The Development of Harmony from Schumann through Brahms to Debussy

The Development of Harmony from Schumann through Brahms to Debussy

In studying three composers, Schumann, Brahms and Debussy, it is

possible through analysis, to construct a Harmonic development through

time - from early 1800's to early 1900's. I will go about deducing a

harmonic timeline by individually looking at each composer then will

conclude with a final comparison summarizing how different harmonic

elements develop with the Romantic Movement and its progression.

The harmonic journey will start with Schumann's Kinderszenen, or

Scenes from Childhood. This is a set of thirteen reminiscences of

childhood, written during a temporary separation from Clara. They are

works about children, rather than music written for children, and

require a high degree of polish to perform them. It is interesting as

the two sides of Schumann's personality can be depicted in his

Kinderszenen for instance in the 13th movement Frightening, one could

say that Eusebius is scared by Florestan in random bursts. The

harmony in these pieces play a large part in distinguishing between

the personalities, for instance in Frightening, section A Is mostly

homophonic with mainly conjunct harmonic movement. Section B,

however, doesn’t move in one functional unit, with the melody in the

left hand and chords in the right hand - this top heavy harmony

creates juxtaposition, magnifying the sense of craziness and vigour

that is a trait of Florestan's personality.

In "Of foreign lands and Peoples" section A's harmonic texture is

flipped upside-down in section B, with the theme in the bass and with

crochets throbbing in the upper part. Indeed, both A and section...

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...ignature of four sharps, the music never settles comfortably in

E major or c-sharp minor, with many more keys suggested than actually

reached; this is heightened by his general avoidance of 'traditional'

diatonic cadences.

Debussy is representing the latter end of the harmonic development and

it has been interesting to depict this evolution from Schumann through

Brahms to Debussy's Sarabande, exploring the ways the composers

innovated previous works, creating new experiences for the audience.

The fundamental developments are the depth of texture, the use and

building up of different intervals, the movement of the parts on top

of one another and finally the harmonic movement through keys; be it

ambiguous (Debussy), established via writing around the key (Brahms)

or a cocktail of diatonic and tonal writing (Schumann).