Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” is a piano suite composed under the effect of musical impressionism. As one of the basic elements of music, the rhythm used in the suite is irregular and does not repeat itself. Instead, it flows smoothly but also unexpectedly which defies the conventional ways of listening to music. Secondly, the harmony in the suite accounts for the unexpectedness created by the irregular and ever-increasing rhythm of the suite. So, along with other musical features such as timbres and textures, the song uses these two elements to give an overall impression of a moonlight scene.
As for the mood of the song, it is relaxing at the first listening. However, with a more attentive ear, it feels thrilling after some point because of the increasing rhythm. But it is a kind of thrill that you can find relax in it. This oxymoronic “thrillingly relax” mood is achieved through the conflict of an irregular rhythm and a smoothly flowing harmony. Also, it makes the line between reality and fantasy for the listener as it takes them to a “perfect setting of a moonlight depicted through music”. With this regard, the mood of the song can also be interpreted as somehow transcendental.
Furthermore, this song can be regarded as both Apollonian and Dionysian for various reasons. First of all, it is, in a way, experimental and uses notes to create a scene of moonlight. This is a logical and even scientific approach towards the art of music. Secondly and moreover, the song is too sentimental, and the song take the person to an aethereal world. This supernatural effect and the quality of being sentimental can also render the song as a Dionysian piece of suite with all of its irrationality. Also, this song belongs to a school known as musical impressionism. Impressionism in arts can broadly be defined as a school which seeks an overall impression of the paintings. Namely, the artist uses some techniques such as blurring the background or manipulating the light so that the viewers do not pick one aspect of the painting to adore but gets an overall impression of the painting. In this sense, Clair de Lune fits the definition in that it is harmonic despite the irregularities and this harmony forces listeners to have an overall impression of the song rather than focusing to a part of it.
However, the fact that this song can be classified as an impressionist work as in the arts does not mean that the classifications in art and music correspond to each other in every occasion. Different disciplines have their own distinct qualities and techniques and even if they fit the general framework of a school of art, their detailed principles will not fit into the categorization. For example, impressionist paintings make use of the colors to create their impressionist effect and in musical impressionism, the timbres of music are associated with the colors in impressionism in arts. However, this method tries to bypass this classification problem, timbres cannot account for the real colors in art. Therefore, I hold the opinion that academicians are inclined to classify in every discipline with the same frameworks, which is not a promising act at all.
References
Brynside, R. (1980). Musical impressionism: The early history of the term. The Musical Quarterly, LXVI(4),
522–537. https://doi.org/10.1093/mq/lxvi.4.522
Matthys, N. (2020). Impressionism: A Comparison of the Stylistic Characteristics of the Movement in
Music and the Visual Arts (Doctoral dissertation).