The
Games of Jeux: On Debussy's
Intrigue of Motive, Narrative and Proportion
John MacKay
Jeux's harmonic/motivic
and proportional mosaic has long been a fascination, not only in the mid-century
European avant-garde but also, more recently, in the evolving study of
Debussy's musical language. This particular analysis benefits from the clarity
of Debussy's piano reduction of 1912 and its co-ordination of the full scenario
of the ballet with the music (1) (an English translation is
given in Figure 1). This has facilitated a more exact view of the motivic
narrative of the work as well as useful orientations to issues of proportion
and orchestration proposed by Roy Howat and Myriam Chimènes (2) and an
elucidation of the work's "subtle links" as so enticingly described
by the composer. (3)
The
genesis of the work which was apparently complete in the form of a short score particelle as early as
August of 1911. The particelle
was altered shortly thereafter in a piano reduction, adding a few
measures in the initial confrontations between the young man and two girls (mm.
204 - 212 of the final version) and providing a much different and more
climactic outgrowth before the brief, final-page epilogue of opening ideas.
Following a meeting with Diaghilev, the ending of the piano reduction was
further expanded and intensified to the exhilarating and superbly crafted climax
which we now know. It is from this altered piano reduction (with some
orchestrational details from the particelle)
the orchestral score was completed much later in March of 1912. As the
disappointing première in May was all the more raucously overshadowed a short
couple of weeks later by that of the Rite
of Spring, the work became neglected, seemingly even forgotten
until after the Second World War and rarely again performed as a ballet. Due to
the risqué nature of the scenario and the scandal which had very recently
arisen from Nijinsky's choreography of L'après
midi d'un faune, Jeux
was also a score which Debussy was not anxious to write and yet it was a work
which, to his own surprise, flowed effortlessly from his pen and which seems
even to have augured the experimental attitudes of his late compositions.
m. 47 The curtain rises on the empty park.
70 A tennis ball falls on the scene
74 A young man in tennis attire, raised racquet crosses the scene leaping .... then he disappears
84 From the back left two girls appear, timid and curious
103 For a moment they seem to be just looking for a place to tell secrets.
138 One of the girls dances alone.
157 The other girl dances in turn.
192 The girls stop, interrupted by the sound of moving leaves ...
At the back left, the young man is seen who seems to be hiding ...he follows their movements through the branches m 196
207 He stops in front of them ....
214 They first want to flee ... but he brings them back gently (m. 217) ... and makes them a new invitation (m. 220) ...
224 He begins to dance ....
242 .....the first girl runs toward him ... they dance together m. 245
255 He asks for a kiss .... she escapes (m. 256) ... a new request (m. 257) .... she escapes (m. 258) ... and consentingly rejoins him m. 262
284 Spite and mock jealousy in the second girl m. 284
290 The two others remain in their romantic ecstasy
309 Ironic and ridiculing dance of the second girl
331 The young man follows this dance at first in curiosity, then taking a particular interest, he soon abandons the first girl unable to resist the desire to dance with the other
356 "This is how we will dance." (m. 305) The second girls repeats the same figure in a mocking way. (m. 342) "Don't make fun of me!" (m. 351) They dance together.......
366 Their dance becomes more tender.
376 The girls escapes and hides behind a clump of trees.
386 Disappearing for a moment, they return almost immediately, the young man pursuing the girl.
395 The two dance again.
429 Carried away in their dance, they don't notice the attitude, at first worried then upset of the first girl who, holding her head in her hands wants to run away. Her friend tries in vain to restrain her (m.432) .... she won't hear anything m. 433
452 The second girl manages to take her in her arms.
455 However, the young man intervenes, gently separating their heads. So they look at the beauty of the night around them, the joy of the light, everything tells them to abandon everything to their fantasy. m. 461
535 The three dance together from here on.
551 Becoming little by little more excited, ever more passionate
593 Always very intense
679 The young man, in a passionate gesture, brings their three heads together .... and a triple kiss binds them in ecstasy
689 A tennis ball falls at their feet ... surprised and frightened, they jump to safety disappearing into the depths of the nocturnal park.
Figure 1: Scenario from Piano
Reduction of Jeux
Proportion
The different sketch versions of Jeux furnish an interesting
test case for the issue of whether proportion was intuitive or calculated at
this stage of Debussy's musical language. The design of Jeux falls comfortably
(although by no means necessarily) into five sections: a prelude and
introduction of the scene and characters (mm. 1- 137), the first tentative
dancing by the two girls followed by impulsive confrontation with the young man
(mm. 138-223), the dances with the young man separately with the first girl
then the second girl (mm. 224 - 428), an "interlude" in which the
second girls consoles the neglect first girl (4) (mm. 429
- 454) and the final culmination of the work in which all dance at once and
eventually together (mm. 455 - 709). In the different sketches expansions were
made following m. 602 of the particelle
(m. 610 of the final score version with the eight measures added earlier) and
m. 658 in the sketch of the piano reduction (also m. 658 in the final score
version). Figure 2 summarizes this progressive lengthening of the last section
in relation to the other parts of the work. What eventually became the
seventy-seven measures from m. 611 to m. 688 in the final version of the score
were passages of 39 measures respectively in the particelle (see Appendix A) and 69 measures
in the original version of the piano reduction (see Appendix B). The final
version of the piano reduction replaces the 20 measures before m. 688 of the
final version with the 30 measures from m. 659 to 688 in the final version
(adding 10 measures). Note the eventual lengthening of the entire composition
from 651 measures in the particelle
to 698 in the unmodified piano reduction to 708 after meeting with Diaghilev
and finally 709 in the final orchestral score (one measure was added at
rehearsal number 38). (5)
Figure 2:
Comparison of Large-Scale Proportional Structure of particelle, Original Version of
Piano Reduction and Orchestral Score/Altered Version of
Piano Reduction(6)
In terms
of the proportional climax in m. 429 (the first girl's outbreak at the height
of the dance of the young man with the second girl) the successive additions to
accommodate the scenario actually created a perfect Golden Section over the 698
measures of the unaltered piano reduction (.6146) which was only slightly
distorted (.605) over the 709 measures of the final version. (7) A more
subtle but significant and virtually exact Golden Section (.6145) is also to be
found from the beginning to the m. 429 climax at m. 264 where the first girl
(after her hesitations) finally consents to a kiss from the young man. Both
moments involve the first girl's repeated-note melismas - "languid" (alanagui) at m. 264 and
tormented at the climax in m. 429. While the only Golden Section to closely
emerge between any of the five sections in succession is between the first and
second (137/224 = .612), other significant Golden Sections arise within the
self-contained first and final sections of the work. In the first (mm. 1 - 137)
it is inscribed with the entrance at m. 84 of the two girls (.613). In the
final part, (mm. 456 - 709) of the work a Golden Section obtains (.613) at m.
611 at the en animant
progressivement which is the beginning of the final and climactic
chain of the work. (8) Certain near-Golden Section
proportions gain prominence from the clarity and definition of their climactic
gestures. The drop of the tennis ball in m. 70 which clearly divides the
segment from mm. 47 - 84 (an approximate GS at .621) functions this way, as
does the return of the central motive from this section at m.118 in the
following section (mm. 85-137, another approximate GS at .635). Similarly the
incisive C#s in m. 202 amid the disjointed alternations surrounding the young
man's surprise of the two girls divides this clear subsection (mm. 168 - 223)
of the second larger part of the work (mm. 138 - 223) into a near exact GS
(.618) and a Fibonacci pair of 34:55 -
a
relationship which only arises with the 10 measures inserted into the particelle.
In
the third section of the piece, the dances of the first and then the second
girl with the young man, the role of the Golden Section gestures appears to be
displaced by other organizational devices. Duplication, which pervades
Debussy's mosaic syntax, emerge at higher levels in the initial appearance of
the girls upon the scene (mm. 84 -92-99), and in their dancing in turn (mm.138
- 157 - 167). A large duplication (mm.224-245-263) frames the initial dances of
the young man and the first girl and her coy refusals before kissing him (see
the schematic subsections indicated in Figure 2) and a further, more developed
duplication comprises the subsequent (B) section of their dance (plus alangui, mm.
264-283). The symmetrical stability of these passages clearly provides relief
from the various lower level Golden Section curves at the same time that they
fill out the higher-level proportional schemes. Indeed, what is remarkable
about the formal dynamic of Jeux,
from the symmetries, "rhythms" and shifting asymmetries of its mosaic
design to its higher-level structures and motions, is the integration of its
great variety of motivic ideas and processes
in relation to the unfolding scenario.
The
Motivic Narrative
Prelude and
Introduction mm. 1 - 137
The
affective simplicity of the scenario (confrontation, invitation, hesitation etc.)
unfolds in the enveloping shades of the park, and the shifting depths, colors
and layerings of Debussy's score. Although the composer reveals little of his
interpretation of the scenario, his comment for the press of a "mysterious
nocturnal landscape with that slightly evil je
ne sais quoi that always accompanies twilight" (9) suggest
an aloof supernatural which appears to be an underlying player in the music and
the narrative of the ballet. The prelude (Debussy's term) sets a
delicately-hued constellation of intervallic tensions (see Example 1, mm. 1-8)
against clear upper-register B naturals and then an uncannily descending
whole-tone chord stream in the strings. In the shift to the main tempo, the
repeated-tone figure develops quickly through light cymbal flashes and
bright/hollow echoings of the xylophone but cuts suddenly to reveal its B
natural now in the low register with the returning of the chord stream, eerily
ornamented by a seeming resonance of Dukas'
Sorcerer's Apprentice (Example 2).
The
brief "prelude" exposes a richness of essential motivic entities and
relationships: the initial transposition of the rising chromatic steps of
"x1"to Fx, G# A, the skipping three-note chromatic descent retracing
the chromatic steps of "x1"(D-C#- C, however with D# instead of D)
against a mysterious unfolding of a low-register E (D#) major triad. The
incisive C#/D# dyad in m.15 (a clear transformation of the C#-D natural of the
"x constellation") becomes an integral pitch and intervallic
reference throughout the work, and the alternation of the C natural of the
repeated-tone motive in mm. 17-18 with C# reflects the C natural/C# tensions of
the "x constellation".
Echoing
the sinewy figures in the strings of mm. 43-46 quick reflections of
"x1" downward from G to E# and upward to C# from the original B
natural, beckon the rise of the curtain and a new scalic "alpha" (or
) motive (10) (Example 3) in the clarinet. It is
quickly placed in a dialectic alternation with the chromatically skipping
descent in thirds beginning (Example 4) on the G natural and descending to the
D# of the beginning of the "alpha" motive - all sustained above a
middle C# modal tonic pedal in the violas. The complementary but opposite
nature of these motives is significant as they reflect larger collections of
chromatic as opposed to scalic motions throughout the work. Their focused and
repeated combination here intensifies and culminates in a complete chromatic
descent through the octave via the skipping chromatic motive to the C-major
added sixth sonority of the arrival of the tennis ball in m. 70 (Example 5)
.Here once more we hear ascending and descending echoes of x1 (Example 6) each
leading however to A#/B of an octatonic dominant on F# which underpins the
ingenuous entrance of the two girls (Example 7).
The
subsequent development of this idea (note in Example 7 the conjunct minor
second and major third from "x2" prefixed to the descending chromatic
motion) explores the flexibility of the x/ combinations (Example 8) and arrives
at a framing in m. 118 of the original /x combination at pitch although
significantly altered to with B natural instead of B. Here we see a synthesis
of the x/ ideas in the scalic unfolding (suggestive of ) of the tritone B-E# of
the chromatic "x constellation" in contrary motion and in mm.130 -
136 a neutralization of the chromatic structure of "x" into the
repetitive ascending 4-note figures (E#-F#-G#-A, see Example 10) and in their
upper tone first on B ( against the added sixth of a D-major sonority) and then
C natural (of a B 11th / minor 13th sonority) - echoing
once more the rising B-C natural of the "x" collection.
The Girls'
Dance and Confrontations mm. 138 - 224
The
short dances which follow manifest essential polarities associated with the two
girls. The later dance with the first girl center around the sonority and
tonality of E major while that of the second is clearly oriented to E and
related tonalities. Their dance here is an intriguing mixture of E and D# major
(Example 11) evolving to polar fifths, E-B/D#-A# (Example 12) and gravitating
to low-register D#/A# tremolo from which the D# unsettlingly persists in the
following measures. The disjointed succession in this section begins (against
the low D#-A#) recalling the B#-C# of "x" (Example 13) but shifts
suddenly at m. 144 to a thin, haunting mixture of high-register chromatic
undulations about C# (Example 14) and high G-natural (of the opening chord
stream in the strings of m.5) in a solo violin against the shift in the D#-A#
tremolo to alternating pizzicato D# and B naturals. The low register D#-A# of
these measures has a significance well beyond this passage. It is a more
conspicuous focus of tension and malaise in the reconciliation between the two
girls in the central "interlude" resolving significantly to D natural
(m. 451) which is sustained through the initial return of ideas of mm. 455 -
472. Later, in an apparent transformation of its "aura" it is
repetitively reasserted as E in the sublime emergence of the waltz in mm. 565 -
592 before the surges to the final climax of the work.
In
the ensuing mêlée of mm.178 - 223, the strings become active in an octatonic
chord stream (mm. 178-181, in contrast to the whole tone chord stream of the
opening) leading to interjections of on D natural in the context of a G
dominant seventh and then on B# above a G# dominant seventh (4/3 with the D#
still n the bass) before reverting to the solo violin and high-register
chromatic lines. The clear arrival in chromatic contrary motions (via the
"x constellation" ) onto a C# 6/3 in m. 190 (see Example 15) splits
the components of "x". The C#-D motion (against the C# 6/3) in the
solo violin is echoed with he B-C natural chordal tremoli rising through the
middle register to upper register E-F major, clearly indicating the role of E
among the other "x" network tones of B, C, C#, D and F.
The
incisive interruption of C# at the high point of the Emajor-F major flourishes
alternates with a descending chromatic stream of dominant sevenths on G,F#,F
natural and E (see Example 16) and, following an insurgent motive pushing to
low-register C# the echos of the same dominant sevenths supports an inner-voice
mid-register chromatic descent from F natural to E, D# D natural and finally C#
but rising to D natural at it's cadence. The returning insurgent push to
low-register C# and subsequent whole-tone flourishes touches off a clear
conflict between mid-register D natural, the low-register C natural and the
whole-tone rush to C# of the new motive (see Example 17) in a light waltz
rhythm as the young man retrieves the fleeing girls.
Shimmering
tensions in the tremolo strings earlier in this which accompanied the young
man's spying on the girls behind the bushes (mm. 193-201) form an underlying
nuance in the initial invitations of the following measures (mm.226-229) ; they
return as an intense punctuation on E flat (mm. 241-244) before the dance with
the first girl and in the episode with the second girl as the couple disappears
(mm. 378 and 382) behind the bushes and finally at the end of the work
following the second tennis ball. In addition to the narrative of tonalities or
at least centerings on E natural and E flat with the first and second girls,
the initial chromatic tones superimposed upon the B natural, C and C#, acquire
similar narrative associations, the C natural, with the intruding tennis ball
(mm. 70, 689) and the C# in many places of tension in the initial
confrontations here between the girls and the young man, and in mm. 294 - 308
in the ironic envy of the second girl.
The
First and Second Girl's Dances with the Young Man mm. 225 - 428
The
descending figure which emerges above the sustained C# - actually an
intervallic inversion of the "x constellation" - is carefully
voice-led to the E major sonority of the young man's short dance solo for the
two girls. The lush harmonies which follow are rich in resonances of C# (above
an F# pedal, see Example 18 in the first violin) against the triadic tremoli
around B major. Following languid "sighing" quartal sonorities in the
strings a dominant ninth on C# (Example 19) is interposed which underpins rich
chromatically ascending arabesques in thirds and itself interrupted by the
tremolandi on E-flat major in anticipation of the returning ¾ figure as the first
girl runs over to dance with the young man. The expanded duplication follows in
m. 245 once but to a rich ninth sonority which here is on D# (as opposed to the
earlier C#) as the young man asks for a kiss - a longer-range reflection
perhaps of the C#-D# combinations and oppositions. The rich (plus alangui) sonorities
against the first girl's repeated-tone melismas (see m. 272 in Example 20, note
the preceding ascending motion in trills from B to C natural) center initially
around a sultry alternation of octatnoic sonorities above E and A but shift
upward (the same sonority on F#) to rich motions surrounding a C#13th
sonority, followed by a prolonged B-C# trill, extended in a rich elongated
cadence descending in mm. 280-2283 (see Example 21) descending in the inner
voice from F# to B# in a prolonged anticipation of the C# of m. 284.
The
second girl's dance of mock envy interrupts on the C# of the resolution,
focuses on the C#-D# dyad and the chromatic trichord of "x" in a
stream of sixth sonorities. While it is clearly based on the "x
constellation" it emphatically extends the collection downward to A#. It
further develops the C#-C natural alternation in its phrase-initial emphasis of
the latter pitch in the parallel 6/5 sonorities beginning in m. 309
("danse ironique et moqueuse"). Examples 22 and 23 show the chord
streams of these passages in which the "x constellation" is
effectively outlined in the lower, mid-register voice. Note also the various
points of melodic inversions between the two excerpts. The remarkable melting
of this episode into the "mouv't de Valse" of m.331 arises via the
splitting of D natural (of the B 6/5) to E- D of an E flat half diminished
sonority (Example 23, last measures) which dominates the transition to the
dance with the second girl.
The
link with "x2" in the clarinet is in the four tones C-D flat, E flat
and F which pervades this section is part of a meandering motion above and
below F natural (Example 24). Alterations of the meandering clarinet line touch
upon E flat and G flat returning to E flat for the couple's joyous incipit in
m. 356 (see Example 25). Deformations of the intervallic structure of
"x" begin to emerge in this passage: in the permutation of the upper
semitone and major third of "x" (the E- D -G -E permuted from the
B#-C#-E# of "x2" in the lower part of Example 25) and, in the
exuberance of mm. 362-366, in the emergence of rising and falling 4-tone pentatonic
figures suggestive of the linear chromatic tones of the "x
constellation" and the clear whole-tone version of the "x
constellation" (B-C#-D#-E#) in mm. 365-367 (see Example 26). The
subsequent chromatic motions revert more closely to the "x
constellation" ascending through the chromatic tones above the collection
from F natural up to B, and rising further to the initial B - C natural of x1
(mm. 371-374). This connects eventually to C# and an ascending B-C#-D# model,
alternating with octatonic chordal tremoli (Example 27), and a further model
("doux et triste" in
mm. 379-380, see
Example 28) based literally on the "constellation x" tones and
motions (in the upper line - B-C-C#-D-F-C#). The repetition of this model in
mm. 381 - 386 attains a persistent E flat which slips to a whole B flat
dominant in preparation for the return of the "joyeux" motive.
"En animant progressivement" is idiomatically
octatonic tracing, with chromatic tones, an ascending A-E scale above the
low-register A flat pedal (see Example 29), rising in passionate surges to the
dominant E flat, repeated and pushed upwards to and E natural diminished
seventh. The climax of the section recalls that of mm. 130-137 however in E
flat major (the repeated F-G-A flat-B flat, see Example 30), and significantly
obtaining B flat instead of the B-C of the analogous, earlier high point. The
emotional descent from the exposed extreme high-register B flat like the
diminution figures of m.221 is an inversion of the "x" (with the
first girl's repeated-tone melismas of mm.264 - 275), but withholding the
missing G natural until m. 434 (see Example 31) as it links to the duets in
thirds in the "interlude"
Interlude
mm. 429 - 454
The
duets refocus of the "interlude" on "x" and the
relationship of E-flat-D natural, evolving a flourish of descending triplets in
minor thirds (Example 32) suggest a diminution of the slow descending whole
chord stream of the prelude (mm. 5-8, G-E-B). As already mentioned the interlude
progresses against an insistent recall of an earlier tension in the low D#-A#
fifths, re-circulating the duet fragment with altered and transposed echoes of
the second girls' descending repeated-tone melismas in the solo violin. The
colorful and significant shift to the low-register D-minor sonority as the
second girl succeeds in consoling the first (Example 33), breaks the continuity
of the episode as it dissipates in an ascending chain of thirds and a flashing
sweep in the harp (as the young man shows the girls the brilliant night sky.)
The ascending B-C natural motion of "x1" creeps into the repeated
chords (Example 34) which alternate with the first recalls of the work (the
motive against the chromatically descending skipping thirds).
The Dance of
All Three, Climax and Close mm. 473 - 709
The
"new state of things" inverts the harmonic complex of the original arrival
of the tennis ball (placing the B in the bass, see Example 35) and echoing the
descending chromatic trichord from C natural (C-B-A#, note the metric
coloration suggestive of mm. 425-428). A brief chord stream on (m. 478)
anticipates the sequential transposition of the block at m. 473 to F# which
descends in contrary motion superpositions of "x1" (see Example 36,
ascending from F# and descending from D# but comprising the upper pitches, F#,
D#, D, C#, of an "x constellation" on C). The lengthy and inexorable
ascending chromatic sequence of mm. 489 - 502 is based on the descending
inversion of the "x constellation" (the first girl's emotional
outbreak from m. 429). It rises in its upper major seconds in the low and high
registers from A flat/B flat to D/E at m. 500 which is placed above a very
deliberate, rising arpeggiation (en
animant) of E major. The diffusion of the sequence into a chord
stream of dominant sevenths elegantly connects by its major seconds and plays
with root movements within 4-tone chromatic segments (see Example 37) before
its closing chromatic ascent (in root movements) fills in the thematic B-F
natural tritone - from F natural to Bin dominant sevenths, and then, via
chromatically ascending whole tone dominants, from A to A# to B natural.
At
the subsequent E7th, we see superposition of in augmentation and diminution
(Example 38) to quick echos of representative fragments of the two dances
(Examples 39 and 40: the chord streams from the E minor /C half-diminished
sonority from the second girl's dance, then the chromatically descending triads
of the first girl's dance) as part of a larger ascending sequence. Note in the
following measures of Example 41, the outline tones from "x" in the
bass from the repetitive F-E-C figure finally to C against a sustained in an A
half-diminished (Tristan) sonority. A momentary clarification of E minor at
this point however, ("they dance together all three from now on")
slips deliberately in octaves into the deep, mysterious register below C to B
to A of a prolonged V 4/2 pedal.
The
remarkable lower mid-register melody which floats passionately above the A flat
pedal projects a transposition of the "x constellation" defined by
the tritone D-A flat (see Example 42) climbing and soaring upward from
mid-register F natural (to G flat, A flat, B flat). It then splits with an
extreme-high register line in the violins which follows a similar trajectory (E
flat to E natural, A flat, A natural, B flat) destined to climactically affirm
C flat, C natural and D flat in alternation with F natural, all of the "x
constellation" (Example 43). The elegantly understated appearance of the
waltz at m.565 is the culmination of many innuendos throughout the work. It
essentially recasts the melodic line of mm. 334 - 343 against a gentle,
repetitive rising third E flat - G flat in the bass which slowly unfolds a
descending inner chromatic line B flat, B double flat, A flat (see Example 44).
The sudden modulation to B major provides a typical romantic continuation and
culmination of the waltz before it unwinds quietly in more remote tonalities
(mm.593-599) and intensifies in a dissonant chromatic chord stream (mm. 600 -
603) to surging Tristan (half-diminished) sonorities and rich resonant
transformations of the ascending "x constellation" above D, C
natural, E flat, and C# (mm. 605-610, see Example 45). The ascending "x"
configuration at m 611 is blurred to a rising and falling B minor pentatonic
curve (Example 46) against a free flowing and undulating diatonic and
pentatonic superpositions before repeating the model above a D minor
pentatonic.
The
suddenly unaccompanied variant of the descending chromatic thirds repetitively
focus B major (see Example 47) joined by the C#-D# dyad slipping in contrary
motion upwards to D-E. This however is only textural relief as a driving
intensity takes hold in an intriguing octatonic mixture of the melismatic
repeated tone figure (mm. 264, 429) in heightened with the Sorcerer's Apprentice
figure (Example 48) from the prelude, flaring into a violent outbreaks above a
chromatic inner-voice descent through the tritone (A to E flat, Example 49).
Diatonic relief in the form of in 4/3 diatonic seventh chord stream (F major)
is further assaulted by returning repeated tone melismas unfolding E to B flat.
At this point, where Diaghilev asked Debussy to extend (and likely intensify)
the growth to the climax, diatonic chord streams of ascend progressively in E
flat (upper tone C, m. 657) and E major (upper tone C#, m. 659) rising to a
D#-C# oscillation alternating with E-D (Example 50)
Here, based essentially on the "Sorcerer's
Apprentice" figure, a new model forges contrary motions
against a descending chromatic line from E# (to E, D#, see Example 51) to a
whole tone dominant on B, then, skipping to A# and descending chromatically
to G natural above in a whole-tone dominant on E flat. The frenzy accelerates
in a focused ascending line G, A, A#, B (Example 52) shifting climactically
downward in tonality (B major) and in tempo at the "triple kiss" to
F#/G#, A#, B (see Example 53). The ascent is actually continued after m. 678 in
the middle register in "constellation x" tones A#, B, A#, B#, C#, C
double sharp, D# against echoes of the climactic development (the climactic
F#/G#, A# B and descending "Sorcerer's
Apprentice" figure) eventually turning back through D natural
to C# (m. 685) as it links seamlessly to a rising B-major added sixth chord
stream and fifths (the dance of the two girls mm. 138) and slips down C#/G# to
B/F#, once ...twice.... and holding on the last C#/G# to split surprisingly to
the G/A of the cascading tennis ball and the buoyant G#, A, B flat in
tremolandi and ppp isolated
chords.
The
return of the prelude reiterates the mysterious whole-tone phantoms (with even
more intricate shimmering in the strings) and the fading B#, C#, E# of the
"x constellation" which voice lead suspensefully in the strings (from
the mid-register D# of the chord stream) downward through D natural, C#, C
natural, and beyond the B natural, through B flat to a fresh low-register A
natural glistening in a quick skip (E-F natural/ E# - A) to the final fleeting
octaves.
Commentary
The
narrative traced here reveals rich, and in their context, mysterious
associations of motivic, pitch/ intervallic and tonal-centering relationships
with characters, and dramatic/poetic elements of the scenario. The initial
"constellation" of tones and the "alpha" motive provide
pervasive underlying connections ("the link" of Debussy's commentary)
the former in an ulterior web of pitch and intervallic variations, and the
latter as a more constant and traditional motivic shape. Whether Debussy is
working in the guise of a motivic network, "idée fixe" or Grundgestalt, Jeux is, at its heart,
evasively intuitive and integrative rather than teleologically organic.
Nevertheless in this context, it is interesting that the two pitches of the gap
in the "x constellation", E natural and Eare apparent tonal centers
associated with the two young girls in the ballet narrative; moreover, the
chromatically filled space of the tritone is a clearly significant unit in the
chromatically descending thirds motive as in m. 57 (Example 4) and later in the
piece in direct chromatic lines (see Examples 49 and 50).
The
piano reduction upon which this analysis has been based, while sufficient as a
representation of the various harmonic, formal and motivic logics of the piece
- "trifle" well worthy of Stravinsky's attention (11) -
became in turn a structural premise upon which a further wealth of subtle, and
suggestively nuanced timbral/orchestrational relationships was elaborated
several months later.
It
is particularly inviting to extend this discussion to the orchestration in
relation to the scenario and there are many insightful gems to be gleaned in
this; a few are listed by instrument role-playing in Figure 3 but the challenge
in relating these connections to the thematic elements scenario is that they
may equally arise from practical concerns of orchestration or textural/harmonic
devices or even the balanced distribution and recurrence of distinctive
orchetrational effects throughout the work. In any case, all of these factors
are impeccably worked out in the score, and are potentially significant in the
multi-dimensional reality of the ballet.
Figure 3:
List by Instrument of Distinctive Orchestrational Roles in Jeux
In
addition to the isolated orchestrational references of Figure 3, certain
general conditions seem to prevail significantly at different points in the
score. The richly tremulous string writing in the earliest episodes (to mm 331,
in rustling detail and divisi) provides a background incandescence for the
emerging and receding timbral characters (Example 55). This is notably absent
in the dance with the second girl (except mm. 377-387) and the entire pas a trois beginning at
m. 473. It returns only with the prelude music at the end of the score. Any
thematic timbral roles which may have evolved in earlier solo passages seem to
become explicit in the duets and solo commentaries in central interlude in mm
429 - 455: the clarinets, flute, solo violin strings all emerge as personal
"voices" in the reflective dialogue and recede to elemental
orchestrational roles in the last major section of the work. The block
alternations which are awakened in the dance with the second girl pervade in
the "nouvel état de choses" (new state of things) from m. 473 onwards
with relief in the remarkable digression at m. 535 which retransitions to the
ultimate "waltz" theme of m. 556 onwards, embroidered by
graceful,(see example 56). The crowning touch of thematic/ orchestrational
synthesis arises as at the ultimate turning point of the work in mm. 685 - 688
where in the ascending ecstasy of the kiss, the flutes and piccolos (suggestive
of the pairings in the consoling interlude) hover blissfully in luminescence in
the winds and strings suggestive of the tremulations of the opening sections
fifths (perhaps the same fifths from the dance of the two girls in m. 138?)
before the interruption of the second tennis ball.
Example 55: Jeux m.100
Example 56: Jeux m.565
While
there can be no doubt that Debussy further elaborated the scenario in the final
orchestration of the work, this last stage of the composition is also a tour de force of its own
making, surely transcending both the piano score and the very stilted concept
of a ballet in tennis costumes. This particular analysis of Jeux has explored the
notion that its compact and varied mosaic is framed in a symbolist intrigue of
unseen forces - in the control of proportion and the evolving motivic
configurations - which somehow underlie the emotional and "causal"
events of the scenario. The spirit of Jeux
is at heart Mallarmean and Boulez's famous comment that Jeux is "L'après-midi d'un faune
in tennis clothes" (12) bears much more than anecdotal
significance; the ballet embodies both the personae of the poem (the two nymphs
and the faune) as well as the equally Mallarmean elements of chance (the tennis
balls) and perhaps, a "constellation" (of pitch and interval
relations), (13) and ultimately, through its remarkable
circumstances and subtle genius, attains a rare and unpretentious richness and
a similarly limitless capacity to fascinate and absorb.
APPENDIX A: Particelle, mm. 590 - 632
Courtesy of
Winterthur Libraries (Switzerland), Special Collections, Rychenberg Foundation
APPENDIX B:
Original Piano Reduction mm.648-671 (before alteration for Diaghilev)
Courtesy of
the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
APPENDIX C: Scenario from
Piano Reduction
-Le rideau
se lève sur le parc vide. Une balle de tennis tombe sur la scène.... Un jeune
homme, en costume de tennis, la raquette haute, traverse la scène en bondissant
.... puis il disparaît. Du fond a gauche, apparaissent deux jeunes filles
craintives et curieuses. Pendant un moment, elles semblent ne chercher qu'un
endroit favorable aux confidences. Une des jeunes filles danse seule. L'autre
jeune fille danse á son tour.Les jeunes filles s'arrêtent interloquées par un
bruit de feuilles remuées .... On aperçoit le jeune homme au fond á gauche, qui
semble se cacher ....il les suit dans leurs mouvements, á travers le branches.
Il s'arrête en face d'elles....Elles commencent par vouloir fuir .... mais les
ramène doucement ... et leur fair une nouvelle invitation ....Il commence á
danser ... la première fille court vers lui dansent ensemble. Il lui demande un
baiser ... elle s'éhappe ... nouvelle demande.... elle s'échappe ,,,et le
rejoint consentante. Dépit et légère jalousie de la seconde jeune fille. Les
deux autres restent dans leur amoureuse extase. Danse ironique et moqueuse de
la second jeune fille. Le jeune homme a suivi cette dernière danse par
curoisité d'abord, y prenant ensuite un intérêt particulier; il abandonne
bientôt la première jeune fille, ne pouvant résister au désir de danser avec
l'autre "C'est ainsi que nous danserons." La seconde jeune fille
répète la même figure d'une manière moqueuse. "Ne vous moquez pas de
moi." Ils dansent ensemble .... Leur danse se fait plus tendre. La jeune
fille 's'échappe et va se chacher derrière un bouquet d'arbres. Disparus un
moment, ils reviennent presqu'aussitôt, le jeune homme poursuivant la jeune
fille. Ils dansent de nouveau tous les deux. Dans l'emportement de leur danse,
ils n'ont pas remarqué l'attitude d'abord inquiète, puis chagrine, de la
première jeune fille qui tenant son visage entre ses mans veut s'enfuir. Sa
compagne essaie en vain de la retenir ... elle ne veut rien entendre. La second
jeune fille réussit à la prendre danse ses bras. Pourtant, le jeune homme
intervient en écartant leurs têtes doucement. Qu'elles regardent autour d'elles
la beauté de la nuit, la joie de la lumière, tout leur conseille de se laisser
aller à leur fantaisie. Ils dansent désormais tous les trois. En animant et
augmentant peu à peu, avec une expression toujours plus passoinée. Toujours
très intense danse l'expression. Le jeune homme, dans un geste passionné, a
réuni leurs trois têtes .... et un triple baiser confond dans une extase. Une
balle de tennis tombe à leurs pieds ... surpris et effrayés, ils se sauvent en
bondissant, et disparaissent dans les profondeurs du parc nocturne.
1. The original Durand Edition of the orchestral score of 1914
does not contain the scenario which, until the appearance of the
Boulez/Chimènes Edition in 1986 and the Dover Edition Images, Jeux and the
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (Suite) in full score ISBN: 0486271013 have been
the only edition to combine the orchestral score with the full scenario.
2. Howat, Roy. Debussy in
Proportion: A Musical Analysis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, 1983 and Chimènes, Myriam. AThe Definition of Timbre in the
Process of Composition of Jeux,@ in Debussy Studies, ed. by Richard Langham Smith,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, 1997.
3. AThe link between them may be subtle but it exists@ Nichols, 1987, p. 288, Debussy
Letters, 5 March 1914, letter to Gabriel Pierné who recently conducted a concert
performance of Jeux, in which Debussy commented on a lack of homogeneity
between episodes.
4.
Jann Pasler observes that the Ainterlude@ in which the second girl consoles the
first is also the third of the three possible pairings of the dancers. She goes
on to note interesting parallels which underlie the three pas de deux
episodes. See Pasler, Jann. ADebussy, Jeux: Playing with Time and Form,@ 19th Century Music, vol.6,
no. 1, Summer, 1982, p.64.
5. The piano published piano reduction and
orchestral score are identical up to m.332 where a measure is added in the
orchestral score. It is the orchestral score measure numbers which are
presented here and in all examples taken from after m. 331.
6. The “nouvel état de choses” is Debussy’s
designation of the passages following the interlude, Correspondance 1872-1918, Éditions Gallimard, Paris, 2005, pp.
1783-1784, letter of March 5, 1914.
7.
Howat,
pg. 156-157 provides alternate and very convincing applications of GS
proportions including different proportional unit values for the different
measure durations (i.e. the 3/8 measures as one unit and the 2/4 measures as
two-thirds of a unit), and the very effective proposal of the model of the
logarithmic spiral which integrates both GS and 1:1 (successive parts) or 1:2
(part to whole) proportions. He also
pursues GS proportions between the two climaxes at mm. 429 and 678 rather than
the ratio of the climax at 429 to the total duration of the piece. The simpler
and (perhaps) more intuitive proposals of this analysis in no way detract from
the ingenuity of Howat’s; moreover, it is a remarkable quality of the piece
that it would lend itself so effectively to such different proportional
interpretations.
8. Taking
the pre-final version of 698 measures, the Golden Section arises with equal
plausibility at the sudden return to mov’t initial in m. 605 six measure
prior to en animant progressivement a relationship which only arises
with the 10 measures inserted into the particelle.
9. “Jeux,” in le
Matin, 15 May, 1913, cited in Jeux, ed. Myriam Chimènes et Pierre
Boulez, Édition critique des Oeuvres Compltes de Claude Debussy, series 5, vol. VIII,
Paris: Durand-Costallat, 1988, pg. ii of the English forward.
10.
The
designation of “alpha” motive here is in deference to Eimert’s analysis. See
Eimert, Herbert. “Debussy’s ‘Jeux’”, Die Reihe, vol. 5, 1959 and 1961,
(Theodore Presser Co., Philadel-phia, Pennsylvania) pg. 9.
11. Chimènes, p. 8.
12.
Pierre
Boulez, “Debussy,” in Notes of an Apprenticeship,
texts collected and edited by Paule Thévenin, translated by Herbert Weinstock
(New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1968), p. 152.
13. As in Mallarmé’s un
coup de dés.... . See David Walter’s “Boulez and the Concept of Chance” in
vol. XI/1 of this journal for a very valuable exploration of Boulez’s
relationship to the esthetics of Mallarmé.