Listening guide for Clair de lune?

Answer 1

Listening Guide for Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy

Genre: Character Piece

From: Ternary ABA'

0:00 Melody A

- Simple and elegant

- Single notes in melody, not a lot of chords

0:33 Repeated Melody A

1:02 Expansion

- No longer a single note melody

- Chords added to the main notes of the melody

- Phrases are straying from original melody

- Getting louder and more dramatic

- Simple in the bass, more complicated in the melody

1:54 Melody B

- Lots of arpeggios is left hand

- More complex than melody A

- Still elegant

2:25 Melody B repeated

- Played an octave higher

- As melody ascends and descends, the dynamics become louder and quieter respectively

2:54 Melody descends and transitions

3:10 Part of Melody B repeated again quietly

3:23 Melody A returns

- softly

4:03 Phrases of Melody A repeated

- Phrases are lengthened out and more dramatic

- Played at a lower, more quiet dynamic

4:35 Chords begin to be played in arpeggios in the bass with the simple, single notes of melody played above it

4:56 Music fades out in soft, lengthened phrases of Melody A arpeggios

- Piece ends in two soft, long, and elegant arpeggios