Arabesques (Debussy)

The Two Arabesques (Deux arabesques), L. 66, is a pair of arabesques composed by Claude Debussy. They are two of Debussy's earliest works, composed between the years 1888 and 1891, when he was still in his twenties.

Although quite an early work, the arabesques contain hints of Debussy's developing musical style. The suite is one of the very early impressionistic pieces of music, following the French visual art form. Debussy seems to wander through modes and keys, and achieves evocative scenes through music.

The two arabesques are given these tempo marks:

1. Andantino con moto
2. Allegretto scherzando

The arabesques

Arabesque No. 1. Andantino con moto

Upper stave: Claude Debussy's Première Arabesque with outlined chords represented in lower staff.  Play (help·info)

This arabesque is in the key of E major. This piece begins with parallelism of triads in first inversion, a composition technique very much used by Debussy and the impressionist movement. It leads into a larger section beginning with a left hand arpeggio in E major and a descending right hand E major pentatonic progression which breaks with the D note. From bars 13 to 16, because of the impressionist movement, one could opt for saying the piece changes to E Lydian (instead of the A♯ being merely a IV secondary leading tone chord, and a II secondary dominant chord) returning to the normal Ionian mode (major scale) in bar 17. The introductory theme returns then G♯ harmonic minor is briefly tonicized, followed by E major, than C♯ harmonic minor is tonicized. In bar 23 it modulates to A major, to G major in bar 26 and then back to E major before the end of the first section.

The second quieter B section is in A major, which starts with a gesture (E-D-E-C♯), briefly passes through E major, returns to A major and ends with a bold pronouncement of the E-D-E-C♯ gesture, but transposed to the key of C major, played forte. In this C major sections we see once again parallelism of triads. The gesture is repeated in a higher register, with slight modifications resulting in a transposition back to the E major of the A section.

In the middle of the recapitulation of the A section, the music moves to a higher register and descends, followed by a large pentatonic scale ascending and descending, becoming a V7 chord (B7), and resolving back to E major, before the descending right hand E major pentatonic progression is played an octave up. Both hands rise up the keyboard with a progressions of 4ths and closes with gentle E major chords.

Arabesque No. 2. Allegretto scherzando

The second arabesque in G major is noticeably quicker and more lively in tempo. It opens with left hand chords and right hand trills. The pieces makes several transpositions and explores a lower register of the piano. Again notable is a hint of the pentatonic scale. The style more closely resembles some of Debussy's later works. Like the closing bars of the first arabesque, this arabesque closes in a similar fashion.

In popular culture

Arabesque No. 1 was the theme music to PBS's show Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer. The version used is an electronic rendition by Isao Tomita, from the album Snowflakes are Dancing.^[1]

Arabesque No. 1 is interpolated on R&B/Soul singer Alicia Keys track "Like the Sea", from her 4th studio album "The Element of Freedom".

It is also used in the 2009 third season of British television show, Skins. It is used in JJ's episode, along with other Debussy pieces such as "Golliwogg's Cakewalk" and "Clair de lune". The impressionist music reflects JJ's inner thoughts and emotional personality.

References

1. ^ "'STAR GAZER' Most Frequently Asked Questions". Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer. http://www.jackstargazer.com/SHFAQ.html. Retrieved November 16, 2009. 

External links

• 2 Arabesques: Free scores at the International Music Score Library Project.