Introduction

Considered one of the most important 20th century composers of modern music, Claude Debussy has often been applauded for his originality and style in his abilities towards impressionistic techniques - one of which is his imaginative incorporation of ethnic influences.

One such piece that demonstrates this is his famous String Quartet in G minor, composed 4 years after he first heard gamelan music during the Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris. Although it has been said that there are no concrete, cited examples of such ethnic influences in his music, today we shall investigate and compare the second movement (‘Assez vif et bien rythme’) of String Quartet in G minor and Balinese music of Indonesia, Hudan Mas (Golden Rain). This particular form of Balinese music models a contemporary style of gamelan ensembles, known as the Gamelan Gong Kebyar. Below is a full length clip of the String Quartet in G minor , Assez vif et bien rythme (04:00 minutes). Take a moment to listen to the clip before continuing.





We will be exploring the similarities and differences in the components of musical compositions - harmony, timbre, tone colour, melody, form, rhythm and texture, and from there form a coherent analysis of Balinese music as an influence on Debussy’s works.

Harmony and Modes

Firstly, let us start off with a harmonic analysis of Assez vif et bien rythme’. Composed of 177 bars, the harmonically complex movement split into four sections.

According to the written key signatures, the harmonic structure is as such:

• From bars 1-53, G major is introduced as the tonic key.
• Modulation to the diminished 5th of Db major occurs from bars 54-123.
• Modulation to the supertonic minor of A minor occurs from bars 124-147.
• Finally, we return to the home key of G major from bars 148-177.

On the other hand, modes used in the Gamelan Gong Kebyar are placed in stark contrast with completely structured harmonies of Western music. Derived from five notes of a seven-tone scale, the pelog selisir is the mode used by gamelan ensembles of this style. It is notated as its onomatopoeic sounds - nding ndong ndeng ndung ndang. This scale is essentially the pentatonic scale with two extra pitches external to the mode, known as pamero pitches.

While no one set of instrumental pitching between one gamelan ensemble and the next is the same, the intervals between every instrument in each gamelan remain the same. The intervals are formed by semitones, whole tones and minor 3rds. In Hudan Mas (Golden Rain), the approximate Western pitching consists of the following notes, with an audio clip provided:

[ E F#^ G# A B C# D^]

Yet, while Debussy uses the Western form of key notation, we must take note that he does not allow himself to be restricted by them. For example, from bars 54-123, the key signature is theoretically marked as Eb major, but many accidentals are used, relaxing the strict tonal constraints on the harmony. Also, because Db and Gb frequently appear in the section, it sounds like Db major.

Bars 80-82: Use of many accidentals

Besides that, an overall adherence to fixed harmonic progression is not present throughout the entire piece. Debussy makes use of the whole tone scale and the Phrygian mode, often encasing these in unexpected modulations. With the incorporation of so many harmonic devices, Debussy cleanly imitates the irregularity of harmony found in Balinese gamelan, while still maintaining harmonic unity.

Timbre and Tone Colour

Let us then move on to another aspect of the Balinese gamelan: timbre and tone colour. Important characteristics of the Balinese gamelan include

i. shimmering acoustic effects,
ii. percussive sounds,
iii. a full and mellow melody,
iv. bright, explosive sounds and
v. a gradual change in tone colour.

To explore the similarities and differences, we shall examine each characteristic with close reference to Debussy’s second movement of the string quartet.
In the Gamelan Gong Kebyar, certain instruments such as the xylophones are tuned in pairs. The microtonal differences in intervals between pairs of instruments are the cause of the shimmering, acoustic effects that typically resonate in gamelan music. While the western style of music doesn’t allow for similar tuning, the shimmering, acoustic effects are brought about through the imitation of quick, progressive microtonal intervals in tremolos and trills, such as those found in bars 160-163 of the 1st violin and the cello part. The tremolos and trills do not vary in pitches, but the narrow range of notes and quick playing imitates the effects.













Bars 161-162: Imitation of shimmering, acoustic effect

Secondly, the percussive sounds. Created through the use of mallets on a xylophone-like instrument made of wooden bars in the gamelan, Debussy imitates the percussive effect through the use of pizzicato in the lower strings (i.e. bars 56- 63, 70-77; cello part).

Thirdly, the full, mellow melody produced by the cradled gongs and the xylophone-like instrument, found wrapped in the middle range of the music, is re-created in the string quartet by using the deeper-sounding strings such as the viola (i.e. bars 3 – 30) and cello (i.e. bars 47-53) interchangeably for the main melodic line.

Fourthly, bright, explosive sounds produced by the hanging gongs and un-dampened keys of xylophones are brought out through the range of dynamics used: ppp – ff. However, because of the use of gradual dynamic techniques such as crescendo, decrescendo, and diminuendo in Debussy’s string quartet, the effects are not as explosive, despite the wide range of dynamics.

While a characteristic of this Balinese piece is its colourful harmony, this does not imply that there are drastic harmonic changes within the piece, but rather that it maintains a constant and careful mix of high tones, lows tones and a melody that remains in the middle-tone range. At the most, tone colour change in gradual. Yet, as in a previous example, Debussy chooses to adopt the sudden change of harmony or tone colour. For example, notice that in bars 124-139, the expressive melodic line in the 1st violin and the accompaniment in legato in the 2nd violin and viola parts are harshly juxtaposed by the sudden change to staccato and accents in bars 140-147, where the main melody alternates between the upper and lower strings, creating a sense of discordance. The sudden change of key and expressive use of articulation aids in creating tone colour.





















Bars 136-148: Sudden tone colour change at bars 140, 143 and 147

Melody

Having thus far examined a comparison of the harmony, timbre and tone colour of Hudan Mas (Golden Rain) and String Quartet in G minor’s Assez vif et bien rythme, we now go on to consider the details in melodic structure, line and range of both pieces.

One notable feature of the Balinese gamelan is in the way the music is structured in layers of pitch, such that the high registers are ornamented, the middle-ranged playing melodic lines and the lower registers keeping this bass and beat. However, in Debussy’s string quartet, ornamentation, melody, accompaniment is varied throughout all instruments (i.e. trills: bar 137, cello/bar 161-163: violin I, cello, viola).

Also, while a short 16-beat melodic idea (played by metallophones) is repeated over throughout the gamelan piece with variations using a wide pitch range, consisting of leaps and jumps in intervals, a similar melodic motif is also repeated and varied throughout Debussy’s string quartet in different instruments. The melody is first introduced by the viola in bar 3, is taken over by the 1st violin in bar 37, and then moves over to the cello part in bar 47. In this piece, the range of notes traverses 3 octaves across the four string instruments.

1. Bars 3-4, Viola: Melodic motif introduced

2. Bars 37-40, Violin I: Melodic motif repeated twice an octave higher from original

3. Bars 48-51, Cello: Melodic motif repeated twice an octave lower from original

And in an instance where interlocking melodies between the gamelan instruments play alternate notes to form one longer melody, an example of the interlocking technique can also be found in bars 78 – 82 in the viola and cello parts of the string quartet, which play chords on the 2nd and 3rd beat respectively, where the top accented notes of the chords form a chromatic melody line, imitating a similar melodic line in the violins, which is accented on the 1st beat, forming a interlocking melodic line.

Bars 78-83: Accents spread across 3 instruments

Rhythm

So far we have covered the comparison of harmonic aspects in both pieces, and have seen how Debussy manages to delicately imitate the Balinese gamelan while keeping a balance of his own style and Western music learning. But we cannot forget that another important quality of any music is its rhythm – the pattern of musical movement that either unifies or breaks the piece as a whole.

With an irregular, constantly changing meter, the Gamelan Gong Kebyar features a special rhythmic pattern known as the kotekan, where the interlocking rhythms of melodies in different instruments, thought of in different roles as male and female – nyangsih and polos, accent on different beats (where nyangsih refers to the offbeat accents and polos to the on-beat accents). Similarly, an imitation of the interlocking rhythmic effect is also found in the string quartet. In bars 64-67, violins I and II accent on the 1st and 4th beat, while the viola accents on the 2nd and 5th beat, and the cello on the 3rd and 6th beat.

Bars 64-67: Interlocking rhythmic effect

Likewise, the irregularity of meter is demonstrated in the constant use of duplets and triplets to throw off the regular tempo, as well as in the use metric displacement from bars 148-167, where the time signature 15/8 is split up to form a ‘rhythmic anacrusis’ of 9/8 in the first bar, then continuing in 15/8 in the following bars. In this example, the 1st and 2nd violin share a rhythmic line by playing consecutively in alternation, and the first beat of every 3-quaver grouping is most emphasized when the 2nd violin, viola and cello play together on that beat. The cello first rests on the second beat, then the viola on the third.

Bars 147-151: Metric displacement

Form and Texture

Last of all, we examine the form and texture – the framework that hold the pieces together and keeps the listener’s interest.

Upon inspection, the forms of both pieces are neither specific nor clear. Nested in blocks of cycles marked off by the sound of resounding gongs, the Gamelan Gong Kebyar can also be said to be unified by the kotekan, its rhythmic patterns. Likewise, Debussy’s second movement of the string quartet has two possible options: it could either be a scherzo or have a general binary form of AB, followed by a short A1, which might be considered a codetta as well.

Finally, a special texture is given to the music of Balinese gamelan: polyphonic stratification, of which there is ‘only one melody, but multiple voices each of which play the melody differently, either in a different rhythm or tempo, with different embellishments and figures, or idiomatically different.’ Compared to the mostly homophonic and occasionally polyphonic texture of Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor, it is clear to see that the traditional Balinese gamelan has had tremendous influence over this particular piece of Debussy’s.

References

Discography
1. String Quartets: Belcea Quartet, EMI Classics, CD 5-74020-2 (2001), Track 2: Quatuor a cordes, Op. 10 – Assez vif et bien rythme
2. Indonesia/Music from the Nonesuch Explorer Series, Nonesuch Explorer Series, CD 79794-2, Track 1: Gamelan Gong Kebyar: Hudan Mas (Golden Rain)

Bibliography
1. http://hkusua.hku.hk/~gamelano/content.htm - Gamelan Gong Kebyar
2. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rhythm - Rhythm
3. Lisa Gold, Music in Bali. Experiencing Music. Experiencing Culture, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
4. Roger Kamien, Music/An Appreciation. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., Seventh Edition

Appendix
- Include full score of 2nd movement: Claude Debussy, Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10, Dover Publications, Inc., New York