Can Debussy's Music be accurately described as Impressionist?

Schmitz, a scholar who knew Debussy personally, is a staunch defender of the composer's rejection of the term. He states that Wagnerian influences in Paris caused the label to be applied in a thoughtless fashion that does little justice to the actual music, and that this has ultimately resulted in poor-quality, ill-informed performances of Debussy's works. Furthermore, he argues that the perceived legitimacy of the label is skewed because of later efforts to link techniques employed by Debussy (such as modality, pentatonism and pedal-points) to Impressionism itself; he views such practices as desperate attempts to link the two 'in foolproof fashion'.

Other researchers are less cynical. Christopher Palmer has no reservations in calling Debussy an Impressionist, even declaring him the Impressionistic painters' musical figurehead. He highlights the fact that, from his early years onwards, he associated not with musicians but with painters and poets who resided in Paris, which at that time was considered the centre of the world and a place of great artistic and cultural influence. Palmer's view is that Debussy was deeply involved in the popularisation of fin-du-siécle post-romantic forms of art, and that his preoccupations were similar to those of the Impressionists with regards to the yearning for freedom of expression and the admiration of natural phenomena. However, Palmer's viewpoint fails to acknowledge Debussy's dislike of the term; it is hard to believe that someone supposedly at the foreground of an artistic movement would so fiercely and publicly reject any suggestion that his music was associated with it.

In spite of arguments for or against Debussy's associations with the Impressionist movement, it is important to consider the music itself. Many of his works have suggested links to Impressionism in their titles, particularly those based on water. La mer (1905), adorned with a print of Hokusai’s ‘The hollow of the wave off Kanagawa’ which was known to be admired by Monet, shows a clear link with the Exoticist preoccupations of Impressionism.  Simon Tresize argues that whilst there are pre-fin-du-siècle compositions ‘in celebration of the sea and other watery phenomena’, water is rarely the main subject as it is with Debussy’s most famous orchestral work. He notes that Debussy rarely employs typical water motifs. As for Impressionistic features of the work itself, he cites Lockspeiser’s view that ‘La mer is the greatest example of an orchestral Impressionist work’ which was derived from a ‘network of associations’. However, Tresize does not believe that Debussy is attempting to interpret the sea through filters such as light or his own imagination in an impressionistic manner, but that he is depicting the sea in a true sense without the restrictions of typical counterpoint. Similarly to Schmitz’ views of Debussy’s music, he believes that to describe La mer as Impressionistic is to weaken the significance of Debussy’s harmonic language; Debussy’s music is frequently described as having non-functional harmony, yet it is only non-functional in the sense that instead of conforming to classical rules of modulation and resolution, it employs Debussy’s own language, which is more purposeful and deliberate than it first appears.

Another apparent collusion to Impressionism is Debussy’s two books of Préludes (1910 and 1913) for the piano. It would appear that Debussy, conscious of past accusations of Impressionism, attempted to objectify the pieces by placing the titles at the end rather than the beginning. The purpose was so that the listener would be able to decide the nature of the piece for himself without the composer imposing a specific subject matter upon him, and suggests that the music is of prime importance. However, the researcher cannot help but notice the preciseness of the performance instructions; for example, in ‘Des pas sur la neige’, we are told within the first two bars to play ‘Triste et lent’, ‘expressif et douloureux’ and that ‘Ce rythme doit avoir la valeur sonore d’un fond de paysage triste et glacé’. Such specific instructions clearly leave a stronger impression than the titles! Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the pieces themselves are Impressionist, but when the subject matter of some of the pieces is considered - a bleak, frozen landscape, sounds and perfumes mingling in the evening air, the wind on the plane, mist - it is easy to be persuaded otherwise.

Lockspeiser maintains that the use of the term Impressionism to describe the Préludes is ‘ultimately misleading, since it is likely to convey none of the minute accuracy of expression which [...] must after all be the paramount consideration. Indeed, if the term Impressionism implies tonal ambiguity, the Préludes are fine counter-examples of this assumption. Whilst few of the pieces can be described as diatonic, tonality is of key importance in creating the significance of the pieces. A good example of this is ‘Voiles‘. While it makes heavy use of the whole tone scale in its ostinato and melody, a B-flat pedal note that pulsates throughout seems to give the piece a tonal centre by acting as a dominant pedal, sometimes agreeing with the surrounding material, at other times creating friction. Furthermore, the climax of the piece is characterised by a contrasting pentatonic section. Using 'Voiles' as an example, it is easy to see that harmony within each prélude is neither incidental nor irrelevant.

Tonal relationships are also used to link adjacent préludes together. Roberts instructs performers of the Préludes to hold the final B-flat ‘taut [...] until the low B-flat of “Voiles” in measure 5,’ in order to progress smoothly from one to the other. The proceeding prélude ('La vent dans la plaine') features what could be interpreted as a B-flat pedal note, which acts as the tonic of the pentatonic series. Roberts also argues that the downward movement to A Minor (viewed by Schmitz as a temporary calm, a change in the wind) is a precedent for the initial A Major tonality of ‘Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir’.  Clearly, tonal relationships between préludes are used to reinforce similarities in subject matter, further weakening the notion that Debussy’s music can be summarised by the label of Impressionism. The deep harmonic language used by Debussy ensures that the Préludes have genuine depth and complexity; they are much more substantial than mere interpretations.

Terming Debussy's music as Impressionist also diminishes the importance of other influences. Debussy also showed a great amount of interest in Symbolism; many of his works are based on or named after Symbolist poetry, such as the Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un Faune (1894), which shares its name with one of Mallarmé's most well-known works. Mythological references and fantastical subject matter are rife in the subject matter of many of Debussy's compositions.

Another Symbolist aspect to Debussy is that of his interest in Wagner; the Symbolists were ardent admirers of his music. Debussy first encountered Wagner during his studies at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872. Parallels can be drawn between both composers' works, especially in the similarities between Tristan und Isolde (1860) and Pelléas et Mélisande (1904); bothhave similar thematic material and narrative methods and employ leitmotif liberally.  While Debussy later rejected Wagner's compositional methods, it is clear that the German's music had a great influence upon his own. Richard Holloway argues that Debussy's music is too original to be classed as Wagnerian, but maintains that it could not exist without Wagner.

A further influence excluded by the categorisation of Impressionism is that of Exoticism. In 1889 he attended the Exposition Universelle where he discovered East Asian music, namely gamelan, said to be influences upon both Fantaisie (1889-90) and Pour le piano (1901). Debussy's love of Japan is clearly demonstrated by 'Pagodes'  (Estampes, 1903) and of Spain by Ibéria (Images, 1905-12), 'Le sérénade interrompue' (Préludes: Livre I, 1910) and 'La puerta del vino' (Préludes: Livre II, 1913).

In spite of attempts to label Debussy's music, which he fought strongly against throughout his life, it is clear that no vague label can be definitively applied to any of his works, let alone as a whole.  His attempts to break free of such labels show a clear drive for individualism; whilst he identified with the Impressionists and Symbolists and took inspiration from a wide variety of sources, he was unwilling to be reduced to a mere sum of his influences. The scholarly consensus seems to be that the use of Impressionism (or any -ism) as a descriptive term is a simplification that does little justice to the complexity of Debussy's music.  The usage of 'Debussyism' by Debussy's followers and critics may  well have annoyed him, but it demonstrates that his music was distinctive enough to escape from the arbitrary categorisation he so despised. Claude Debussy, Impressionist or otherwise, has left a lasting impression upon the world of music.

Word Count: 1996

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2. Bibliography

Lockspeiser, Edward, Debussy, 2nd ed (London: Dent, 1963)

Lockspeiser, Edward, Debussy: his life and mind (Melbourne: Cassell, 1962), 1 (1862 – 1902)

Palmer, Christopher, Impressionism in Music (London: Hutchinson, 1973)

Pool, Phoebe, Impressionism (London: Thames and Hudson, 1967)

Roberts, Paul, Images: The Piano Music of Claude Debussy (Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1996)

Roberts, Paul, Claude Debussy (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2008)

Schmitz, E. Robert, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy (New York: Dover, 1966)

Tresize, Simone, Debussy: La mer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)

Holloway, Robin, Debussy and Wagner (London: Eulenberg Books, 1979)

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