Les cloches

Perhaps not as well known today, especially in company with a poet like Verlaine, Paul Bourget penned some of the finest verse of his era, and Debussy’s response to these texts are similarly some of the best in the repertory. One of his earliest and most atmospheric songs is the setting of Bourget’s “Beau soir” (1880). A decade later the composer returned to Bourget with Deux romances (1891); we will hear the second, “Les cloches.” The rocking, repetitive accompaniment is not an original way to imitate bells, although it is effective. My interest looks toward pacing of drama, and these are typically coordinated with highpoints in the melodic line. Note Debussy’s control of register as the phrases unfold: first reaching an E, later an F-sharp, and finally—at the expressive crux of the entire song—a high G-sharp. From this highpoint the vocal line descends to a low G-natural. This give-and-take between G and G-sharp produces a minor-to-major reversal over the final words, which refer to the faded beauty of “days gone by” (des jours d’autrefois).

(c) Jason Stell