To what extent is Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande
1. Introduction
Wagners Operntherie
Vergleich der Inhalte die
Zwischenspiele
Leitmotivik Zusammenfassung
„Though his [Debussy's] attitude to Wagner, ranging as it did from early devotion to later hostility, was unbalanced in both directions, in his music he is the one composer who, neither resisting Wagner's sway nor succumbing slavishly to it, eventually produces music which while it is extraordinarily original and masterly in its own terms, could none the less not have existed were it not for Wagner's example." (Holloway 1979, p.14)
„That Wagner is the most profound influence in Debussy's life and music is still insufficiently recognized. [...] Wagner never let him go." (Holloway 1979, p.21)
These two characteristics, Wagner's influence on Debussy and at the same time his established anti-Wagnerism when he composed Pelleas, are important facts, that make the question if or to what extent Pelleas et Melisande is a post Wagnerian opera a most obvious and interesting one.
2. Wagner's theory of opera
Before discussing if or to what extent Pelleas is a post Wagnerian opera, it is essential to know what Wagner's theory of opera was at all. This is best described in Wagner's work Oper und Drama.
Wagner's goal was to reach an ideal of unity. He wanted to replace the old stage unities of time, space and action by a new unity of expression. This unity of expression was to be achieved by the orchestra, which has a superior role and is „the central protagonist, expressing everything, understanding and commenting upon everything that, in the drama, remains latent." (Holloway 1979, p.53) Poetry, music and all subsidiary arts should be combined by the orchestra.
Wagner's central concern was the achievement of full expression by means of music and orchestra. His major technical means was the leitmotif system.
3. Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande
3.1 The Plot
In general the plot of Pelleas is very basic and not complicated at all. The interaction of the characters is minimal and the psychology of the opera happens in the orchestra. The orchestra has therefore, without doubt, a superior role. This is surely a totally Wagnerian characteristic, which can not be denied.
Robin Holloway compared the plot of Pelleas with Wagner's Tristan in a more specific way: „The outer events of Tristan und Isolde and Pelleas et Melisande are far from dissimilar-„ (Holloway 1979, p.60); this quote refers to the two love affairs in the operas, which have indeed about the same action. Holloway continues: „Pelleas takes its plot from the central action of Tristan and its subject-matter from Tristan's peripheries." (p.74) And, finally, he states thst the outside world in both operas hardly exists and is not important.
Considering these statements it seems as if Debussy took a lot of the plot in Pelleas out of Tristan.
But besides these similarities in the outer events, Holloway also recognizes that there's a difference in the interior plot of both operas, as Tristan und Isolde is all about passion, where Pelleas is about loneliness and a lack of emotion. And furthermore one should keep in mind that the author of Pelleas is not Debussy, but Maurice Maeterlinck.
The interludes
The orchestra has a superior role in Pelleas. But to see how
much Wagner really is in Debussy's Pelleas, one has to examine the
interludes and the use of leitmotifs as well.
Holloway calls the interludes in Pelleas a „fertile ground
for demonstrating Debussy's use of Wagnerian reminisence". (Holloway 1979,
p.76) One reason for that could be, that the interludes in Pelleas
were written in a hurry and, as Holloway explains, „Debussy turned to Wagner
when pressed for time." (p.76)
However, the first interlude in Act 1 of Pelleas gives an obvious example of the Wagnerian Debussy when comparing it with Wagner's Parsifal (example 1). Here Debussy uses nearly the same rhythmic pattern, only on a different beat. „The characteristic difference is for Wagner to make out of this rhythm a constantly-evolving structural span, while Debussy's use of it is fleeting and transitory - he evokes a march but does not write one." (Holloway 1979, p.76f)
More of these „Wagnerian interludes" can be found throughout Pelleas. (see Holloway 1979, p.76-95)
3.2.2 The use of leitmotif
If Debussy used leitmotifs in Pelleas has been very controversial. Although the „majority of critics detected no leitmotifs" (Grayson 1983, p.229), there is also the opinion that „the composer has used all of the resources of the leitmotif, but in his own manner, which is the most delicate, fine, and subtle" (Grayson 1983, p.230) and, finally, Debussy himself „acknowledged that there was a theme which accompanied Melisande throughout the opera." (Grayson 1983, p.231)
However, it seems to be obvious that Debussy used leitmotifs in Pelleas, although they don't have to be called leitmotifs (Lawrence Gilman called them „sound wraith" indentifying 19 of them in Pelleas (Grayson 1983, p.232)). But he „used his themes in a far more subtle and sparing way than did his predecessors." (Grayson 1983, p.233)
Three of the leitmotifs that occur throughout the opera are for Mellisande (example 2), Goulaud (example 3) and Pelleas (example 4). But some critics identified them differently, p.e. Gilman identified the leitmotif of Golaud (example 3) as the leitmotif of Fate (Grayson 1983, p.234).
To what extent Pelleas et Mellisande is a post Wagnerian opera can be answered in two ways: pro-Debussy or pro-Wagner.
The pro-Debussy answer is that Pelleas is not a post Wagnerian opera because, although there are some similarities to Wagner, the whole opera is too different from any Wagnerian opera. One of the major differnences is the harmony: Debussy's creation of a French, subtle and rhythm-changing musical labguage in Pelleas contradicts with the German Wagnerian musical style. And, finally, the length of any Wagnerian opera overcomes Pelleas without any problem.
Supporting this pro-Debussy attitude, Holloway quotes the Short History of Opera: „the final score cannot be said to owe anything to Wagner beyond the orchestral continuity, the use of leitmotifs, and the exclusion of all ornamental details." (in Holloway 1979, p.55)
The pro-Wagner answer is that the similarities to any Wagnerian opera are fundamental and obvious: the use of leitmotifs, the superior role of the orchestra, the minimal plot. Holloway himself prefers the pro-Wagner answer as well:
Bibliography:
Grayson, David A.: The Genesis of Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, UMI Research Press, Michigan 1983.
Holloway, Robin: Debussy and Wagner, Eulenburg Books, London 1979.