Impressionism in music was influenced by impressionist artists like Claude Monet and symbolist poets like Stéphane Mallarmé. The musical movement existed in France from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Artists of late 19th century deny all traditional techniques including showy techniques. They focused on light, texture, color, and tone. At that time, German music style is usually used. Harmonies, melodies, and rhythms of impressionism music broke traditional function, and timbre was emphasized to as an important element. Also, impressionist composers used more free and flexible forms instead of traditional forms such sonata form. Impressionism was a very short movement in music history, however, it was a historically important because of its break in tradition. Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy were two French composers who composed in an impressionistic style. Symbolistic poetry shared similar characteristics with the impressionism movement, and it influenced impressionistic music. The symbolism movement in literature was against objectivistic and unindividual characteristics of realistic literature. Symbolism focused on the inner side of human thought. Symbolist literature was essential to the creation of Claude Debussy’s work, Pelléas et Mélisande. According to its style, characteristics, and contribution to Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande exemplifies the impressionism movement.
Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain Laye, in Paris, in 1862, as the impressionist movement was about to begin. Debussy’s musical talent was recognized by a stepmother Mauté of a poet Verlaine occasionally. Mauté who was a great amateur pianist, gave Debussy free piano lessons, and in the 1872, Debussy gained admission to the Paris Conservatory at age ten. In 1880, Debussy taught piano to the children of Nadezhda von Meck, a Russian patron of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky before Debussy. He traveled to Russia while teaching his patron’s children, and he experienced the culture and music of Russia. Debussy took the first prize in the Prix de Rome with his composition L’enfant prodigue, and he went to study abroad in Rome. At the same time, he was attracted Wagner’s music an influence that might be witnessed in Pelléas et Mélisande. In 1889, Debussy heard Javanese gamelan that is a traditional big ensemble music of Java and Bali in Indonesia when he visited Paris World Exposition. Javanese gamelan inspired Debussy’s music after 1889 (Parks, 1989).
As a composer, Debussy was the first musician who broke away from late Romantic music like Wagner and composing impressionistic music. His music style was different from much of what had come before. He used unusual harmonic progressions instead of common major or minor functional harmonies. Debussy created exotic elements such as undeveloped motives, un-resolved dissonances, and parallel motion, and he focused on timbres and colors of music. Through these styles, Debussy can be called an impressionism artist of music. In addition to the opera Pelléas et Mélisande, his orchestral music Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, La mer, and Nuages are major works that show Debussy’s impressionistic style very well.
Debussy’s impressionistic style was influenced by impressionist art and symbolist poetry. Impressionist arts pursued light and color of nature, and they tried to express and draw the world as it was. The most representative impressionism artist was Claude Oscar Monet. Unlike other impressionist artists who created paintings in this short period. Monet started impressionist art and never gave up drawing impressionist painting. Figure 2 is “View of Rouen” by Claude Monet (Ladonne,2010). It shows that his painting is focused on light and tone of color instead of clear line or realistic figure through light effected Rouen cathedral. Breaking traditional style, creating new techniques of style, and focusing on natural tone are similar characteristics between impressionist art and music. Also, symbolist poets influenced Debussy’s music. Paul Verlaine and Stéphane Mallarmé were related to Debussy’s music, and Debussy was an active participant in the symbolist gatherings of Stéphane Mallarmé, interacting with symbolists.
Pelléas et Mélisande is a play written by the Belgian symbolist Maurice Maeterlinck. As a symbolist writer, his style is different from 19th century realism. He tried to show his thoughts metaphorically and indirectly. Debussy wanted to write an opera on Maeterlinck’s this play when he saw it first. Debussy spent ten years writing Pelléas et Mélisande, devoting passion to the five-act opera. In 1902, at the Opera Comique in Paris, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande was performed. Literally they had a trouble selecting a performer for the role of Mélisande, the heroin of the opera. Maeterlink wanted to cast his fiancée, but Debussy did not want to follow Maeterlink’s suggestion. Because of this conflict, Maeterlink betrayed his relationship with Debussy. He said that he hates the opera and never went to see the opera while Debussy lives. Although Pelléas et Mélisande created problems between Maeterlinck and Debussy, it had a great historical music significance (Schwartzman,2016).
Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande consists of five acts. It describes tragedy of three main characters’ love. This opera has similar setting and story with Wagner’s work ‘Tristan und Isolde’. In the Tristan und Isolde, ‘day’ expresses untruth and ‘night’ indicates truth. And death is the perfection of love. On the other hand, in the Pelléas et Mélisande, ‘light’ is truth and ‘darkness’ is untruth. And death of main characters expresses futility (Grayson, 1986).
In the first act, Golaud, the son of king Arkel, lose his way in the forest. Meanwhile, he finds a woman who is crying. Golaud asks several questions about her information, but she tells only her name Mélisande. Since the dark comes, Mélisande follows a path with Golaud. After six month, Golaud sends a letter to Pelléas. The letter includes the fact that he got married with Mélisande, and he worries about Arkel’s anger because of his unconsented marriage. Also, he begs to light a lamp of tower if Arkel forgives his behavior. Arkel reads the letter and consents Golaud’s marriage. He orders Pelléas to light a lamp of tower. Geneviéve who is Golaud’s mother consoles Mélisande because she worries about the life in the castle. Geneviéve asks Pelléas for guiding Mélisande. At that time, she feels love with him (Grayson, 1986).
In the second act, Mélisande drops her wedding ring when she plays with the rings. Pelléas consoles Mélisande. When she drops the ring, Golaud is injured due to his horse. Mélisande nurses him, and he recognizes that her ring is missing. Golaud is angry about that, and order Pelléas to find the ring with Mélisande. They try to find the ring, but they cannot because it is too dark, and three homeless people are in the cave (Grayson, 1986).
In the third act, Pelléas and Mélisande know that they love each other. However, Golaud is conscious that they are in love. Golaud tells Pelléas to keep away from Mélisande. He understands Golaud’s mind. Yniold who is a son between Golaud and his former wife tells the relationship of Pelléas and Mélisande to his father. Therefore, Golaud is very nervous and anxious (Grayson. 1986).
In the fourth act, Pelléas and Mélisande promise to meet in the night before he leaves. When Arkel and Mélisande are talking in the castle, Golaud enters with greatest anger and shouts to Arkel that she does not love him anymore. In the night, Pelléas and Mélisande meet and confirm their love. At that time, Golaud finds them and kills Pelléas. Mélisande runs away from Golaud (Grayson, 1986).
In the fifth act, Mélisande bears her daughter and is in dying condition. Golaud regrets his behavior, but also wants to make sure the truth. When there are Golaud and Mélisande in the room, he asks that she loves Pelléas. She answers that she loved him, but she did not do anything guilty, and begs his forgiveness. However, he does not understand and presses hard Mélisande. Unfortunately, she dies (Grayson, 1986).
Debussy’s opera is inspired Wagner’s opera, but he tried to avoid his style. Wagner’s method that he used words and sounds together had positive effects on symbolist poets and they are influenced by the Wagnerian’s way of art. Symbolism of the musical leitmotif, and the mysticism play important role in irritation of symbolist poets’ imagination and Wagner’s affect has been reduced since the premier of Pelléas et Mélisande. When Debussy was 19 years old, he got to know Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde for the first time and he has fallen in love with it. However, Debussy put Wagner’s Tristan chord into the part of Chil-dren’s Corner Shite in order to put Wagner’s style down because he wants to improve French music. Amusingly, twentieth century’s most revolutionized music composers are Wagner and Debussy (Schwartzman,2016).
There are several themes that show impressionistic elements very well in Pelléas et Mélisande. One of Debussy’s impressionistic musical style is imagery of sound. The prelude in the first act presents mysterious and dark sound. Figure 3 is the forest theme of prelude. Also, in the third act, an arpeggio pattern and pp dynamic show an imagery of night. Figure 4 is a theme that shows a night in the third act. Another example of Debussy’s imagery is figure 5. The melody and harmony present sad atmosphere in the fourth act. Another Debussy’s music style is using of exotic scales. Debussy used whole-tone scales in some themes. As figure 6 is shown, he used whole-tone scale with seventh chords in the third act. In addition, Debussy used unresolved melody in figure 7. Non-harmonic notes F#, C#, G#, A#, and D# were used in the opera as unsolved elements. It shows that Debussy’s impressionistic style (Gilman, 2005).
In conclusion, Impressionism in music has great influences upon art history between short period of time beginning early 19th century. All classic expression method of art has been rejected and artists start emphasizing other factors like light, texture, color and tone. Also, the symbolism movement in literature go a long way with impressionism. It was opposed to traditional literature method. Interior part of human thought is the basic concept of Symbolism. These developments play significant role in music history. Debussy who is a French composer is a very important impressionist and he is one of composers who have been affected by this development. He has been influenced by many artists and authors’ work between 19th and 20th century. Pelléas et Mélisande is Maurice Maeterlinck’s play and Debussy wanted to write an opera on this play. Even though he wrote this opera and referred to Wagner’s style of opera, he tried to avoid conventional method as an impressionist composer. Also, there are significant characteristics of Debussy’s impressionistic style such as whole-tone scale, imagery of sound, and unresolved melody and harmony in his opera Pelléas et Mélisande.
In my opinion, Debussy’s contribution to impressionist music takes a large part of music history. It is needless to say that creation of new style of music is very difficult work. In addition, Debussy broke the traditional method and applied new method that is totally different from previous music style. Even though Debussy respected Wagner’s music style and learned a lot from his music, he never stopped developing and concerning about his own music style. Later, he stood side by side with Wagner and became the representative impressionist composer. He wrote only one opera Pelléas et Mélisande, but through this, he showed the first impressionistic opera that grow out of Wagner’s opera. Therefore, I think the opera Pelléas et Mélisande is the most reasonable music piece that shows Debussy’s impressionist music.