Beau Soir by Claude Debussy
Form Analysis
“Beau Soir” is one of Claude Debussy’s most beloved art songs (mélodie in French). Based on a poem by Paul Bourget, the song exemplifies Debussy’s early impressionistic style, which he developed further in his later works.
Lyrics
By Paul Bourget
Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses,
Et qu’un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,
Un conseil d’être heureux semble sortir des choses
Et monter vers le cœur troublé;
Un conseil de goûter le charme d’être au monde
Cependant qu’on est jeune et que le soir est beau,
Car nous nous en allons, comme s’en va cette onde:
Elle à la mer — nous au tombeau!
English translation © Richard Stokes
When at sunset the rivers are pink
And a warm breeze ripples the fields of wheat,
All things seem to advise content —
And rise toward the troubled heart;
Advise us to savour the gift of life,
While we are young and the evening fair,
For our life slips by, as that river does:
It to the sea — we to the tomb.
Form
The form of “Beau Soir” is through-composed (durchkomponiert), meaning that the music is composed from beginning to end without repetitions of large sections, though there are motifs and harmonies that recur throughout the piece. This form allows the music to follow the text closely, reflecting each nuance and shift in the poetry.
Here’s how the form and the music reflect the text of “Beau Soir”:
1. Introduction: The piano begins with a flowing, arpeggiated figure that sets the scene. It gives an impression of a serene evening with its rippling effect, much like the reflections on a calm body of water at sunset.
2. First Verse: As the vocal line enters, Debussy uses the piano to provide a harmonic foundation that is both fluid and evocative. The melody in the voice is lyrical and expansive, following the natural inflections of the French text, which speaks of a peaceful evening where the rivers are tinged with gold.
3. Second Verse: The music transitions seamlessly into the second verse. The piano part remains similar, but the melody often reaches higher, reflecting the lifting of the text. Here, the singer speaks of the comparison between the inevitable flow of water to the sea and the human fate to return to the heavens.
4. Climax: There is often a climactic point in the song where the music reaches a peak, both dynamically and in terms of pitch. This moment coincides with the text’s metaphor of life’s sorrows being sweet if one looks at them as a rest from labor.
5. Conclusion: The song concludes with a return to the tranquility of the opening. The piano postlude often mirrors the introduction, bringing the song full circle and ending on a note of calm resignation, much like the serene acceptance of the evening and the metaphorical twilight of life in the poem.
Throughout “Beau Soir,” Debussy’s harmonic language is rich and fluid, filled with modality and unconventional chord progressions, which was a hallmark of his style. The music closely mirrors the poem’s text, with the piano and vocal parts intricately interwoven to create a unified, impressionistic tapestry. The art song is a fine example of Debussy’s ability to fuse text and music into a seamless whole, and the form is critical in achieving this synthesis.
