melody and the whole-tone ostinato given in the harp accompaniment, C-Gk-Ab. The opening phrase, shown in

Example 10(a), carries the characteristic hallmarks of an antecedent, comprising two complementary ideas (the first in the lower, the second in the upper tetrachord), while the close of the flute melody on the dominant of D suggests a half-cadence (on A, m. 53, despite the dissonant ostinato). The immediate repetition of the phrase in the role of a consequent, however, fails to reach an authentic cadence on D, deviating thus from the Classical period form, instead recalling the parallel phrase pair frequent in Debussy. An interpretation of the subsequent material as "continuation" involves 46 Caplin 1998, 69-70.


50

pizz.

(a)

F191 58 Accelerando poco a poco

leerleggiero

f , ( semprep) ipocomarcato )

(b)

EXAMPLE IO. Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Finale, (a) mm. 50-53; (b) 58-59: thematic materials

further ambivalence, for it is only indirectly derived from the opening antecedent phrase (mm. 58ff). The continuation at once shifts to the mediant region (of the previous tonality of the flute melody), a loosely defined F major; characteristic of sentential continuations, it moves in more animated rhythms and quickens the pace of harmonic changes, replacing the pedal-tone and ostinato effect with a more active bass, as shown in Example 10(b). Its mosaic of pentatonic melodic figures is surely derived from the opening modal flute

melody, although its novel texture of playful heterophony-- even "hocket"!-creates a sense of a colorful digression. The

augmented dimensions of the sentence (4+4+10) are further

expanded through the introduction of the harp accompaniment considerably earlier, during a section of overlap with the preceding phrase group (B? minor, mm. 43-49), while the continuation function is extended through an overlap with the subsequent return of the opening thematic material of the movement (mm. 68ff, leading to a new, contrasting


harmonic region, the subdominant of B1 minor arriving in mm. 76ff).

In contrast to the expansive bitonal sentence discussed above, the immediately preceding Bk-minor episode (mm. 33ff) presents a remarkably truncated sentence. Its presentation function opens with a compound phrase that represents a

typical antecedent (mm. 33-36), immediately repeated, com-

prising two sharply contrasting ideas; the opening of the

compound phrase, however, is repeated yet once again, as if

attempting to initiate the continuation function (mm. 41- 42), but is then suddenly abandoned, the motivic material

altogether liquidated in favor of a modulating transitional

passage. Certain elements of the continuation function nevertheless may be heard-fragmentation of rhythmic motion, introduction of a new melodic idea, harmonic conflict and

departure (mm. 43-49)-but the continuation is radically abbreviated and depleted of melodic content to the extent that the sentential form itself is called into question.47

LINKING FORMAL FUNCTIONS

In Debussy's earliest instrumental compositions (such as the Trio in G, Nocturne, and Scherzo), larger forms seem to arise quite casually from a succession of simple four- or

eight-measure periods or sentences loosely joined together. The late sonatas, on the other hand, display sophisticated linking of segments of different formal function and grouping of phrases within larger sections, even transforming original formal functions into quite different expressive gestures.

Phrase groups may be demarcated through the familiar tech-

nique of strategic placement of cadences of varying degrees of finality. In the tonic phrase group at the beginning of the Prologue of the Cello Sonata, for example, it is primarily the divergent cadence (mm. 6-7), in addition to the stable

tonality, D minor, that joins the opening sentence to the im-

mediately following parallel period (mm. 8-15). Any motivic

kinship between the two is altogether hidden, although a complementarity or resolution of tension-a meditative

turning inward-may be felt in the parallel period during its

slowly descending melodic contour. The more heterogeneous second phrase group, in the

same movement (mm. 16ff), closes dramatically with a sudden rush of energy (sempre animando e crescendo), a shift to the subtonic region, C major, and a climactic, bifunctional, elided cadence in the new tonality (mm. 28-29; subdominant in the upper register of the piano superposed above the dominant in the lower, both resolving to the tonic).48 The cadences here demarcate two different subgroups, with distinct sentential presentations (mm. 16-20 and 24-27), whose continuation functions are radically truncated; the two subgroups are joined not by an open, medial cadence but

by the absence of any cadence whatever (m. 23). The first sentential presentation contains an internal, weak plagal half-cadence (m. 17) and an even weaker divergent cadence

arriving on the subtonic (C major, m. 20), while its continuation is interrupted and abandoned after only three measures; an ostinato figure (beginning in m. 21, animandopoco a poco, agitato) provides a linkage to the second presentation, even within the quite obscure, non-tonal context.

In the expository first section of the first movement of the Violin Sonata, the segmentation within first large phrase group is defined by an interior plagal half-cadence (mm. 13- 14) followed by a divergent cadence arriving at a whole-tone "dominant" (mm. 24-25), before concluding with a climactic

47 The augmented sentence that opens the coda of the first movement of the Violin Sonata is remarkable only for its asymmetrical proportions; the presentation (mm. 196-209) of an eight-measure basic idea (the

opening motive from the beginning of the movement) and its six- measure repetition (with a different closing harmony) are coupled with a continuation of two distinct parts, the first a six-measure segment (mm. 210-15), the second a sentential construction of ten measures

(mm. 216-25). 48 A different view of the segmentation of this section of the movement

may be found in Davidian 1989/1990, 3.


perfect authentic cadence (mm. 41-42). The uncommonly, emphatically traditional gesture of the authentic cadence serves to release the tension built up during an extended continuational whole-tone passage, transforming the am-

biguous whole-tone chord (of mm. 24-25) into a strong dominant (m. 41) that at last resolves to the tonic. The

principal, cyclical thematic idea of the sonata is announced with unmistakable clarity at the very beginning (mm. 5-8), but the movement builds up momentum and realizes its

expressive-motivic potential only gradually. It opens, as it were, distantly and detached, at first restrained and hesitant (mm. 1-8).

The initial basic idea, a triadic figure of the violin, a (mm. 5-6), as shown in Example 11, is given twice, creating a sentential presentation. As a motive it may seem uncommonly brief and compact, but its descending tonic arpeggiation is sequentially extended in thirds, reaching the colorful, chromatic third-related, E6-minor submediant (m. 8) and, melodically decorated, stretches even to the fifth of the dominant (A, in mm. 10-11). The continuation function, prolonging the exotic E6-minor chord, in effect fuses with the

presentation, even though it also presents a new, rhythmically more animated motive, b (mm. 9-10), giving but a pre- liminary suggestion of the passionate energy of the work. Continuation functions, even in the Classical style, often begin with new material; at the same time, one could inter-

pret the opening statement as an antecedent phrase. It closes with a definitive plagal half-cadence (mm. 13-14), ap- proached through an arpeggiation of chromatic third-related harmonies, i-bvi-IV, shown in Example 12. The continuation motive of the opening sentence at once returns (mm. 15-17), both as a reference to the preceding and as a prefix or large anacrusis to a new antecedent (mm. 18-24/25), followed by a continuational segment with prominent internal sentential features of its own (mm. 30-42).

In addition to the open cadences, the phrases within the first section of the movement are also linked through an important albeit obscure motivic transformation, recalling

other, similarly remote thematic relationships that have

given Debussy's music a reputation for "unprecedented levels of exposition of new material, or material only loosely derived from previous elements.""49 The reappearance of the

opening ideas (mm. 5-10ff) in the second antecedent sentence, cited above (mm. 18 ff), is considerably disguised. The descending, arpeggiated triadic motive returns modified, while the melodic gaps in its motion in thirds are filled with sonorous, "organal," stepwise passing sonorities, shown in Example 13 (see mm. 18-22), providing an important first release of the tensions embedded in the movement. The continuation function (mm. 22-25) also refers to the opening sentence, particularly to the leaps of fourths of the continuation motive, b (compare mm. 9 and 22-23, in Example 11). The sentence arrives at a striking caesura, a half-cadence on a whole-tone "dominant" identified by its prominent leading tone (F#) in the violin but decidedly not built upon a dominant root, instead, boasting a mediant in the bass (Bb, mm.

25ff). The immediate repetition of the cadential motion extends the sentence and reinforces the syntactical significance of the caesura.50 Within the larger phrase group, outlined in

Example 13, this sentence serves as an antecedent (mm. 18-25) to a hybrid group that includes a new continuation of its own (mm. 30-42). Here the formal functions seem to fuse in a rush towards the climactic close. The new continuation includes an internal "double presentation" of two closely related compact motives based on a dissonant prolongation

49 Trezise 1994, 52. 50 Parks 1999, 214-15, acknowledges an overlap of "phrases" in mm. 24

and 28, but not the beginning of a phrase in m. 30; in effect, he hears the repeat of the half-cadence in mm. 24 and 28 but does not interpret it as an extension of the phrase that began in m. 18. In general, one of the short-comings of Parks's analyses arises from his avoidance of an

acknowledgement of phrase groups, or of the grouping of segments into larger phrases; he appears content simply to enumerate distinct, in- dividual phrases. For example, Parks 1999 (203-06, 218) finds a total of 12 phrases in the Violin Sonata, i, mm. 1-63; and a total of 15 phrases in the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, ii, mm. 1-53.


@0? 5 i 9

1 22

a b

EXAMPLE II. Debussy, Violin sonata, i, mm. 1-24. motivic transformations

(1) 5 9 13/14 __b

4 3+3

i bvi V IV

Plag.HC

EXAMPLE 12. Debussy, Violin sonata, i, mm. 5-14: sentence

of an embellished whole-tone collection (x and x), mm. 30-37); the continuation function is clarified by a reduction of the contour of the principal melody, now restricted to a minor third (G-B6, in the piano part, mm. 34-39), antici-

pating the resolution to the tonic and merging with the cadential function (mm. 38-42). Simultaneously, the syncopation in the principal melody (mm. 34ff) creates an added

reference, subtle yet unmistakable, to the basic idea from the

opening of the movement. The second half of the expository section of the move-

ment opens with an uncommonly obscure sentential construction, outlined in Example 14. Obscure because of its un-

commonly expansive basic idea containing two contrasting figures, the first piano, marque (c, mm. 44-47) and the second


antecedent O continuation present. > contin./cad.

15 18 22 24 30 34 38 42 b x x

----w I 3 4 4 (+4)1 2+2 [2+25

-----------i

ii i 5 HC(wt) PAC

(Div.C.?)

EXAMPLE 13. Debussy, Violin sonata, i, mm. 15-42: augmented hybrid group, extended

sentence A parall. phrase pair present. contin. anteced. consequ. I -I- Is ---1 -) m 44 48 51 56 64 72 84

()=a2 d'

S y c' (a') I 13 7 5 9

AC Div. C

EXAMPLE 14. Debussy, Violin sonata, i, mm. 44-84: linked augmentedphrase groups

forte (y, mm. 48-50), and also because the immediate repetition of the basic idea (cl, mm. 51-55) is radically modified -indeed nearly unrecognizable-unlike typical sentential

presentations.51 The unbroken continuity of the sentence is

palpable, however, partly because of the unifying ostinato

figurations in the violin (mm. 42ff and 56ff), and also because of the tonal unity, reinforced in the continuation through a tonic pedal (G, mm. 56-58ff). In a climactic, joy- ful gesture, elements of one of the previous antecedent

phrases return (from mm. 18ff), now in the role of an especially vigorous continuation function (mm. 56ff). Whereas the most arresting harmonic motion of the antecedent previously signaled a sudden withdrawal of expressive energy, in a retreat from the tonic to the minor subtonic (G minor- F minor, mm. 18-22), in its new role as a continuation, the

51 Parks's use of the terms "antecedent" and "consequent" in this section of the Violin Sonata cannot refer to the traditional period, nor to its Schoenberg-Caplin version, but only to the fact that certain phrases or segments occur first and others later; Parks 1999, 218.


expressive intensity of the phrase is heightened through the addition of a powerful move to a chromatic mediant (G minor-B minor, mm. 56-57), en route to an elided tonic "cadence" (m. 64) that connects the preceding sentence to the subsequent parallel phrase pair.

Whereas the motivic transformations in the first phrase group of the movement intensify the expressivity of the materials, the phrase pair at the end of the expository section

represents a telling restraint of musical energies (see Ex-

ample 14, mm. 64-84). The descending tonic arpeggiation of the opening motive is reduced to a perfect fifth, now as-

cending (motive d, or [a2], mm. 64-67), coupled with the

complementary descending figure of an arpeggiated incom-

plete chromatic-mediant major triad (a dominant-seventh

sonority on B, mm. 68-71) that creates a veiled, distant reference to the minor form of the same mediant in the continuation segment of the preceding sentence (m. 57). Together the ascending and descending segments form a typical antecedent phrase, whose consequent once again refers to the

syncopation of the opening (from mm. 5-6). Only at the very end does the parallel phrase group modulate; a sudden, third- related move to a chromatic mediant (G minor to E major, mm. 80-84) closes the expository section of the movement and transports the divergent cadence to a colorfully distant tonal region (and the beginning of the contrasting midsection). The dynamic sentential structures of the beginning of the movement, exploiting possibilities of departure to new

expressive territory, yield to a more stable group that evokes the feeling of balance of the traditional modulating period- an affirmative gesture of tranquility, marking the close of a

major formal section. The compound thematic phrase that opens the Pastorale

of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, given in Example 15, is remarkable for introducing a principal theme at the beginning of a movement in a non-tonic setting, briefly yet dra-

matically refusing to suggest any tonal center whatever. It also incorporates exceptionally striking harmonic and motivic contrasts. The expressive ambivalence of the flute ges-

ture, a (mm. 1-2), involving a dissonant appoggiatura chord (a dominant-seventh sonority on D) in a puzzling tritone-

relationship (with a dominant-seventh sonority on Ak), is

presented only once, unlike Classical sentential presentations. Its continuation through brief, arpeggiated arabesques (x, mm. 2-3) introduces the tonal conflict between Eb, embedded in the opening gesture, and E?, the leading tone of the principal tonality. The reiterated Ab sonority, retained from the opening, conflicts with the subsequent (implied) F major of the viola statement, b (complicated by an implied augmented sonority, Ab-C-E?; mm. 4-6). The viola, however, despite its seamless connection to the preceding flute

arabesque-recalling the cinematic "dissolve" technique52- seems to want to have little to do with the questioning flute

gestures. It suddenly veers in a quite different direction, eva-

sively preferring to answer, as it were, an altogether different

question. The juxtaposition of the contrasting flute and viola ideas, a and b, captures the digressive thought-processes characteristic of improvisation-a free flow of musical im-

pulses, here free even of the constraints of an audible metrical rhythm.53 The unaccompanied, elongated melodic arc of the viola seems disassociated both from the flute arabesques of the opening (mm. 2-3) as well as those that initiate the cadential passage (mm. 7-8). It is only the cadence, with its associated reflective pause, that succeeds in weaving together the conflicting, divergent threads, in creating an equilibrium and in defining the unique, loosely constructed opening phrase of the Pastorale as an aesthetic and formal unity. It is difficult to interpret this phrase as anything other than ex-

ceptional in terms of Classical models, the latter represented with remarkable clarity in the rest of the movement. One could describe the opening perhaps as a contrasting period

52 Leydon 2001, 223-25. 53 Parks 1999, 212, also argues here for "the absence of clear metric pat-

terns [...] The whole movement has a strongly improvisatory character, as though comprised of a series of fragments [...]."


1 4 7 9 flute viola

x - ---------------- 3------

11/2 11/2 3 3

IV V 4 1I

AC

EXAMPLE 15. Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Pastorale, mm. 1-9: linked thematic ideas

or, better, as an expository "phrase chain";54 and the flute statement itself recalls a rare, exceptionally compact, truncated sentence-lacking the diagnostic initial repeat of the basic idea!-found in the Intermede of the Violin Sonata (mm. 27-33, also part of a larger phrase group).

The reappearance of the opening thematic idea, a, as part of the recapitulation near the end of the movement (mm. 72

ff), demonstrates the growth and mutation of an initially tentative, improvisatory statement into a credible sentential formation. The boundaries of the larger phrase group here are demarcated by strong authentic cadences in the principal tonality (the first, in mm. 65-66; the second, the final cadence in 79-80); the group comprises two sentences, outlined in Example 16, built out of ideas a and c that have now

exchanged places, in comparison with their initial exposition. The first sentence is relatively short (mm. 67-71), its basic idea c in the harp one of the most restrained and most colorful of the gestures in the sonata, juxtaposing melodically barren yet exquisite bell-like brush-strokes in the presenta-

tion segment against the improvisatory arabesque of the flute continuation. In the exposition, the "harp" sentence func- tioned as a symmetrical antecedent segment (2+2, mm. 10-

13) within a hybrid group; there, after its close at a plagal half-cadence, while the subdominant resolved directly to the dominant and tonic (mm. 14-15), it formed a close motivic

linkage with the subsequent, melodically fluid, rhythmically stable, symmetrical continuation (mm. 14-17). The noncha-

lant, ambling gait of the viola resolved some of the air of ex-

pectancy of the harp phrase, even though the two different

yet complementary motives of the flute (mm. 14-15 and

16-17) at the same time create the familiar shape of an "an-

tecedent," here pressed into the service of the continuation function. In the recapitulation, on the other hand, the energy of the originally exuberant flute arabesque quickly dissolves

(mm. 69-71), while the continuation function is extended

(by one measure), asymmetrically stretched out in order to include the arrival at an especially fragile, dissonant diver-

gent cadence (m. 71). Even within the new, larger phrase group in the recapitu-

lation, the harp sentence still functions as an antecedent, part 54 Green 1979, 53 and 66.


anecedent continuation sentence sentence 67 69 72 76 80 present. contin. present. contin. ext.

? a (d) 2 3 1 2+2 5 I (+3)

-I (V ) ii V vi V-(4)-I Div.C. AC

EXAMPLE I6. Debussy, Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, Pastorale, mm. 67-83: hybridphrase group, extended

of an unusual hybrid construction that now includes a second, continuational sentence (mm. 72 ff) built out of the hesitant, questioning flute motive from the opening of the movement. This idea seemed initially almost peripheral and introductory in character, heard only once (mm. 1-2); but now it is immediately repeated, reconfirmed in the tradition of the normative sentential presentation (mm. 72-75). It is an idea central to the entire sonata, of course, in view of its cyclical recall at the end of the third movement (in mm. 109- 12). In the recapitulatory section of the first movement, it has lost little of its non-tonic harmonic setting or its essentially interrogative character; its chromaticism is now sub- dued, however. The initial appoggiatura chord (a dominant- seventh chord on D) has relinquished its earlier tritone relation and is now reinterpreted as a secondary dominant of the supertonic (G), yielding at once to an inverted dominant seventh (over the same bass note, in mm. 75-76), in a quite traditional harmonic resolution It has also lost some its pi- quant chromatic flavor heard at the opening of the movement. The descending Ab-Eb gesture, which originally par-

ticipated in the colorful third-relationship between the chromatic mediant, Ab, and the implied tonic, F (mm. 2-4), is

replaced with the routinely diatonic A-E, participating in a

general release of tonal and harmonic tensions in a turn towards diatonic-modal harmonies, signaling the sense of resolution implied by the approaching final cadence. The lively arabesques, which created some of the memorable vibrancy at the opening of the movement (mm. 2-3), have not been

altogether relinquished, for they have been already recapitulated (m. 70), having exchanged places with the opening idea, now preceding it, instead of following. In the final sen-

tence, however, the arabesques have been replaced with qui- etly meditative reiterations of a simple diatonic figure (from mm. 14-15) that has also been already recapitulated (in mm. 57-58), an idea that initially, in the exposition, served a continuation function in relation to the antecedent harp sentence. The rearrangement of the order of the reappearance of thematic ideas, along with their recomposition in the

recapitulation, positions the opening idea nearer to the end of the movement, approximating a loosely constructed arch


design; but it also achieves a subtle change in the formal function of syntactical segments-strengthening elements of the opening phrase that at first seemed improvisatory, creat-

ing a clearer sentential form out of the puzzling, interrogative opening motivic idea.

CONCLUSION: CLASSICAL SYNTAX IN NEW

HARMONIC CONTEXTS

Debussy's modal-chromatic harmonic language creates

telling differences between the thematic materials of his chamber sonatas and their Classical syntactical models. The "loose organization" of Classical themes discussed by Caplin provides ample precedent for Debussy, including the possibility of tonal instability and functionally ambiguous or

chromatically adventurous harmony, albeit realized within boundaries of the Classical tonal system.55 Debussy's harmonic vocabulary, however, adds a significantly new dimen- sion; a review of the findings of this study will summarize the most essential of Debussy's techniques of harmonic transformation of the Classical models.

Debussy may occasionally adhere to the normative Clas- sical sentential presentation that unfolds within a tonic prolongation, but the persistent addition of a dissonant element nevertheless subtly alters the basic ideas, introducing a palpable restlessness (Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, i, mm. 41-42; Violin Sonata, iii, mm. 85-88). The dissonance level

may occasionally escalate even to a bitonal setting, involving a shadowy tension within the texture, for example, when a local tonic outlined in the principal melody conflicts with a whole-tone accompaniment (Example 10), or conflicts with an accompanying triadic sonority a half-step higher (Violin Sonata, ii, mm. 60-67). Modal colors, however, create considerable harmonic variety even in essentially consonant contexts. A modal tonic prolongation may support the presentation of a festive, proclamatory basic idea, either at the

beginning of a movement (Cello Sonata, i, mm. 1-4, shown in Example 4), or in a varied (transposed) reprise accompanied by a mildly dissonant, pentatonic tone cluster (the same movement, mm. 29-32, largement diclame). A modal (Dorian) presentation may be complicated by a sudden chromatic third-related move (Example 12); or modal (Phrygian) colors may contribute to the ominousness of a local tonic

presentation (Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, iii, mm. 33

ff). Modal mixture, however may contribute to a lively sense of motion (A-Aeolian with A-Dorian, in the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, i, mm. 18-19 and 21-22, animando).

More widespread in the sonatas are presentations of basic ideas supported by a prolongation of various non-tonic harmonies, especially in internal themes or at the opening of second or final movements. Such presentations distinguish Debussy's musical syntax from the Classical models (found already in the Symphonic Variations of Franck, shown in

Example 2), and create tonal instability and a potential for

expressive differentiation. A sentential presentation supported by a prolonged dominant may introduce a quasi- developmental passage in the interior of a movement (Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, ii, mm. 14-17), or an- nounce an important contrasting theme (Example 7), or initiate a recapitulation (Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, i, mm. 50-56), in each case evoking a clear sense of anticipa- tion. Sentential presentations supported by the subdominant, however, create an elegantly non-assertive air, temporarily retreating from the anticipated move to the dominant, withholding musical energies and achieving a

special refinement of expression (Sonata for Flute, Viola and

Harp, i, mm. 31-34). In the Srdnade of the Cello Sonata the

presentation of a basic idea over a prolonged subdominant-

functioning half-diminished supertonic seventh chord (mm. 5-7, 21-22) contributes to the expressive ambiguity and irony of the commedia dell'arte narrative (see Examples 5 and 6). Other non-tonic sentential presentations include the

reprise of the opening theme of a movement in the context of a repeated secondary dominant and its resolution (to the 55 See note 30.


supertonic, in the Pastorale of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and

Harp, mm. 72-75, shown in Example 16). Altogether rare

yet faithful to Debussy's formal principles are internal, sub-

sidiary thematic presentations in a non-tonal setting (such as the contrasting theme of the Cello Sonata, i, mm. 24-27; and the whole-tone presentation in the Violin Sonata, iii, mm. 45-50).

A similar variety of harmonic contexts prevails in antecedent functions, in parallel phrase pairs or hybrid themes.

Occasionally Debussy may project an antecedent statement, recalling Classical traditions, in a relatively simple tonic prolongation (Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, iii, mm. 5-9, albeit with a colorful tritonal neighbor tone supporting the

complementary idea, mm. 6-8 ff); but, more characteristi-

cally, the quality of a musical idea may be almost impercepti- bly altered by a dissonant tonic (for example, by a tonic ninth

chord, as in the Violin Sonata, i, mm. 64-67). An antecedent

phrase over a dominant pedal may evoke an intense feeling of openness, even of vulnerability or melancholy (dolce e tris-

tamente, in mm. 107-08), at the beginning of the Interlude of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (Example 8); but an antecedent of a hybrid theme prolonging the subdominant

palpably restrains the degree of difference represented by an internal contrasting theme (the same movement, mm.

67-69), extending the playfulness of the opening of the small ternary form (encompassing mm. 54-84). A non-tonal antecedent statement may significantly complicate yet not obscure the formal parallelism found in the introductory phrase group of the Intermede of the Violin Sonata (compare mm. 1-4 and 9-12).

Continuation functions, more frequently fulfilling traditional expectations, often turn towards chromaticism, or towards a more intense chromaticism, in comparison with im-

mediately prior presentations or antecedent functions (Cello Sonata, i, mm. 33-34; Example 6; and the Violin Sonata, i, mm. 56-64, 182-95, and 216-25). They also may unfold in a non-tonal setting, usually with dramatic effect (Cello Sonata, i, mm. 21-23; and Violin Sonata, ii, mm. 34-38);

but occasionally they may be surprisingly static, hardly devi-

ating from the tonic (Violin Sonata, i, mm. 30-42; see Ex-

ample 13). Most continuation functions introduce a rising level of tension and an increase in activity, recalling Classical models, but a significant number nevertheless show a decline of energies, dissolving as if in preparation for the resolution to a cadence (Cello Sonata, i, mm. 4-7; Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp, i, mm. 45-49 and 76-83; Violin Sonata, iii, mm. 73-84).

Non-tonic antecedent and presentation functions, in a context of differentiated harmonic "styles," provide for a rich collection of musical ideas and a wide variety of expressive gestures-occasionally a sense of ambiguity, often an intensity of feeling, or an air of intimacy characteristic of Debussy's musical thought. The basic ideas are usually compact, often

highly concentrated motivic materials that sometimes seem almost interruptive of the musical narrative. The harmonic

styles often appear as brief patches of color, as compact and

fleeting as the thematic ideas themselves. In addition to the various non-tonic prolongations listed above, it is the juxtaposition (and occasionally the interpenetration) of diatonic, modal, pentatonic, chromatic, and occasionally whole-tone and non-tonal styles that create the particular coloristic profile of syntactical segments. A different harmonic style may be used to define the character of a particular theme, while the musical narrative is significantly complicated by harmon-

ically striking divergent cadences. One of the most dramatic

juxtapositions of harmonic styles may be found in the first section of the Sirinade of the Cello Sonata-a chromatic, non-tonal introduction (mm. 1-4), followed by an ambiguously tonal, diatonic sentential theme (mm. 5-9) and a whole-tone transition (mm. 10-12; Example 5), leading to a

subsidiary, essentially whole-tone theme (mm. 13-18) that

ultimately resolves to a quasi-tonal mock cadence. The final

recapitulatory section of the Pastorale of the Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (Example 16) provides a somewhat different sequence of colors-a brief pentatonic basic idea (mm. 66-68), followed by a highly chromatic continuation


(mm. 69-71), yielding to the reprise of an ambiguously chromatic, principal opening motive of the movement (in mm. 72-77), and closing with a diatonic cadential passage (mm. 78-83).56

In a remarkable feat of compositional virtuosity, Debussy adopts the formal functions of Classical syntax and transforms them-without obscuring their essential purpose-in order to project highly varied musical ideas within a novel

language of turn-of-the-century chromatic tonality. Debussy revivifies old forms that have all along demonstrated-at least since Couperin and Rameau-their flexibility and, at the same time, their constancy in the realization of the essential formal functions in a number of different expressive genres. The definition of the syntactical forms in Debussy depends essentially on large-scale rhythm-presentational repetition of basic ideas, and an increase or acceleration of

activity in continuations; antecedent-consequent repetition of materials, in parallel phrase pairs; and punctuation of formal boundaries through caesuras and cadences. The innovative harmonic language of Debussy's middle period, however, of the great "impressionist" works for piano (Images, Prdludes) and for orchestra (La mer, Images), still resonates in the evocative gestures of the three chamber sonatas; and al-

though it may have been submitted to a process of clarifica- tion, perhaps even simplification, the unity of that language remains essentially unbroken.

Debussy was associated with symbolist poetry nearly throughout his life, not only on the occasion of his Prelude ta

"L'dpris-midi d'unefaune" but also, significantly, in the choice of the texts of many of his songs. Not surprisingly, Debussy's musical aesthetics reveals a number of parallels with symbolist poetics, including an allegiance to Classical forms. Al-

though symbolism represented important innovations in the movement from romanticism towards modernism, some of the great symbolist poets-Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmd and Valery--displayed a persistent loyalty to traditional, regular verse forms, including the sonnet and the cycle of

quatrains, genres that date from the Renaissance. One of Baudelaire's ambitions, "[...] his renewal of the French sonnet" provided the poet with "a concise and highly regulated fixed form," including a strophic system and conventional metric schemes, permitting a combination of "[...] the aesthetic and intellectual virtues of concision with the capacity to express a wide range of tone and mood."57 The conven- tions of the sonnet, despite their strictness, allowed a succession of thought patterns and images often realized with an

unprecedented freedom and radical formal innovation, encompassing parallelisms and antitheses, even capricious twists and turns.58

Adoption of the sonnet form by Verlaine and Mallarm6 did not stifle their often radical innovations of imagery or diction, just as the adoption of a Classical syntax in the sonatas of Debussy did not signal a retreat from the distinctive tonal-harmonic language of his middle years. A particular poem of Mallarmd may be "divided according to the rule of classical sonnet structure: each quatrain is composed of a

single sentence, an the two tercets are joined in a single sentence. [...] But despite the traditionally correct form, despite the only slightly abnormal syntax, the poem offers a highly

56 See also the contrasting midsection of the Final of the Sonata for

Flute, Viola and Harp, iii, for a succession of modal (Phrygian, mm.

33-42), dissonant bitonal (D Dorian and whole-tone, mm. 43-57) and

tonal/pentatonic (mm. 58-67) passages. The first section of the Finale of the Violin Sonata progresses from a diatonic antecedent statement (mm. 29-34) to a "pan-diatonic" continuation (including decorative chromaticism, mm. 35-41), and to a second sentence that opens with a whole-tone presentation (mm. 45-50), concluding with a highly chromatic, sequential continuation built of parallel ninth chords, returning to the diatonic genus only at the final cadence (mm. 63-67).

57 Birkett and Kearns 1997, 150 and 165.

58 Mdnch 1955, 33-34.


opaque content. The language passes by as if it were express- ing the most natural things-and yet it states enigmas."59 A sonnet may indeed "obey conventional laws of meter, rhyme, and stanza, but this formal rigor contrasts with the ethereal

contents."60 Valdry's "classicism" may be based on "[...] an ar-

chitecturally developed set of rationally measured poetic forms," but it is importantly characterized by a lyricism, and a discovery, in the depth of the human psyche, of layers that are "archaic and savage, [...] intimately linked to the primi- tive sense of the sacred."61 In a significant parallel with

music, especially with the essentially rhythmic-harmonic definition of syntax in the sonatas of Debussy, the poet sought for "a sustained rhythmic structure" that would extend "from the rhyme scheme [...] to the couplet and the

stanza, [...allowing] for a sense of pulse, against which the poet [...] by the use of enjambment, the positioning of the caesura [...] and the weaving of the syntactic structure

through the lines and even over several stanzas, [...could create] a taut, rhythmic movement."62

Valery observed "[...] the traditions of French prosody not

only to exploit and reinvigorate the richness of that tradition, but also as a spur to greater creativity: 'Je suis libre, donc je m'enchaine'!"63-a confession echoing Stravinsky's Poetics of Music and one of the essential attitudes of the "classicizing" modernism of the 1920's.

It might well be possible to discover important structural

parallelisms between the sonnet and particularly the Classical musical sentence-their dynamic combination of symmetry and asymmmetry--but more important in the present context is the integration of "modernist" language and imagery with Classical formal models, both in symbolist poetry and

in the music of Debussy. Neither a mosaic of static fragments nor a seamless "unending melody," Debussy's syntactical forms unfold in a manner that recalls poetic diction: a dynamic succession of complementary or contrasting phrases and expressive images, enlivened by subtle motivic cross- references and brief bursts of development, regulated by caesuras and cadences. The convergence of symbolist poetics and Classical syntax in Debussy's sonatas-a music now an-

gular, now fluid, conveying colorful expressive gestures-may occasionally evoke the irony, theatricality, or fragmentation of thought characteristic of the commedia dell'arte of early modernism. Through careful timing and delicate articulation of syntactical segmentation, however, Debussy in his late sonatas creates expressive, lyric narratives of remarkable

power and locates his music within a long tradition of narrative instrumental styles reaching from the Baroque to the

twentieth-century.

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