Foutz 1

Noah Foutz

Jonathan Sokol

Harmony and Form III

12/9/16

Debussy: The Snow is Dancing

In the fall of 1905, Claude Debussys daughter Claude-Emma (referred to as Chou-Chou)

was born. Three years later, Debussy published and premiered his collection of piano solos, The

Childrens Corner Suite. Though not intended to be performed by children, the pieces are meant

as a dedication to, and representation of, his daughter Claude-Emma. Each of the pieces in this

Suite is modeled after an earlier form of music with Debussys own personal manipulation of the

form, a style of composing that Debussy was very fond of (his famous Bergamasque Suite being

modeled after the French Suites of the Baroque era). The fourth movement, The Snow Is

Dancing, is modeled after the toccata form, and we will be further exploring the piece today.

A delicate, melancholy piece, it is thought to be a representation of Chou-Chou

watching a snowstorm come in while waiting for the return of her playmate, the shining sun

(Thompson, 262). Subsequently, Debussy writes at the opening phrase, sweet and subdued, an

instruction further complicated by the metronome value of 132, although the presence of many

16th note, staccato passages brings with it a feel that is much faster. Much of the piece is also

written in the upper register of the piano, and to be played largely with a very light touch,

beautifully creating the landscape of watching a snowfall.

The piece begins in the key of D minor, the starting passage being a sequence built on the

Lydian mode in E. The hands increase in syncopation, simultaneously suggesting a faster tempo,

as well as an increase in snowfall. Adding whole notes to the sonority, Debussy creates an open
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sound that highlights the Lydian mode as well as the vastness of his snowy landscape. In

measure 6, the whole note played under the sequence is a c-sharp, which functions as a leading

tone for the shift in feel that Debussy writes in the following measures. Instead of in the middle

of the texture, Debussy shifts the long tone to the bottom of the texture whilst giving the

sequencing passage of the upper and middle voice more movement, creating a more familiar

contrapuntal texture that descends in D minor, also changing from the definitively modal feel of

the opening to the more familiar realm of minor. This particular motif denotes more heavily the

falling of snow. The falling line in D minor develops over the next 4 measures to a change in

texture at measure 14. Here, the piece transitions entirely into the upper register, outlining an

french augmented-six chord in second-inversion the c-sharp in the bottom of the sequence giving

it the feel of a diminished, clashing, sadder figure. This transitions to the B-flat minor chord in

the bottom hand, leaving the top hand to continue the monotonous syncopation. Perhaps these

are the yearnings of a young Chou-Chou for her sunshine through this snowy landscape we are

being painted.

From this point, the piece starts to slowly energize through expansion of the modal range.

The return of the French-augmented figure is followed by a move to a more familiar, closed

sonority with the g-flat major to e-flat major progression bringing the entire motif into a more

major progression. Ending this particular motif is a resolute c-flat major chord that is colored

with sixths and sevenths in the upper sonorities. From here, the lower notes outline a beautiful

melody amongst the colors, still maintaining the c-flat major. Continuing to move through this

motif, Debussy increases the energy of this particular section, moving the lower-hand melody

into non-chord tones and eventually transitioning to a passage based off of the French-augmented

six chord that defines its melody by echoing in the highest and lowest sonorities of the piano.
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From here the piece moves through a whole-tone scale that is centered on E every other measure.

After two of these, the progression uses the E chord to transition to a fresh B-flat major chord in

first inversion. The bottom of this chord being a d, the piece then re-introduces the D-minor

motif from the beginning, this time an octave lower. All of this section of the piece suggests a

murkier, melancholic feeling, further exposing the emotions of a young girl waiting for the snow

to end.

From the point of the re-introduction, a new sonority emerges. Reminiscent of the earlier

syncopation focused sections, these measures have the bottom hand arpeggiate a C minor chord

without declaring a sonority, leaving the section still feeling open on the wide intervals whilst the

top-hand continues to move step-wise, declaring the sonority and motif. The following section

features another intense-break of pace wherein the hands move back to the upper sonorities of

the first page but maintain the c-minor syncopated figure that sequences to G-flat dominant-

seven by moving through G minor. The melody played by the upper hand in this section is

triplet based and features the b-flat, creating a minor-seventh, three against two feel for this

section, further complicating the syncopation of this already densely-rhythmic piece.

From the previous section the next passage moves even farther down the keyboard, the

upper notes being centered right around middle c on the piano, giving this section an almost

sinister feeling relative to the aloofness the rest of the piece uses. The lower melody is clashing

in nature, transitioning chromatically to a familiar b-flat minor chord before returning to another

section of the seething bass melody. This section embodies the snowstorm in its mood,

providing antagonism to the innocence of the passages depicting young Chou-Chou.

The following section is headed by the instruction give a little. The piece changes pace

for a moment here, re-using the two against three section from earlier, but with a different
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accompaniment for this melody. The accompaniment begins as the b-flat section from just

before, but develops with similar motifs to earlier in the piece as well, adding a third voice in a

descending line, outlining chords g-flat major, b-flat minor, and e diminished-seven. This

development and re-articulation is short-lived however, as the piece quickly uses sequencing in

the bottom voice to transition down from a B-flat minor in thirds down to the B-flat minor an

octave down.flat the

From here the piece begins to take a turn for the worst (narratively speaking). The

sonority becomes fuzzier, the b-flat minor transitioning to an a-flat minor chord and then

repeating the two chords, then re-repeating them, playing this sequence 3 times in total.

The next section is derived heavily from toccata-style as well as classical repertoire. The

passage opens with a succinct, familiar g-flat minor, then transitions from that minor to a fast,

syncopated, two-handed rhythmic section where both fingers play an e-flat pitch. The effect is

sort of a machine-gun of single note ferocity. Debussy uses this motif to move through the piece

for yet another distinct section. This part is highlighted by the same frightening pace as the

previous section, using a heaviliy chromatic line centered around the familiar e-flat. The line

then modulates to to g-flat minor equally forward (by third) to the b-flat. This is convenient due

to the ending note of this sequence is a d, which is the tonic pitch of the next section.

Here in the music we are treated to an exact repeat of some of the material from the very

beginning, starting in d minor. The piece then moves through, past the point where notes are

added to the bottom voice to fill-out to make a c-minor chord, when the chord flattens out into a

g-flat minor outline. The menacing melody from the middle of the piece is then insterted into the

upper voice, lending itself to a more playful sonority.

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The piece begins to wind down from here, moving very high in the register, the upper

voice trilling on an a-natural while the left hand repeats singular halves of the opening

syncopated material, first in the middle of the keyboard and then rising an octave. The piece, at

its final conclusion, features just the left hand outlining an F chord without the third to clarify its

sonority and the trill pattern continuation. Finally, amongst the ritardando, the piece comes to a

complete halt on the relative major to d minor, a full F chord without a third, maintaining the

open feel to the very ending chord.

Questions:

1): This piece expands a ton against traditional harmonic conventions. The piece features

things like French-augmented sixth chords and modal music, which is very non-traditional in

style.

2): Debussy expands on the classical form of Toccata in this piece, using the same

characteristics as Toccata to build this work. The form, though never ridged under the

explanation of toccata, is more modernized through recapitulations and reintroductions of themes

than toccatas in the more distant past.

3): The composers use of harmony creates a very wide sounding musical landscape. By

not creating blocky chords via fourths and fifths or sometimes not declaring major or minor via

thirds, Debussy accomplishes this.

4): The narrative is affected due to the re-introduction of previous material, causing the

narrative to seem more symbolic due to their resonance. Had Debussy not included these, the

piece would seem to sporadic.

5): I chose this piece because it looked like an interesting piece and I wanted to explore it

further. I came across it when I played a different piece in this suite, on that is based off of
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Chou-Chous doll. The piece is very beautiful, and extremely complex to perform, a perfect

combination for general intrigue in my book.

Sources:

Oscar Thompson. Debussy Man and Artist. (New York: Tudor Publishing, 1964), 262

Claude Debussy. Children's Corner (sheet music & notes). (Van Nuys: Alfred Publishing Co.,

1992), 4