Claude Debussy — Sonate pour flûte, alto et harpe (1915) [w/ score]

Composer: Claude Debussy (1862–1918)

Flute: James Galway
Viola: Graham Oppenheimer
Harp: Marisa Robles

00:00 - cover
00:03 - 1. Pastorale
06:51 - 2. Interlude
12:23 - 3. Final

Debussy's late works are often severely overlooked (despite Messiaen and Boulez both highlighting their contemporaneity). These pieces are subtle and sparse, with connections between segments appearing almost fragmented (though this doesn't imply a lack of structural rigor in Debussy's composition!). They evoke "cailloux dans l'eau", resembling spontaneous brushstrokes that nonetheless maintain an overarching unity. Debussy's late music possesses a unique color that is distinctly his own, while also serving as the most vital source of inspiration for the musical language of composers such as and especially Toru Takemitsu (who paid homage to this work in "And then I know 'twas wind").

Focusing specifically on this Sonata, this piece amplifies the aforementioned characteristics even further compared to Debussy's other late works (and his two other sonatas). I am baffled by the magical quality Debussy achieves here, imbuing the pastoral music with an air of "unrestrained freedom within boundaries". While cursory analysis reveals alternating church modes causing shifting characteristic scale degrees, and the central role of the Locrian mode (and the omnipresence of tritones) creating a "dominating color", the work as a whole resists examination through isolated perspectives on harmony, rhythm, or texture. Instead, it presents itself as fundamentally novel—a freshness that transcends many modern and contemporary works built on traditional structural templates.

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