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| Claude Debussy |
Culture
Achille-Claude Debussy (also known as Debussy) was born in 22 August 1862, he also was a French composer. He also was associated with impressionist music. Debussy is the eldest among five children.
Debussy is one of the 20th century composer who continued to work in forms and musical language that derived from the 19th century. Debussy also experimented with forms, tonality, and orchestration.
There are several sections that made up Pagodes. Which is labeled letters A through C.
Gamelan
Gamelan is a traditional musical ensemble from Indonesia, especially gamelan from the island of Java and Bali, featuring variety of instruments such as metallophones, gong, kendang, xylophones, bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and also a vocalist may be included in gamelan. So gamelan is set of variety instruments which played and tuned stay together.
The word “gamelan” referring to instruments. The instruments itself developed during the Majapahit Empire. Gamelan music is began as an oral tradition and not notated. However during the 19th century
Balinese gamelan are different than Javanese gamelan. Javanese gamelan tempo plays much slower rather than Balinese gamelan. Some instruments are the same both in Javanese gamelan and Balinese gamelan.
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| Topeng Tua |
The gamelan that I’ll be analyzing would be Balinese gamelan and using the Reong notation. For the reong, the letters L and R mean the left- and right-hand player of a seven-gong reong, respectively. In a twelve-gong, four-player reong and counting from the lowest to the highest notes, the players number 1 and 3 are the left-hand players, players number 2 and 4 the right-hand ones.
In reong notation, p stands for pinggir - rim. The left-hand player plays the rim of gong 5, using the wooden ends of his mallets. The right-hand player does the same on gong 2. At the | sign, the player plays two gongs simultaneously. The left-hand player plays gongs 3 and 6, the right-hand player plays gongs 1 and 3.
Gamelan play a complex polyphony and counterpoint of texture.
The structure of the pagodes on section A which strectches from bar one to bar thirty two, the B section
The melodic traits of Debussy “Pagodes” and Gamelan “Topeng Tua” both has similar polytonality, and some improvisation.
The rhythemic patterns on the Debussy “Pagodes” on the 11th-12th bar have the same rhythemic pattern with Gamelan both instruments of kendang l and kendang w
as we can see from the first row which the pamugal and gangsas instruments both played with a short range note between 5 and 6. It’s the same with the bottom row of the Pagodes which also have a very short range note between C and D.
so actually both of the music piece have a very large scale repetition and built around ostinato techniques with formal structures, also including some forms which are built on circular or symmetrical patterns. Mostly consist of the use of non-diatonic scales such as pentatonic, whole tone, etc. Which suggest slendro and pelog (gamelan instruments) tunning used in gamelan music, or at least the scale and tunnings which are different from the major and minor system.
The tone colors and the timbres evocative of the gamelan. The sound of the piano which is soft pedaled, staccato notes, soft seconds, high and fast, low fifth held in the pedal. Ostinato type figures all of are the aspects of the gamelan timbres.
For the gamelan characteristic texture which almost similar which is low, and sustained gong sound over time, faster moving figures in the upper range of the piano and overlaid by a moderately moving melody in the middle range of the piano.
Its pentatonic scales and reminiscent of
the gamelan slendro tuning is more thoroughgoing rather than
any other Debussy’s piano music composition. The introduction of fourteen
bars illustrate this: measure one introduces the gong ageng gamelan
instrument on the low B. During bar three it begin a pentatonic motive which is
on the sixteenth notes and also the timbre of metallophone.
Then it follows by the cengkok gamelan
pattern that moves between the notes and around the notes that proceeds by
conjunct motion. Then at the bar seven the melody enters which may functioning
as the balungan (which is called as the “core melody” of
gamelan composition).
The contour which is kind of wavelike
which produced smooth and quiet sound indirectly evoke the bowed string timbre
of rebab instrument. Starting from bar eleven a melody enter
which is almost the same as bar seven, but now in quarter notes and positioned
higher in the pentatonic scale. Then along it appears another cengkok pattern
but only now it plays in eight notes and not in sixteenth notes.
The effect of stratified still keeps going
on. On bar twenty-three there’s also occur cengkok pattern in
which straggered entrances over a recurring gong. On bar twenty-seven occurs
another pentatonic scale which uses in triple eight notes. Then in coda another
pentatonic scale appear and have the fastest motion, which is thirty-second
notes.
By differing the dynamics level which
Debussy does, for example: the introduction of the song uses pianissimo dynamic
then the change to piano in bar eleven
Conclusion
The
gamelan "Topeng Tua" music is play in entirely polyphonic rhythm
instead of chordal, but Debussy "Pagodes" play in chordal. so
Debussy trying to express and show to the audience the sensitivity of both
musical piece gamelan timbre and western functionality.
The analysis shows that there are a lot of
similarities between the gamelan "Topeng Tua" and the Debussy
"Pagodes". it may seems that Debussy uses a lot of gamelan
techniques, but it's not just a mere imitation of gamelan music but rather
making the ideas of music and sound and making the music of his own and
expressing through his musical pieces.
