Temps rythmés: Rhythmic and Metrical Design in Debussy’s Songs

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorKoerbler, Aleksandra [Sasha]
dc.contributor.supervisorKrebs, Harald
dc.date.accessioned2023-05-30T23:03:22Z
dc.date.available2023-05-30T23:03:22Z
dc.date.copyright2023en_US
dc.date.issued2023-05-30
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Musicen_US
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy Ph.D.en_US
dc.description.abstractThe music of Claude Debussy moves in mysterious ways. As we unwind while listening to his compositions, we often find ourselves floating through time, not quite able to tap our feet to the music. Although Debussy specifies meter in his compositions, the synchronization between the notated time signature and the musical content is frequently either modified or altogether abandoned, leaving our feet in the air. Debussy’s mélodies brim with rhythmic, metrical and hypermetrical effects. Although Debussy scholars have noted these effects and have discussed them as isolated occurrences, the specific compositional techniques involved in their making have not yet been fully explored. Moreover, there have been very few attempts to examine the use, impact, and text-expressive role of Debussy’s metrical devices within the context of the overall rhythmic and metrical design of his songs. By investigating the development of Debussy’s metrical devices throughout his song oeuvre, this study not only confirms a trajectory from lyrical to declamatory style (already noted by many scholars), but also establishes that with respect to rhythmic and metrical patterning, the transition is characterized by a progression from periodicity to aperiodicity. Accordingly, the study introduces a theory of aperiodicity in music, investigates the phenomena of periodicity and aperiodicity in Debussy’s songs, while describing and illustrating various metrical devices based on these two basic states. Numerous samples drawn from his 101 songs showcase Debussy’s distinctive declamation, his use of metrical dissonance and irregularity, his sophisticated arrangement of lyrical and declamatory passages, as well as his associations of poetic content with specific metrical choices. These devices infuse his mélodies with an abundance of metrical idiosyncrasies that destabilise the ongoing metrical flow, with profound expressive impact.en_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/15146
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjectsongsen_US
dc.subjectmélodiesen_US
dc.subjectClaude Debussyen_US
dc.subjectmeteren_US
dc.subjectrhythmen_US
dc.subjecthypermeteren_US
dc.subjectmetrical dissonanceen_US
dc.subjectperiodicityen_US
dc.subjectaperiodicityen_US
dc.subjectprosodyen_US
dc.titleTemps rythmés: Rhythmic and Metrical Design in Debussy’s Songsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Koerbler_Aleksandra_[Sasha]_PhD_2023.pdf
Size:
31.23 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
2 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
Theses (Music)
 
University of Victoria Libraries

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.