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Candidate no. A E 1 3 9 4 0 (This can be found on Student Records)

Module Title: Opera Studies

Module Code:
5AAMS260
(e.g. 5AABC123 )

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Essay Question 5:

Explore the relationship between French Opera and the Symbolist Movement.

You should reference specific people and operas as relevant.

Essay Title:

Symbolism, Semiotics, and French Opera

1. Introduction

1.1 Abstract

This essay examines the relationship between the Symbolist Movement and French Opera through

the lens of semiotics. With focus on Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and Vincent d’Indy’s Fervaal,

this essay explores how each piece creates and uses symbolism with semiotics helping as a guide for close

analysis.

1.2 The Symbolist Movement

Most closely linked to late 19th century literature with French and Belgian poets: Stéphane Mallarmé

(1842-1898), Gustave Kahn (1859-1936), and Émile Verhaeren (1855-1916), the symbolism represented a

new movement within literature and the arts1. Key artists linked to the movement included: Paul Gauguin

(1848-1903) and Émile Bernard (1868-1941). Within the arts, symbolism acted as a:

‘…reaction against the pragmatic realism of Courbet and impressionism.’2

In his article in The Musical Quarterly, Musical Symbolism, Henry Prunières notes that some of the French

musicians whose music fit most strongly under 19 th century symbolism were Claude Debussy (1862-1918),

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), and Vincent d’Indy (1851-1931) 3. In particular, Debussy and d’Indy provide

strong examples of French symbolistic opera, and the basis of this essay.

1.3 Symbolism and Semiotics

While the study of symbols is referred to as Symbology, it is often closely discussed in relation to

Semiotics. Often linked to visual and linguistic sources, Semiotics is the study of signs 4. On the topic of

symbols, Charles Sanders Peirce (A pioneer in the General Theory of Signs, Semiotics)5 states:

1
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Symbolism,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica (London: Encyclopaedia Britannica,
November 29, 2023), https://www.britannica.com/art/Symbolism-literary-and-artistic-movement.
2
The Editors of Oxford Reference, “Symbolism,” in World Encyclopedia (Philip’s, 2004),
https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001.
3
Henry Prunières and Theodore Baker, ‘Musical Symbolism’, The Musical Quarterly 19, no. 1 (1933): 18–28,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/738820.
4
The Editors of Oxford Reference, ‘Semiotics (Semiology) ’, Oxford Reference, 7 January 2014,
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001/acref-9780199546091-e-10459?
rskey=LNuT5A&result=7.
5
Robert Burch, ‘Charles Sanders Peirce’, in Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy , ed. Edward N. Zalta and Uri Nodelman, 27
December 2023, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/#prag.
 ‘All words, sentences, books, and other conventional signs are symbols.’6

In later volumes of his Collected Papers, Peirce expands on Symbols. Noting that a symbol is a sign whose:

‘…special significance or fitness to represent just what it does represent lies in nothing but the very

fact of there being a habit, disposition, or other effective general rule that it will be so interpreted.’

(Volume.4)

Thus, a symbol must exist in a constant state of the relation and context to something other than itself 7.

Which is the intention behind the symbolist movement. For instance, in the painting Oedipus and the Sphinx

(1864), by symbolist artist Gustave Moreau, there is a symbolic representation of man resisting the

temptations and seductions of the material world (figure.1) 8. With the Sphinx acting as a portrayal of

seduction and the crown, with the Sphinx’s previous dismembered victims (bottom right), representing

material temptations. Also, among these symbols, is a fig tree (bottom left) which represents worthlessness

and wickedness9. These images act as good examples of symbols following Peirce’s writings. Although the

fig tree is not inherently seen as a worthless or wicked object, biblically due to the baren fig tree on Mount

Olivet (Mark 11: 20-33). Therefore, in this essay, symbols will be seen as an expansion of signs and relate

directly to semiotic theory.

Figure.1 – Oedipus and the Sphinx by Gustave Moreau.

6
Charles Sanders Peirce, Collected Papers , vol. 2 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press , 1958).
7
H. H. Price, Thinking and Experience , 2nd ed. (London: Hutchinson, 1969).
8
Gustave Moreau, ‘Oedipus and the Sphinx’, The Met, 1864, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437153.
9
William W McLane, ‘A Christian Conception of Sin’, The Biblical World 25, no. 1 (1905): 46–51,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141296.
1.4 Opera and Semiotics

Opera helps connect auditory based music to the linguistical and visual study of semiotics through its

libretto and staging. For the average unprepared listener, symbolism in purely instrumental music may easily

go unnoticed. In Signs of Music: A Guide to Musical Semiotics 10, Eero Tarasti tries to justify a reference to

the biblical cross in the subject of J. S. Bach’s C-sharp minor fugue, from Book I of Bach’s Well-Tempered

Clavier11. Figure.2 is taken from Signs of Music as it presents the subject. Tarasti pairs the notes by length

and position within the subject. He then uses the intervals between the individual notes within each pair to

10
Eero Tarasti, Signs of Music : A Guide to Musical Semiotics, 3rd ed., vol. 1 (Berlin/Boston, GERMANY: De Gruyter, Inc., 2002),
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kcl/detail.action?docID=3043060.
11
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well - Tempered Clavier Books I and II, Complete, ed. Saul Novack, 14th ed. (New York: Dover
Publications, Inc., 1742).
give a crossing of pairs. For instance, from C-sharp to D-sharp there is a major second (tone) which is

crossed by the diminished fourth, created by the movement from B-sharp to E-natural. This, to Tarasti,

symbolised Christianity through the cross and Jesus’ crucifixion.

Figure.2 – The Subject from J. S. Bach’s C-sharp minor fugue (Book I, WTC).

It is a rule that a symbol must exist if it references something other than itself. Thus, there must exist

a group people who know about the symbol, the symbolised, and their relationship in order for the symbol to

exist. Yet, with purely instrumental music, this poses a problem. The audience’s understanding may be

limited due to the expected small group of people “in the know.” As, a listener must possess a good ear,

basic understanding of music theory, and knowledge on Christianity if they are able to grasp a hold onto the

symbol. With the additions of linguistics and visual settings, the group size of people who know about the

symbol, symbolised, and their relationship, increases. This is due to the fact that the group of people who

know about the subject most likely learned the subject through linguist (written or oral) and/or through

visual sources. Thus, Opera can engage wider with the symbolist movement as it incorporates literature and

art and engages symbolically with a larger audience.

2. Analysis

2.1 Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande

The strongest link Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande has to the symbolist movement is derived from its

libretto, which is based upon symbolist writer Maurice Maeterlinck’s play of the same name. Pelléas was the

fifth of Maeterlinck’s first series of plays written in the 1890s.

In fact, Debussy went to see the stage premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande. In a note written by Debussy, Why I

Wrote Pelléas (April 1902), he delves into what attracted him to the text:
 ‘I wanted music to have freedom… …not limited to a more or less exact representation of nature, but

rather to the mysterious affinity between Nature and the Imagination.’12

These are the same qualities which hold this play and Maeterlinck quite highly, in a symbolic sense.

When discussing symbols in Pelléas et Mélisande, Richard Langham Smith introduces the term

leitmotif13. This term originated from criticisms of Wagner’s music and is a musical theme that is used as a

symbol14. Smith states there are two main types of leitmotifs in Wagner’s music: character-leitmotifs and

idea-leitmotifs. With character-leitmotifs used usually in Wagner’s early operas to the signify the arrival of

or the allusion to a specific character, often with several leitmotifs throughout the opera for each different

significant character. Smith notes that Debussy took in an interest in the other type of leitmotif, idea-

leitmotif, which he notes to have originated from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Instead of signifying a

character, these leitmotifs symbolised a different idea or theme within the work.

From the immediate beginning of the opera, we are introduced with the first leitmotif, which

symbolises the setting of the opera. This leitmotif focuses on the mediaeval and fantastical reality of the

opera. In figure.3 we can see this initial leitmotif repeated in bars 1-4. Smith notes how Debussy shapes the

leitmotif to suit the setting:

‘This timeless association comes more from the harmony… …a pseudo-mediaeval sounding

alternation of an open fifth on D to a flattened antique leading-note on C-natural.’

This open harmony also helps project the opening forest scene, making the forest seem vast and wide. The

use of the open perfect fifth interval, as it is the second interval in the overtone series (figure.4), accentuates

the forest and nature feel of the opera. In these first 4 bars, Debussy spells out each chord in conjunction

with the overtone series (the interval between each chord tone and the root of the chord is the same as the

overtone series, omitting the fundamental), which furthers the natural feel of the piece.

Figure.3 – The first 11 bars of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande (Piano reduction).

12
Claude Debussy, Pourquoi j’ai Écrit Pelléas (Why I Wrote Pelléas), ed. Richard Langham Smith and François Lesure, April 1902
(Ithaca: Debussy on Music , 1977).
13
Roger Nicholas and Richard Langham Smith, ‘Motives and Symbols ’, in Claude Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande (Cambridge :
University of Cambridge , 1989), 78–106.
14
Arnold Whittall, ‘Leitmotif ’, in Grove Music Online , 20 January 2001,
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-
0000016360.
Figure.4 – The Overtone Series beginning of C-natural.

Jennifer Lea Brown notes that Debussy often uses static motion to symbolise the helplessness, fear,

and acceptance within the characters 15. Although, this should still be noted as idea-leitmotif rather than

character-leitmotif, as character-leitmotif signifies a character as a whole and idea-leitmotif symbolises

different themes surrounding a character. For instance, in Act III, scene 2 (figure.5), there is an example of

harmonic static motion. This scene involves Golaud delivering a hidden threat to Pelléas, in which Pelléas

almost paralyses with fear. Brown notes that at this moment, Debussy pauses the harmonic movement.

Instead of shifting chords, he opts for a repeated E-flat and F alternation with E-flat above. This static

harmonic movement emulates the emotions felt on stage by Pelléas. When detailing this threat, Golaud’s

melody is also somewhat static, which symbolises the inhumane, mechanical, and militaristic, like fashion
15
Jennifer Lea Brown, ‘Debussy and Symbolism: A Comparative Study of the Aesthetics of Claude Debussy and Three French
Symbolist Poets with an Analysis of Debussy’s Symbolist Techniques in “Pelleas et Melisande”’ (D.M.A, Stanford University ,
1992).
he displays his power. Furthermore, Golaud’s melody, although somewhat static, does have a gradual rise,

indicating that he feels some sort of pleasure in this threatening display.

Figure.5 – Two bars before figure 29 in Pelléas16

This insight into Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande shows how Debussy took a technique from Wagner

and shaped it to fit onto the symbolist movement’s style. The use of a leitmotif in the immediate beginning

of the piece, in the context of nature and the forest, reveals to the audience the symbolistic musicality of the

composition. The additional use of static harmony and lack of movement to symbolise the theme of fear in

Pelléas gives the piece an impressionistic feel. It is clear to see how Debussy uses the symbolistic traits to

explore and push emotion in this opera.

2.2 d’Indy’s Fervaal

The opera Fervaal (premiered 1897) was only composed by the French Vincent d’Indy, but he also

wrote the libretto17. This opera follows the tragedy of Gauls Fervaal, the son of a Celtic king, who falls in

love with Guilhen, a Saracen. In order to fulfil Fervaal’s prophesy he must renounce his love for Guilhen.

Similar to Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Fervaal uses leitmotifs. One of the uses of leitmotifs is

for the musical representation of religion in the opera. For instance, d’Indy composed six religious’ themes,

16
Claude Debussy, Pelléas et Mélisande , First Edition (Paris : E. Fromont , 1902).
17
Micheal Kennedy and Joyce Bourne Kennedy, ‘Vincent D’Indy’, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music (Oxford University
Press, 2007), https://doi.org/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104747209.
five of which are linked to the Celtic ‘druidic ritualism,’ with the other representing Christianity 18. Figure.6

shows three of these Celtic leitmotifs which seem to explore the same interval, a seventh (A – minor

seventh, B – major seventh, C – minor seventh). This interval represents the struggle Fervaal faces

throughout the opera: the wanting to fulfil the prophecy and help his people, yet never reaching his target.

This incompletion is a characteristic of the seventh interval as it wants to resolve upwards to an octave, but it

never does. In this example the interval of a seventh is seen as a symbol. This is especially apparent in Celtic

leitmotif A, as the leitmotif goes through all of the members of a E minor natural scale (apart from F-sharp),

but omits the octave E. In fact, the longest held note, discounting the first and last, in the leitmotif is D,

which stresses Fervaal’s close proximity to the completion of his prophecy. The leitmotif A also begins with

the dominant and ends on the dominant which, similar to a seventh, the dominant chord wants to resolve to a

Tonic through a perfect cadence.

Figure.6 – 3 Celtic leitmotifs from d’Indy’s Fervaal

Throughout the opera d’Indy uses these different Celtic leitmotif symbols to represent the religious

aspects of the work. They are also used to symbolised the different emotions felt by Fervaal on the subject of

the Celtics. As Vincent d’Indy wrote the libretto himself, he has more artistic freedom to adjust the story to

fit the symbolist movement’s themes. This is evident as the piece is not based upon a common story or myth

or religious text. Instead, the piece is based in another reality, again similar to Pelléas et Mélisande.

3. Conclusion

18
Manuela Schwartz, ‘Symbolic Structures and Elements in the Opera Fervaal of Vincent d’Indy’, Contemporary Music Review 17,
no. 3 (1 January 1998): 43–56, https://doi.org/10.1080/07494469800640191.
 The Symbolist movement in France triggered a shift in the creation and interpretation or literature,

art, music, and theatre. In the same way the metaphor took over the simile, in allegorical description, this

shift in creative style enveloped realism. As seen with Claude Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, the absence

of change can act as a form of symbol. Also, the openness of harmony can allow for an allusion. In Vincent

d’Indy’s Fervaal, you can see how the variation on basic building blocks of music, like an interval, can

cause a broader interpretation of the work. Both of these pieces work well, not only as strong symbolist

pieces, but they also show how symbolism can be formed from the smallest pieces of communication. This

is the encompassing view of semiotics where the smallest signs and symbols allude to much wider themes

and topics. Thus, the symbolist movement helped provide a broader technique of using source topics in

opera.

Word Count: 2,421

Bibliography

Bach, Johann Sebastian. The Well - Tempered Clavier Books I and II, Complete. Edited by Saul Novack. 14th ed.

New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1742.

Brown, Jennifer Lea. ‘Debussy and Symbolism: A Comparative Study of the Aesthetics of Claude Debussy and

Three French Symbolist Poets with an Analysis of Debussy’s Symbolist Techniques in “Pelleas et

Melisande”’. D.M.A, Stanford University , 1992.

Burch, Robert. ‘Charles Sanders Peirce’. In Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy , edited by Edward N. Zalta

and Uri Nodelman, 27 December 2023. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/peirce/#prag.

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———. Pourquoi j’ai Écrit Pelléas (Why I Wrote Pelléas). Edited by Richard Langham Smith and François

Lesure. April 1902. Ithaca: Debussy on Music , 1977.

Kennedy, Micheal, and Joyce Bourne Kennedy. ‘Vincent D’Indy’. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music .

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McLane, William W. ‘A Christian Conception of Sin’. The Biblical World 25, no. 1 (1905): 46–51.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3141296.

Moreau, Gustave. ‘Oedipus and the Sphinx’. The Met, 1864.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437153.

Nicholas, Roger, and Richard Langham Smith. ‘Motives and Symbols ’. In Claude Debussy: Pelléas et

Mélisande , 78–106. Cambridge : University of Cambridge , 1989.

Peirce, Charles Sanders. Collected Papers . Vol. 2. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press , 1958.

Price, H. H. Thinking and Experience . 2nd ed. London: Hutchinson, 1969.

Prunières, Henry, and Theodore Baker. ‘Musical Symbolism’. The Musical Quarterly 19, no. 1 (1933): 18–28.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/738820.

Schwartz, Manuela. ‘Symbolic Structures and Elements in the Opera Fervaal of Vincent d’Indy’. Contemporary

Music Review 17, no. 3 (1 January 1998): 43–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/07494469800640191.

Tarasti, Eero. Signs of Music : A Guide to Musical Semiotics. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. Berlin/Boston, GERMANY: De

Gruyter, Inc., 2002. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kcl/detail.action?docID=3043060.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. ‘Symbolism’. In Encyclopaedia Britannica . London: Encyclopaedia

Britannica , 29 November 2023. https://www.britannica.com/art/Symbolism-literary-and-artistic-movement.

The Editors of Oxford Reference. ‘Semiotics (Semiology) ’. Oxford Reference, 7 January 2014.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001/acref-9780199546091-e-

10459?rskey=LNuT5A&result=7.

. ‘Symbolism ’. In World Encyclopedia. Philip’s, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780199546091.001.0001.

Whittall, Arnold. ‘Leitmotif ’. In Grove Music Online , 20 January 2001.

https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-

9781561592630-e-0000016360.