Debussy and the Rhapsody for clarinet

His style

Debussy tells us:

"I let my nature and my temperament speak for themselves; I especially tried to be French. The French forget too easily the qualities of clarity and elegance that are their own, to allow themselves to be influenced by Germanic lengths and heaviness. And yet we had a French tradition of delicate and charming tenderness. To the German depth one can regret all the same that French music has for too long followed paths that perfidiously distanced it from this clarity of expression: this accurate, this collected in form, particular and significant qualities of the French genius! Today, we hardly dare to be witty anymore, fearing that we might lack grandeur."

Analysis and interpretation of the work

I consulted the manuscripts of the Rhapsody at the National Library. There are two manuscripts: one for clarinet and piano written from the end of December 1909 to January 1910 (D and F 7636); the other for clarinet and orchestra, written and orchestrated after the end of year competition, and published in 1911 (D and F 8280). Obviously the two manuscripts are very different. All suppositions remain possible:

1. Concertation between Professor Prosper Mimart and the composer for problems of instrumental technique;
2. Change wanted by the composer;
3. However, there are in certain places corrections that are difficult to explain. The score of the editions Durand (Rhapsodie - Music: Claude Debussy © 1919 ed. Durand) is completely in conformity with the manuscripts. And yet! Mystery of the oral tradition?

The introduction is eight measures. It is suspended in space and time, in a diaphanous nuance. Debussy indicates "Dreamily slow…". One could very well say: "In a softly sonorous mist", "From dawn to noon on the sea"… Moreover, I find that this Rhapsody bears some resemblance to the symphonic triptych La Mer (1905). Speaking of this introduction, Vladimir Jankelevitch tells us: "Sometimes preliminaries delay the installation of a development that is about to begin, but which is strangely slow to decide, to hesitate, to grope." The triple eighth notes of this beginning will be played in a soft nuance, smoothly and quietly, like an improvisation (cf. Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un Faune, Jeux).

The tempo of the quarter note is 50. Debussy indicated in many of his works metronomic movements, so that one could observe the tempo he wished, and yet did he not say that the metronomic movement lasted the space of a bar like "roses in the space of a morning". Then came the two triplet bars with the number 1, the movement of water. A slight sway and the sentence settles in, soft and penetrating. It is dawn. Everything is calm, almost silent, in the morning mist (1^st theme). One beat before 2, the B has a special meaning. The first ray of sunshine has just dawned, the movement comes alive, everything awakens. A soft luminosity appears (2^nd theme). On the 6^th and 8^th bars of 2, the arpeggios in ascending movement shine the sparkling light on the water; the musical discourse becomes more pressing, like a garland of light, running furtively over the waves. This sudden cadence is a real flight forward that is very often found in Debussy's music. Many articulations, small notes, trills. All this with finesse and elegance. The tempo is "the double faster" compared to the poco mosso which is played at about 72 on the quarter note.

The four measures before 3 will allow us to come back to this serene and magnificent phrase, but at the upper octave (1^st theme), with 4 trills quite marked accompanied by parallel chords (bells of the sunken Cathedral). The ascent in triple eighth notes will be done in a harpistic style, like a fairy's finger sliding on the strings. There will be no preparation or ending, the whole C of the number 3 being the culmination. This phrase (1^st theme) will be adorned with magnificent arabesques, sound symbols of the curved line. We are now on "the double faster", that is to say the double of the "dreamily slow" (100 to the quarter note). The atmosphere becomes threatening - everything is moving and agitated. I mentioned earlier "a kaleidoscope of sound". Debussy exposes these themes for an instant - here 13 bars - the last four already bringing us back to a more soothing, more flexible climate (3^rd theme). The articulations will be of great importance. Nuances, points, accents, dashes and trills must be rigorously respected. This "moderately lively" is interpreted bar by bar. Here we find Debussy's anti-wagnerism. Here everything is distinct, short, delicate, precious. After a series of ascending trills, he re-exposes the second theme.

The second part of this Rhapsody begins at number 6: recapitulation of the 3^rd theme without flourish, but with vigor and assurance. In the 3^rd and 4^th bar of 6, Debussy takes the opportunity to announce scherzando the 4^th theme. It is a dialogue between clarinet and piano. The 3rd tempo of these bars being a weak tempo, it will be without attack, like a relay; on the 7th bar of 6, in the space of 2 bars, he places a 5^th theme, which we find again at the extreme end (number 12).

The scherzando ("playful and light"), if one respects the composer's thought, must remain in the same tempo, i.e. "moderately lively" (72 to the quarter note). This metronomic indication seems to me a little slow, but I believe that there is a current tendency to play it too quickly. 104 on the quarter note would be reasonable and very musical, because this theme must be hesitant, fearful. Moreover, the second major of the piano that accompanies it is threatening, I would even say squeaky. This theme asserts itself little by little to be taken up again in the upper octave. Debussy, certainly thinking of the competition piece he was writing, slips us twice a "rather vicious" dash of fourth. Then, to make up for it, he grace us with a melody full of charm and tenderness (reminder of the 2^nd theme), which delicately leads us to the "soft and penetrating" of the beginning (1^st theme) with a different lighting: first dark, then opening in a fan-like manner with the sextolets of the piano.

Everything is illuminated by trill calls in a lively tempo at number 10. The arabesques inflame and wrap up the tempo. They create a climate of panic escape. For Jankelevitch: "It is the wind of panic that blows, the hurricane carries everything, tempo and tone in its tornado. The theme of the scherzo gives way to the irritation of a dizzying accelerando and furiously precipitates its galloping rhythm. The tonality itself falls into chromaticism. The melodious Rhapsody dissonates, panting, begins to squeak and ends in disarray."