What Makes Debussy Sound French?

[@JamesZ32100]

It's amazing how Satie played what we now know as Jazz chords back in the 19th century.

[@antoinemozart243]

Jazz is one of the greatest invention in modern music.

[@sugarfree1894]

Beethoven liked a bit of boogy-woogie too.

[@DonnyKirkMusic]

I think that music kept evolving and thus the feelings we all get when listening evolved as well. You can kinda feel the wind of change and progression in the artform when you hear something that sounds so modern but was made years and years ago.

[@bobajob13]

Ravel used the Coltrane changes long before Coltrane was even born. Bach used harmony that wouldn’t bee seen again until Noel Rawsthorne. There’s always things hiding in classical music that you don’t expect to find there.

[@BenjaminGessel]

Yeah, but I don't really define extended harmony/chords as "jazz harmony" or "jazz chords". I know why they are often considered this way, but the definition of what jazz IS has everything to do with the COMBINATION of rhythmic syncopation/sometimes/often swung rhythms, improvisation sections, instrumentation, form and textures more unique to jazz music, and THEN the whole extended and/or (dep. on the piece) bluesy harmony kind of deal. And jazz isn't really supposed to be as "formal" as classical music. So its kind of like Venn diagrams, or bubbles. The bubble of extended tertial harmony overlaps with the bubble of jazz, but they are not quite the same thing...

[@songsbymichaelroberts9078]

You make some wonderful points. There is, however, a distinctly French aesthetic that predates both Satie and Debussy. It's in the spoken language, in the art (Boucher, Watteau)...in almost everything throughout France's history. You allude to the French emphasis on charm, and that's very important. There is also, in my view, a strong respect for humor in French music (Satie, Milhaud, Poulenc, Saint Saens). And, perhaps more than any of this, there is a certain detachment in French arts (visual, musical, literary, etc.). Even when Debussy's works are marked "sad" in the music (triste), it doesn't sound like Debussy's sadness. Instead, it sounds like the idea of sadness--as if sadness exists without someone to feel it. That detachment (when the work isn't about self expression, but wise observation) is--for me--the quality that allows all the other typically French qualities to live so vibrantly. Thank you for making a video about a subject I've thought abut my entire adult life.

[@maxalaintwo3578]

Separating the feeling from the feeler seems to be a common them going forward in classical music from then on

[@sieni221]

But the ppl of Saties time hated his music so maybe not so french. I think most french sound is accordion musette.

[@tweshasaini7957]

Wow thank you for putting what I felt in words

[@tweshasaini7957]

@@maxalaintwo3578 I think with modern pop and even contemporary classical music is about expression and experiences

[@aFoxyFox.]

Thank you for making this comment, these were some fantastic observations that I agree with and there is a lot of evidence to back up what you are saying and where that may have emerged from. Feel free to keep in touch at [e-mail] as I'd like to access your commentary and ideas more regularly, and please let me know if you have written about these sorts of things more extensively anywhere, if not, feel free to write freely to me on any of these topics you may have thought about as you may feel like it, and to read these ideas would be an honor really and a great gift.

[@alinalinalina6825]

And yet Debussy rejected the idea that he was impressionistic. He didn't want to be called impressionist

[@stjacquesremi]

As much as Philip glass who writes minimalist music doesn't want to be called a minimalist, and here we are

[@InsidetheScore]

Impressionist used to be a term of derision by the French academies

[@Michail_Chatziasemidis]

Indeed, my music history teacher last year assigned me to write an paper about Debussy's connection to Symbolism, and how and why he wasn't an Impressionist.

[@mattchu.]

I'm petty sure Picasso didn't want to be called an impressionist (or maybe he said this about cubism, I can't remember. You get the point though). Artists make the art. I don't think they really get to decide how they should be classified though

[@Michail_Chatziasemidis]

@@mattchu. Then that raises questions whether artists know themselves and their works. And again, doubts are raised whether critics know deeply what each characterism means. At least in my research I've found that Debussy was characterised as an Impressionist in his time, simply because "Impressionist" was the trendy term conservatives would apply to the progressive ones. (cf. also: doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.07353 )

[@hydropage2855]

I teared up when you played Debussy’s Rêverie at 5:50. I poured my heart and soul into that song and I can now play it to the best of my ability. I truly did tear up when you put it on. Thank you

[@navghtivs]

I feel Erik Satie is the more French-sound one of them.

[@eriksatieofficiel]

Thank you.

[@GreenTeaViewer]

@@eriksatieofficiel yo Erik when your new track comin out??

[@eduardovaldesdelrazo2259]

ravel is too

[@BenjaminGessel]

Satie is French, Debussy is French + Asian - kind of, and Ravel is Spanish (Basque) + Swiss. 😁😁😁

[@Bozzigmupp]

@@BenjaminGessel Asian?

[@wellurban]

Some nice analysis here. Another French composer whose work shares some features with Satie and Debussy, yet who had her own distinct style, was Lili Boulanger. Some beautiful use of parallelism and ambiguous tonality in her work, as well as exquisite orchestration.

[@michellamontagne]

Thank you so much. I am French Canadian, but that is not why I am writing to you. I have already listened to some of your videos and it touched me deeply. I even shed tears because you were able to express on several occasions how I feel deep inside about music. I wanted to comment earlier, but now I am taking the time to do so. Your passion for music without any arrogance is admirable. I am now subscribed to your channel. I'm less than an amateur, but I've been trying to compose for over a year. I would do this 48 hours a day! Thanks again!

[@wanderlngdays]

Well, Bach was absolutely influenced by Italian style, as was usual in his time. In fact, before Bach, Italians and Frenchs dominated the European music scene

[@chmendez]

Yes, Corelli was in fact the one who made tonality popular. And he was the first one in having international success for instrumental music instead of vocal.

[@jackjack3320]

Yeah, the hyperboles said in the beginning of this video are way overblown and over the top. It's this sort of idolatry around composers that I dislike about the classical music fandom in general. For instance, Weber and Spohr should be more credited than Beethoven for bringing about Romantic chromaticism. Beethoven even criticized them for being too daring. He told Schindler that "Weber's Euryanthe is an accumulation of diminished sevenths; all little backdoors!" "Spohr is too rich in dissonances, and pleasure in his music is marred by chromatic harmony." Heck, Beethoven is even less chromatic than Mozart. Brahms said that "Dissonance, true dissonance as Mozart used it, is not to be found in Beethoven. Look at Idomeneo. Not only is it a marvel, but as Mozart was still quite young and brash when he wrote it, it was a completely new thing."

[@antoinemozart243]

@@jackjack3320 Dissonance in Mozarts music is only used for expression ! Mozart is the supreme genius able to use musical tools ( dissonances, fugue, religious themes) for only ONE PURPOSE : EXPRESSION. Debussy doesnt use dissonances, he just makes a NEW language with them ! HUGE DIFFERENCE !

[@f.p.2010]

more so English style

[@guilhermesuspiro9936]

If Debussy sounds like a Monet painting, why does Rachmaninov or Prokofiev sound like Dostoyevsky Novels ?

[@alidaoudi3269]

Maybe because russian pieces are often in minor keys which makes them sound heavier and more dramatic

[@ergnoor3551]

As a Russian and a lover of late Russian classical music and literature I can’t fully agree with the parallel between Rachmaninov and Dostoyevsky, there definitely is a Deep relationship seen from the foreign eye, but the relevance triples and blooms if you compare Rachmaninov to Pasternak. You will literally hear Rachmaninov reading “Doctor Zhivago”. To me it’s not just minor or dark, it’s probably living on the edge or a marginal area and learning to love and sacrifice in the face of most tragic times. It’s a way of seeing a ray of light between the stormy clouds I guess, and it is transcendental (exceeding any life) channeled through Russians. It’s because they had to blend western and eastern cultures growing in between them for thousands of years.

[@robertclark6800]

Yes!

[@dankurth4232]

LOL maybe because there aren’t paintings by Dostojevski

[@olelain]

You have an immense culture. This is certainly the most interesting video on classical music I've seen on KZbin.

[@Camiloquai1]

The first time I heard Debussy's music, I was 7 years old. A friend of mine gave me a cassette telling me "it is electronic Bach". I went home and my soul was absolutely trapped and mesmerized. When my mother -a social anthropologist - came home, I ran to her to showed my new musical discovery; she listened to the tape for a few seconds and told me: "that's not Bach... that's Debussy". it happened to be "Snowflakes are Dancing" a record made by the japanese genius, Isao Tomita, with electronic versions of some of Debussy's more popular compositions... since that day, I don't think I have let one week pass by without listening to Debussy: orchestral arrangements, solo piano versions... all of the available versions. I later became a musician myself (for 31 years now... uf!), and understood the revolutionary harmonic treatments of the French impressionists... I still say it is and will be my very favorite of them all.

[@sugarfree1894]

Not sure why, but I wonder if you have heard the Jacques Lussier versions of Bach. Perhaps you'd enjoy them

[@autsni]

Tomita was the goat man god bless him 🙏

[@rebeccathornemusic]

One of the best feelings is when something is explained to you in a way that makes it seem so simple and obvious that you wonder why you didn't already know this before. Thank you for this video

[@lalitstalb8656]

When Debussy took conservatory exams the big criticism against him was "he doesn't even sound French". That seems ridiculous now.

[@stravinskyfan]

But it's true, he doesn't sound French at all. Debussy sounds like Debussy, that's it.

[@IsomerSoma]

Or maybe the only thing ridiculous is to say that something sounds French.

[@bobajob13]

I don’t know if Debussy sounds as french as Louis Vierne or César Franck. Debussy sounds very much, like Debussy.

[@felixmladenov]

And that's why they, especially Ravel, are my most beloved: The qualities that the composers influenced by germanic school have (the deep look into soul and sorrow) are things which a human being will face on earth often enough.

[@minty-es8me]

same! my escapism really showed… 😂

[@Scriabin_fan]

Same here, I’ve always loved the French style more than the Germanic style

[@davidmorris8319]

French music is great for this! But i feel like germanic music has a bit of a wrong/bad image in this regard. Not all germanic music is depressed, serious Beethoven/Wagner. It's just that these two are the poster children for it somehow... Haydn literally single-handedly invented the classical style of thematic variation, which is the foundation for literally everything composed after that. Listen to some Haydn Symphonies or piano sonatas. They are way lighter than Beethoven. I always feel like on a calm and sunny spring morning when listening to Haydn. Mozart too is very light-hearted.

[@manolitosanchez]

Talking about rule books, it was French composer Rameau the one who wrote the great harmony treatise focusing on the notion of "fundamental". Maybe the Germans were playing by the French rule book all along.

[@InsidetheScore]

Hahaha true, true! To an extent. Rameau's treatise is quite different from the voice-leading style of Bach though, if you go through the rules he lays out

[@csabrendeki]

@@InsidetheScore But Bach's voice-leading style was 1) not the foundation for Haydn, Mozart Beethoven 2) dates back to late renaissance counterpoint: Palestrina of course and on the other route through Schütz and his huge influence on german protestant music back to Gabrieli and Lassus. And ultimately all that dates back to Josquin, Ockeghem, Du Fay... and from there to ars nova and ars antiqua, where we find French composers again. Music history didn't start with Bach's generation, and what Bach did was in no way avantgarde or forward-looking in his time... he didn't do anything that composers before him didn't do already...

[@jasonschwartzmanstein9661]

@@csabrendeki “What Bach did was in no way avant-garde or forward looking in his time” What a complete crock of shit

[@csabrendeki]

@@jasonschwartzmanstein9661 Bach was pretty conservative in his time. He wrote great music, but not avant-garde music. Telemann was more avant-garde as him. What I said is not about how good his music is, but how is it placed in his time.

[@waynedombrowski7568]

I believe a clue to Claude's uniqueness may be in spending his formative years in Russia studying Mussorgsky. He escaped the smothering dominance of Wagner. The older Saint Saens assumed the German school was the only path foreward. He coudn't 'get' Debussy. If you want some good chuckles from German love of polyphony versus French love of lyricism,read Strauss' commentary on Berlioz' Treatise On Instrumentation. Also,Mark DeVoto has a superb book out full of analysis of all of Debussy's major works. I found it very illuminating.

[@fretnesbutke3233]

Mark DeVoto,"Debussy And The Veil Of Tonality"

[@alexandrugheorghe5610]

I am unable to comprehend how anyone can like Wagner.

[@lesgoe8908]

This is about as good an explanation of Debussy's "Franchiness" as one could make in 16 minutes -- historic, biographic, and analytic. Superb!

[@jerielk.6975]

Debussy is my favorite composer of all, I think. I love playing his music, and listening to it. Thank you for this video!

[@frederikespersenknudsen6708]

Please, PLEASE, do a video on Prelude à laprès-midi d'un faune! It is an incredible piece with so much to uncover, to learn, and to experience. Its impact on the world of music cannot be understated, and would make for a perfect theme for one of your productions! Nonetheless, it is by far my favourite piece, and seeing you cover it in any way or form would be incredible! Keep up your good work; your videos are works of art!

[@tweshasaini7957]

Yess pleasee!

[@stravinskyfan]

“On those who overanalyze his music: When you tear the wings off a butterfly, it is no longer a butterfly.” - Debussy

[@jimslancio]

There's a KZbin video of a lecture by Leonard Bernstein, called "The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity," one of six lectures delivered at Harvard in the early 1970s. The final part of it is an analysis of the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. You might find that worth a look.

[@Luke-ji5ws]

@@stravinskyfan but when you learn how to fly like the butterfly, on your instrument, you gain the ability to step into this world of music yourself. I want to understand how to play with chords and improvise as though I'm in the same place as these amazing peices. Such amazing beauty.

[@alexandrugheorghe5610]

​@@Luke-ji5ws then you should check out Nahre Sol's KZbin videos.

[@MattheasBoelter]

Excellent breakdown! I really enjoyed hearing a bit more about the historical context these composers came from! It really helps show why this style is as vibrant as it is. Btw, thumbnail looks great ;)

[@j0hn676]

Faure is also really french sounding but in a different way; his early and mid period works are firmly in the romantic vein, but his later works also take some (not all, the perfect cadence remained in his vocabulary but he made them weaker) of the features of impressionism, with weird voice leading, lack of resolution to dissonances, parallelism, wholetone scales. he did teach ravel, so there's an element of Faure being a precursor to this soundworld too. recommend listening to his later piano works and song cycles, and the piano trio and string quartet

[@simonsmatthew]

Chopin had a large influence on Debussy and Ravel. Although obviously Mazurkas are Polish pastiche, really Chopin was instrumental in developing a French sound. He was based in Paris, lived in France most of his life and father was French. You can see the link with the French chanson, Chopin, Faure, Poulence, Debussy and Ravel. Debussy edited an edition of Chopin's Ballades.

[@vpsaxman]

Really a delight to listen to a narrator so in love with the subject he narrates. Thanks for the great video!

[@PatrickStypinsky]

I remember the first time I heard my brother play Debussy - I spent many nights pleading for him to play while I was falling asleep. It is the music of dreams. Nice video 🙏

[@joycesanders4898]

🎶💤

[@simonsmatthew]

I agree. It is dreamy. The blogger says the music is sad. I disagree. It isn't sad as say Chopin is. For me its very soothing and spiritually fulfilling.

[@lennyturteltaub3576]

Great video! You did an amazing job explaining such complex and subtle pieces. I'd really enjoy watching more videos on early 20th century french composers. A video on Ravel would be great, as he was of course influenced by Debussy but also influenced him in return with pieces like Jeux d'eau (and also because he is my favourite composer ^^). There is so much to be said about his music, which varies from neo classicism (Pavane pour une infante défunte) and impressionism (Miroirs) to jazz (Piano concerto in G) and blues (Violin and Piano sonata no.2), and he would also be a good introduction to great orchestration!

[@Noah-ws8ho]

I feel Liszt is missing here, first and foremost. He wrote the *first* Jeux D'eau, that inspired Ravel's, after all. His experimentation in his last years, in general, is known to have been a major and direct inspiration for impressionistic music. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYixYmuQpNatfdU

[@HotRatsAndTheStooges]

Debussy doesn't sound French. There's literally not one single accordion in any of his pieces.

[@maxalaintwo3578]

yes yes make your baguette jokes.

[@afrosymphony8207]

@@maxalaintwo3578 loooool

[@JamesZ32100]

@Camarade Toff And German lol

[@Ana_crusis]

@Camarade Toff do you wear a stripey t shirt, like Debussy

[@Ana_crusis]

@Camarade Toff so no onions round the neck then? You disappoint me (he said removing his bowler hat)

[@timofeygolev]

We need more channels like this one

[@segmentsAndCurves]

I was not expecting a long video like this, but it certainly blew me away. Great job!

[@segmentsAndCurves]

Also, the Eric Satie drop is so funny!

[@Noah-ws8ho]

I feel this is all very incomplete without the mention of Franz Liszt, a composer that pioneered many of the ideas of french impressionistic music in his last 20 years (well before Satie, mind you), and is well-documented to have been a major inspiration for composers such as Debussy and Ravel, that openly admired his work (and made references to it in their own). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_works_of_Franz_Liszt Listen to the middle section, here, for example, 2:30 onward: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYixYmuQpNatfdU (Both Ravel and Debussy wrote their own Jeux D'eau, in reference to this piece)

[@maxalaintwo3578]

He deserves his own feature-lengths documentary. What a character

[@charlesbluett8195]

Liszt certainly pioneered non-functional harmony. Where Beethoven pioneered the use of diminished modulation Liszt did the same with augmented modulation. He even wrote a "bagatelle sans tonalité". Liszt's water games at la Villa d'Este and even Chopin's barcarolle make use of colourful chord extensions (and not as suspensions) well before either of the composer's in this video.

[@BenjaminGessel]

To be honest folks, I think most people prefer the music of Debussy, etc. (also Satie somewhat, even) over Liszt. Its more of the reason why Liszt gets overlooked, time and time again, even though we all know his piano skill was unsurpassed in his day... Liszt fans are mostly pianists, and tend to be more focused around classical music. Oh sure, you get a few hard rock folks, etc., but not many, with Liszt. Debussy fans are into jazz, world music, easy listening, all KINDS of stuff outside of just classical music. Same deal with Satie (in the Debussy camp). 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

[@geneklee7608]

@@BenjaminGessel It’s the same reason why everyone prefers impressionist painting to romantic and realist art. There’s nothing disturbing in Monet’s art, nothing that requires any historical knowledge or political perspective. One never has to ask “What does this mean?”. No strife, no conflict, no unpleasant emotions, no connection to any particular time, nothing mysterious. This is why it is so easy for so many different people to enjoy his painting.

[@BenjaminGessel]

@@geneklee7608 😊😊😊👌👌👌👌

[@carlosrodriguez414]

Finally, avideo detailing the differences between French and German music, and easy to understamd. Many thanks!

[@domingopartida5812]

Debussy’s use of whole tone scales, eastern influenced scales, and him and Ravel being French, and possibly frenemies, has made their particular style famous. Here’s something interesting, when most people hear Morriconne, an Italian, they think of American cowboys from his music composed for spaghetti westerns.

[@Leonhart_93]

The titles of the Debussy's Preludes are a setting for an amazing atmosphere.

[@willymusic1456]

I find it really interesting to connect Debussy to jazz. You talk about how consonance was re-defined and I think that is essential for jazz music as jazz uses almost every chord under the sun.

[@TheMusicalKnokcers]

yeah debussy was a fucking jazzman he didn't give a fuck about using original chords

[@TheAskald]

Satie saranbandes definitely sound like jazz to me

[@samaritan29]

Could you possibly make a video on a breakdown of romantic Russian classical music...? Like the great romantic russian composers - Balakirev, "The five", Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff. whether it be their use of the Lithurgy from the Russian Orthodox church, russian folk songs, orientalism - what makes their melodies sound distinctly russian?

[@elpidatheo3373]

I would really love that too!

[@jamesongaertner9416]

If you wanna talk about Balakirev and “the five”, you need to talk about Glinka. He largely inspired all of them and laid the foundation for Russian classical music.

[@zackl7467]

Medtner too and feinberg

[@samaritan29]

@@jamesongaertner9416 oh i mean glinka and "the five" i always get him and balakirev mixed up xD

[@brianlaakso1117]

i really enjoyed this video. As a piano player that has played many of the preludes i loved exploring all the different modes and whole tone scales debussy used to create beautiful music. i'm showing this to my sons because it was very helpful in understanding the concepts. thanks

[@simonjarvis6542]

Fantastic video. Thank you. It's strange how the Debussy's radical (as perceived in the early 20th C) ideas and his influence on the development of modern "Classical" music has not perhaps been recognised to the same extent as the 2nd Viennese School. Yet his influence was profound (Ravel, Gershwin, early Bartok, Stravinsky, Messaien, De Falla etc. and some Jazz musicians such as Bill Evans and Eric Dolphy).As well as his novel use of harmony I think his (and Ravel's) timbral subtlety is influential particularly with the likes of Henri Dutilleux and the Spectralism composers. Wow; I've just listed many of my favourite composers,

[@9UaYXxB]

I'm so grateful for 'les impressionistes' ! So full of grace and insight and reverence for this gift of being alive.

[@Apologeticsophist]

Thank you, sir. Such a beautifully expressed and thoroughly researched topic. Well done.

[@cd-gr3wq]

Nice! I'd love a "what makes Isaac Albéniz sound Spanish" video.

[@haraldbe5943]

This video was so incredibly helpful for my music presentation in school. Thank you so much!!!

[@kaylynhtun9495]

yo you just made me so interested in music, its so amazing how this single video can open up worlds you never knew you existed

[@jonathanj5797]

"Germanic composers were the rule-makers" Palestrina: Am I a joke to you?

[@InsidetheScore]

Well yes I was talking post-Bach

[@AEPMUSlC]

xD I've studied his music and it's ridiculous how strict it is but yet it sounds so good.

[@simonsmatthew]

@@AEPMUSlC I think one day Palestrina will be really discovered and become something of a sensation.

[@Xerxes2005]

I have realized that most of my favorite composers are French: Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Fauré, Satie, Debussy. Maybe it's because I have been introduced to classical music with Le Carnaval des Animaux from Saint-Saëns and Le Boléro from Ravel? Éric Satie is an acquired taste though. When I was younger, I thought his Gymnopédie was boring. Now, I listen to it often. That and Gnossienne No1, one of his best, in my opinion.

[@ivanfalloutfoo123]

Really happy to have found your channel, you really inspire true passion in what you're talking in each video, thank you !

[@nicolasdelaforge7420]

I've never understood what the word 'beauty' meant until it was noted, here, in Satie - and onward. Great scholarship... rare level of comprehension... First time I want to thank the presenter. Will watch the rest of your work analysis.

[@kofiLjunggren]

Wow! This was really well done

[@MostlyIC]

this was great, I really appreciated it, as a self-taught adult student of the piano I'm always wondering what the theory is behind what I'm trying to play (I know how chords are named, and things like circle of fifths, II-V-I, etc) but what you explained is something I could not have figured out by myself, many, many thanks. I do hope you do more.

[@TheAskald]

I come back to this video every few months, truly a wonderful creation.

[@markelliottdriver]

Great video, thanks!

[@krzysztofkurylek5594]

Debussy wrote in 1893 "Chabrier, Moussorgsky, Palestrina, voilà ce que j'aime" - they are what I love.

[@Liskafm352]

Your channel deserves a lot more followers. Excellent job. Thank you!

[@its-movietime]

Debussy and Satie should have been included in 'The Death of Melody' video for breaking the pattern of strong melodies.

[@thecozytrader00]

This channel has some deep content, very good content to understant impressionism.

[@agostinho_piano]

Loved the explanation, makes me understand better why I feel such an affinity with french music

[@patriciafantoli1919]

This is my favorite channel!

[@keroykk]

I am amazed by how you managed to sync your speech in introduction and an introduction of Reflets dans l'eau. Loved your video👍

[@ergnoor3551]

I applaud to your work dear friend! Thank you!

[@patpercu]

One of the most pertinent and respectful “exposé” of French music of the beginning of the 20th century. 😍

[@nylonbleu583]

Great vidéo ! I would ad i can feel a lot of japonise shamisen classical music in debussy's piano pieces too. Japan was so in fashion in arts in the turn of this century.

[@allertonoff4]

ProperCool essay .. glad U brought the visual arts into the mix ! :]

[@sirya-bookie9495]

Congratulations on 200,000 subscribers! Here’s to a million!

[@victorsimon5749]

thanks for this video, i would love to hear more analysis as this one

[@SamStormsKBD]

Man, your work here on KZbin is of magnificent valor. Never stop it

[@dimitrismantzounis4234]

great video. enjoyed it greatly

[@J7o7s7e7p7h]

One of the Best Clear Explanation Thank you for sharing your knowledge with everyone on KZbin Thx Bravo!

[@raymondhummel5211]

This video really gets the mind to be open to a different way of scoring music. It is so unique in it's structure. 🗼🗼🗼🎵🎼🎶

[@baoanhvu8356]

I would love to see a video or a series of videos that explains what makes each nation's music unique.

[@anna-mation]

I love the research put into these videos, they're so informative and entertaining...however I really wish the highlighted music samples weren't so quiet compared to the narrator! I had to adjust volume a lot in this one. I could also probably handle slightly more volume on the background music , but I'd really like the "listen to this..." parts to be a bit louder, specifically. Great video, regardless!

[@helenedevys2498]

Je suis tellement fière d'être française quand j'entends les merveilleuses oeuvres de Debussy !

[@maxalaintwo3578]

Chuis étonné que je peux comprendre qu'est-ce que vous dites. Je pense que je deviens meilleur à ecrire et lire français. Ecouter à parlance rapide, sur l'autre main...

[@walther2273]

@aSCent_ICO 🤣 ce troll

[@walther2273]

@aSCent_ICO non

[@otomj]

Et moi je suis fier d'être français quand je vois ce commentaire :)

[@cherigrubbs9628]

Yes, so you should! 😊 Debussy has been my favourite since I was a young girl, and that was very many years ago. If I could play only his works on my piano, I would still be satisfied! I am also happy we share a birthday (August 22)

[@jsc5492]

One of the more interesting KZbin didactic musical posts. As you say yourself, one can not present everything in 17 minutes, but one may find some of the remarks simplistic, others unjustified and some important omissions. An enjoyable video and clear presentation. - Bach is not at the origin of major/minor tonality or the use of perfect cadences. Nor did he arrive in a sort of virgin birth. We know his important antecedents. - Does a perfect cadence need a dominant 7th? You have possibly treated the subject elsewhere, but one can't help feeling that the most important of its features is its conclusiveness, owing to the progression of the bass notes Dominant-Tonic. - I don't think you make mention of harmonic progression, only the traditional need to resolve tension. If the nature of a 9th or 13th chord is dissonant, the "sound" of Debussy is to be found partly in harmonic progression. - But also in his melodies, orchestration, as well as a French tendancy (which originated long before Debussy) to prefer repetition and variation to thematic and structural development. - Not much is taught in our universities and conservatoires of the harmonic system of Gabriel Fauré (Born some 17 years before Debussy) . He was simultaneously a French 'Institution', but also a sensitive musician whose works are too infrequently performed (apart from the ubiquitous Requiem and a few of his Mélodies). - I lost count of the times you associate "impressionistic" painting with music. It seems almost indoctrination. As if, for example 19th Century French authors and poets had not influenced composers. While Impressionism is generally taught to have been initiated on the Normandy coast, one should also look to John Turner's paintings and William Blake's coloured engravings. Was England too obsessed by nationalism to have many Impressionistic composers. - The final defeat of Napoléon Bonaparte by the Allied European Nations was a stunning blow to every single French Citizen. Humiliation. Poverty. An out-of-work army, a denial of France's capacity to be a Great Nation. That Prussia alone could again defeat the French in 1871 (as you mention) was yet another cruel blow to national pride. Loss of French territory in the East until 1918! Poets like Baudelaire worked in the mode "Spleen", a sadness generated by defeat. Composers sought refuge in the Bombastic Nationalism (Berlioz) or in writing light pieces for the theatre and opera. - Very good point that Wagner in his search for through-composed operas avoided the 'full stop' of perfect cadences in his mature works. - Robin Holloway's "Debussy and Wagner" publ. Eulenberg 1979 make a good case for the unexpected influence of the older composer on the younger. It is worth noting that Debussy attended the Bayreuth Festival with many of his young contemporaries, but later as music critic, Monsieur Croche) heavily criticised Wagner. - Lastly, in Debussy's day, the orchestra sounded differently! Not only were there gut strings, but a French harp, flute, saxophone, horn were not only made differently from their European rivals, but was played differently. French "sound" comes from this fact coupled with degree of vibrato, emphasis on the production of special registers (the lower octave of the flute for example). So you're quite right to want to amplify your remarks in other videos. Other questions are raised as riders. Does D. Scarlatti sound Italian? German? Spanish? Saint-Saëns and Magnard wrote some marvellous and well-structured symphonies. Do they sound French? German? Impressionistic? Romantic? Nationalist? Does Bach sound German ??? United Germany exists only since 1871. United Italy only since 1861. Could they be said to have composers with national sounds?

[@johnmarraffa5079]

Just as I never tire of listening to the music of Debussy, I can't get my fill of analysis of his works and his style. Thank you. This was enjoyable on its own and left me wanting more.

[@ulianasadova7438]

I never knew I needed this video so much! Thanks man!

[@corrinneloudon525]

Thank you, this is eye and ear opening!

[@hl4292]

This was such a fascinating video. Love your work!

[@SuzanaMantovaniCerqueira]

Tension and Resolution… Indeed. Incomparable. It is simply: delicate. What it doesn’t mean fragile. Musics always goes in certain places of soul we never knew they exist. A canvas can do the same, if we have time enough to appreciate and to “translate” it. Good video. It has brought us an Interesting comparison of style.

[@hannahausbandscheidt375]

This was fascinating! Thank you!

[@Blakemarble]

So happy someone is making videos like this. Thank you! ❤

[@srothbardt]

Excellent lecture video!

[@ChrisChapin_chapes]

Thank you for the content, it is so thoroughly crafted I think I can sink in to each sentence. Super impressive and a huge inspiration

[@rixtafford]

When I was in high school (more than a half century ago now) I bought RCA Victrola records of Debussy’s Three Nocturnes for orchestra, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite-essentially a French piece too. I listened to them countless times. “Nuages” from the Three Nocturnes is still the most evocative piece of orchestration that I’ve ever heard. The thing that strikes me now is how emotional my response was to this music. This music moved me way more than stuff that was supposed to be emotional like Schumann, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, etc. I felt that this music was written for me. There is one pre-Satie work that has always struck me as French and that’s the Requiem by Gabriel Faure.

[@maribelfarnsworth4565]

I'm glad to see someone at last mentioning Fauré (a graduate of the École Niedermeyer., not the Conservatoire), because he's another composer who to me has always sounded distinctively French - and not just in the Requiem. The un-Germanic combination of modal harmony and chromatic tonal fluidity in his writing is evident in the Requiem and increasingly throughout his compositional career (another notable example in the song cycle La Bonne Chanson).

[@Baggydawg1]

Amazing video, thank you for this wonderful breakdown of one of my favourite composers!

[@elPiponsio]

What an interesting video man, please do more with this style, great stuff

[@Giancarlo_DellErnia]

What a wonderful video. Thank you so much!

[@lelouchlamperouge7883]

Fascinating video! Thank you for your work

[@vaneyck8186]

Perfect Videography,love the video man

[@colinburgess7728]

T his is life-changing for me, a 60s rock muso who loves Bach Mozart and Beethoven. I am going to listen t this music with new ears and incorporate it into my future compositions. Many many thanks

[@lacrimatorium]

Interestingly while influenced by Impressionism, and often called Impressionism in music, more and more I see these as connected to the Symbolist Movement. That languorous luxurious sound fits the world of Dorian Gray or Des Esseintes, with a trace of orchid and the strange paintings of Redon.

[@simonjarvis6542]

I tend to agree. Also I believe Debussy did not like being compared to the Impressionist painters.

[@JoshuaSmith-kl1io]

Thank you! I was looking for the "Debussy was a symbolist, not impressionist" comments

[@simonsmatthew]

Yes I agree. Particularly Debussy. He was very interested in eastern philosophy. It is more about 'being in the moment' rather than classical development and resolution. Ravel was quite different; he was more a classicist particularly in regard to structure. He said his music was "pure Mozart". A lot of his pieces for example are in Sonata or rondo form.

[@simonsmatthew]

@@simonjarvis6542 He was a great admirer of Turner. But his music does evoke imagery and he was happy with that observation. He objected to the use of the term Impressionism as it was then used. People now say that his stated aims are very similar to impressionist painters.

[@brianmegyessi6224]

This was fascinating!

[@bjb0808]

Beautifully done.

[@davidmorris8319]

This video is so well made! Great to just listen to, like a calming podcast. You did a great job breaking down Debussy without taking the wonder away from his work. And while I agree that this is a sound that in the context of history we would call distinctly french, i’d argue that french composers before that, especially since the baroque period, had their own handwriting as well. Western music didn’t start with Bach. In the 16th and 17th century, Italy, France, England and Germany were all inventive in their own ways. And while they played by the same rules, which by the way were to a significant part progressed in Italy around 1600 with the seconda pratica by Monteverdi, regional variants occured everywhere. Just think oft he french Grande Opéra in later centuries, that was completely different in style, matter and sound. I think for the most part it’s most realistic to just view european music history as one big continuous evolution and not even only credit one country for it's invention, like you did with germany in this video (german composers were without a doubt very influential). The 20th century broke with tradition in many senses, but that’s not exclusive to France either. The „zweite Wiener Schule“ around Schönberg in Vienna did basically the same thing; breaking the rules for the sake of it and finding new ways to create interest. So again, i’d argue that it’s a pan-european development that has certain regional flavors that all influence each other. Music never existed in a vacuum. Exchange and reciprocal inspiration is a great thing! It’s almost sad to me how modern musicians try to always stress how unique and differnt they are. We all work with the same tools to create the same effect: touch people with sound. To me it’s more about who uses the given tools best, as opposed to who uses what tools. It’s a beautiful thing, and we shouldn’t waste our energies on insisting on differneces, but that’s a whole other discussion.

[@marcusvoght]

Wow! Well done. This is one of the best videos on your channel. Bravo!

[@georgekirazian5591]

Incredible analysis. Thank you so much for posting....

[@MrKeithterrett]

An excellent video thanks for making & positing.

[@jacobg1219]

So glad i found this video. Am doing my french irp on impressionism

[@foreignparticle1320]

When I was discovering classical music as an adolescent, the "l'apres-midi" literally changed my life. Once I heard it, I was attached to the composer forever, and it ruined all other composers for me. My classical CD collection was eventually augmented by large helpings of Stravinsky and Ravel, but Debussy has been my bar against which all music is measured - including every other genre.

[@vaughangarrick]

That charming quirkiness one can still hear in scores such as Amélie. And the opening flute of L'apres that jumps up and down on the augmented 4th

[@AkiMoonlight]

Great video, very inspiring! I want more!!

[@chessematics]

1:48 it just STINKS to see Wagner in the same frame as Bach and Beethoven

[@petitoiseaubleu]

I enjoyed this video a lot. Thank you! 🙏🏻

[@telaim]

Bravo! Beautiful and very intersting text , thank you

[@composer7325]

thank you for this excellent video.