Musical Syntax in the Sonatas of Debussy: Phrase Structure and Formal Function

Abstract

The articulative meaning of Classical musical syntax—of the elements of the sentence, period, and hybrid—is significantly modified in the late chamber sonatas of Debussy through the vivid colors of turn-of-the-century modal-chromatic language. Analytic correlation of tonal design with harmonic organization and melodic segmentation demonstrates Debussy's persistent preference for asymmetrical and open-ended phrase structures, marked with novel divergent or half-cadences, and for the augmentation of syntactical units. Debussy's musical narrative of expressive gestures, recalling the “loose construction” (William Caplin) of Classical syntax, invites a comparison of initial statements with their later transformation and suggests new, emerging interpretations of formal function and expressive import.

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