CHAPTER 3 

ANALYSIS OF  “LA SOIREE DANS GRENADE”

Estampes is a composition by Claude Debussy. The work consists of three pieces for piano solo. Each composition is around eight minutes long, and they portray different atmospheres and pictures. 

For this research, I chose the second piece, La Soireé dans Grenade. The piece evokes an imaginary evening in Granada, a city in the north of Spain.  In this chapter, I will analyze the harmonic patterns, the melodic developments, and the structure. I will also approach the different measures used by the composer to evoke the typical Spanish folklore´s sound. 

INTRODUCTION

The piece has the preface Mouvement de Habanera. Habanera is an Ibero-American dance, recognized by its rhythm pattern. This is based on a dotted eight note, a sixteenth note, and another two eighth notes at the end. Habanera movements have long introductions to present the rhythmical pattern. Rather than using only the pattern, Debussy also takes this formal characteristic of the Habanera movement.

Apart from the habanera rhythm, there is also a cheery and dynamic melody. This melody seems new, but the composer uses the same motivic cells that applied in the Arabic melody. The passage continues with this joyous melody, and it moves to a lower register in the bar 52. In order to calm down the energy and make a transition to the next theme, the composer repeats a plagal cadence in A Major during 9 bars.

The harmony of this passage is not very explicit. As in other parts of the piece, a dominant pedal extends during 10 bars. In bar 78, the character changes to pianissimo subito, using the theme of TEMPO RUBATO. However, this time the section sounds in the relative of B Major, G# Minor. This modulation has an important role to go to the original tonality, C# Major. B flat is very far from the original tonality. However, this new tonality will make much easier the transition to the real tone.

Just as the original TEMPO RUBATO Theme, Debussy continues playing with the connection between triplets and binary rhythm, creating a transition to the TEMPO GIUSTO.

The piece is finishing and the composer wants to recapitulate all the themes. After the rhythmical and energetic recapitulation of TEMPO GIUSTO, we find the TRES RYTHME theme. The tonality keeps in A Major as the first time, but the texture and the character differs. The harmonized habanera pattern moves to the high notes, keeping the melody between the habanera and the base.

Debussy takes the Habanera rhythmic pattern to create a phrase with 5 levels, starting from the low register of the piano, to the high notes. This first phrase is 6 bars long, and it has three elements

TEMPO RUBATO

Going back to the contemplative feeling, in bar 23 starts the Tempo Rubato. The left hand keeps the Habanera rhythm and the right hand makes a tenuto melody. The relation between the triplets and the Habanera pattern (that has a sixteenth notes subdivision) creates the rubato illusion, as is written in the preface of this passage.

The harmony here is very interesting. The Habanera rhythm creates a pedal in C#, but the right hand moves around a G7 chord. The connection between these two harmonies is very interesting. G7 is the tritone substitution of C#7. This tempo rubato is used to create a dominant pedal of F# Major, dominant of the main tone.

TEMPO GIUSTO

In bar 29, we find the same TEMPO GIUSTO, in this case in F# Major, the dominant of the main tone. The TEMPO GIUSTO is based on very rhythmic repetitive chords, and it has the feeling of running somewhere. The first time that the Tempo Giusto is presented, it does two crescendi but it doesn't conclude. However, after two attempts of crescendo, this time it finishes with a melody that uses again the relation between sixteenth notes and triplets.

This is the first time that the composer writes mezzo forte. Unil bar 33, Debussy only writes ppp, pianissimo, and piano. As a transition, the composer creates a bar just with the natural A, to become that A in the new tonality, A Major.

TRES RYTHMÉ

The mezzo forte stays in this joyful and energetic passage in bar 38. For the first time in the piece, Debussy uses the Habanera rhythm in a polyphonic way. This time, the composer also makes an answer to the pattern.

The movement finishes as it started: with the Arabic Melody and the Habanera Pattern in the background. However, this time Debussy adds some chords that cadence in F# Major, the dominant of the main tone. The composer writes pianissimo to finish the piece, and calm down the sound. Everything stops, but not the Habanera rhythm, which continues sounding at the top of the keyboard.

As in the exposition, this TRES RYTHME theme replicates many plagal cadences, and it goes to the coda.

CODA

This piece is full of transitions and developments. However, the composer sometimes prefers to present different themes without linking them. A clear example is when the Tempo Giusto is presented. It never has a transition and it appears suddenly.

The coda of this composition is based on the same technique. This section has two themes that are presented in this way:

Double Harmonic Scale in C# Major. Modification of the second and the sixth notes in blue

These kinds of melodies create tension and magnetism. This tension exists because the Arabic Double Harmonic Scale has three leading notes that attract the resolutions.

“Arabic Melody” of Bar 8-13

As I said, the Habanera rhythmical pattern appears during the whole composition. However, it is less obvious in this section. The pattern needs to be extended to match the articulation and harmonic changes.

TEMPO RUBATO

In bar 61, Debussy recapitulates the TEMPO RUBATO. However, this time the harmony G7 won't be the dominant of the new tonality. In this case, G7 will be the double dominant B flat Major. 

As the last outline shows, between the castanet theme, there is a short recapitulation of the abandoned theme, in bar 113. In bar 115 the Castanet theme starts again, in this case in A Major. This time it also gets interrupted by the Abandoned theme in bar 119.

I called Castanet theme to the part that appears in bar 109 because of its rhythm. Castanets are a very characteristic instrument of the Spanish folklore. The instrument consists of a pair of concave shells joined on one edge by a string. They are held in the hand and used to produce clicks for rhythmic accents or a ripping or rattling sound consisting of a rapid series of clicks. The fast triplets written in bar 109 recreates the repetitive notes of this instrument.

Explanation of harmonic development the first time and the second time TEMPO RUBATO appears

THEME WITH "ABANDON"

This section, starting in bar 67, differs a lot from the main character in the piece. Some parts were joyful and active, and others were doubtful and contemplative. However, in this passage, the composer writes "Avec plus d´abandon", which means "With more abandonment".

To create this melody, the composer uses the rhythmical cell of the Habanera pattern. With the intention of creating a desolated character, Debussy reverses the Habanera pattern.

This time, the long note has more weight because of the slurs. The hands of the pianist need to put more pressure on the first note and leave the second one "abandoned".

In order to finish this introduction of 16 bars, the composer moves the Habanera rhythm to G# . Since the beginning, the voices move around C#, without any complete chord. These two bars have an empty texture, but the dominant pedal of bar 15 confirms the tonality, C#  Major.

TEMPO GIUSTO

At bars 17-22 Debussy bolsters the tonality with a perfect cadence. This time, the texture is completely full of harmony. This section differs from the introduction character.

Later, in bar 7, the habanera rhythm continues, and an Arabic-Spanish melody starts. To evoke a vocal theme, this melody is mostly based on halftone movements, moving around C#.  The composer uses the Double Harmonic Scale, a very typical scale used in Arabic traditional music. It is a major scale, but the second and the sixth notes are a half tone lower.