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‘Striptease’ as Ideology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2011

Steven Huebner
Steven Huebner
Affiliation:
McGill University
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Vincent d'Indy's Istar (1897), a set of variations for orchestra, commands attention for its unusual ground plan: the variations proceed from complex textures to simple ones. Analysis reveals how certain melodic and harmonic details unfold at larger structural levels. Istar's symmetries and organic construction are set in the context not only of previous variation sets but also of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, a symphonic poem of similar dimensions that was premiered shortly before d'Indy composed his piece. Resemblances between the two works suggest that d'Indy may have intended Istar as a response to Debussy. Juxtaposition of Debussy and d'Indy provides insight into the different connotations of modernity at the fin de siècle. Istar's programme and compositional strategies reflect d'Indy's firm historicism and commitment to tradition. Yet the work was received as experimental and daring in its day. In its materials Istar paradoxically illustrates a ‘backward progression’: its stylistic allusions move backward in time, yet the tonal direction aims forward towards the concluding tonic. Such idiosyncrasies provide insight into d'Indy's aesthetics and ideology, which sought to conflate commitment to progress with adherence to Faith.

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Type
Articles
Information
Nineteenth-Century Music Review , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , November 2004, pp. 3 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

References

1 ‘Je pioche mes variations assyriennes, déjà très avancées. Elles se présentent bien, mais qui diable pourra bien comprendre ce morceau bizarrement bâti? Toi peut-être.’ From letter fragment cited in Maus, Madeleine Octave, Trente années de lutte pour l'art 1884–1914 (Brussels, 1926), 214Google Scholar.

2 ‘ça m'a énormément amusé à écrire’. Letter of 15 Sept. 1896, cited by Léon Vallas, Vincent D'Indy (Paris, 1946–1950), 2: 237Google Scholar; the letter is at Bibliothèque nationale, Mus., Vincent D'Indy, l.a.s. 181. Here D'Indy also wrote: ‘Je n’en suis pas mécontent, seulement ce contentement me restera personnel (et avec quelques amis), car je doute fort qu'un public quelconque comprenne la façon insolite dont mon morceau est bâti.’

3 Letter to his father, 17 Sept. 1896, in d'Indy, Vincent, Ma vie, ed. D'Indy, Marie (Paris, 2001), 548.Google Scholar

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5 Performances took place on 3 and 9 May 1911 at the Châtelet theatre with the Colonne orchestra.

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7 Performances took place on 22, 23, 25 and 27 April 1912 at the the Châtelet theatre with the Lamoureux orchestra.

8 Vallas, Léon, Vincent d'Indy, 2: 237.Google Scholar

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22 In the Cours analysis of Istar it is claimed that all the variations are in keys closely related to F minor. That is the case for all of them except Variation 4 in F sharp major. In other words, in the case of a minor mode tonic, the minor dominant falls within the range of close modulations. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that the piece is directed toward a major mode conclusion.

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38 Ibid., 548.

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45 ‘Me voici de retour de Londres, dans l'enthousiasme des sculptures assyriennes du British Museum: quel bel art et quel flagrant délit de vie et de vérité dans ces tableaux d’une civilisation qui valait bien la nôtre! … J'éprouve une impression bien plus grande et plus réellement artistique devant l'art assyrien du VIIIe siècle avant J.C. que devant celui de Péricles.’ Cited in Vallas, , Vincent D'Indy, 2: 238Google Scholar.

46 Unfortunately I have been unable to locate the source that D'Indy excerpted for the programme, the so-called ‘Epopée d’Izdubar’. Sources I have used are all thematically concordant with the programme. They include: Moran, William, ‘The Gilgamesh Epic: A Masterpiece from Ancient Mesopotamia’, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, ed. Sasson, Jack M. (New York, 1995), 2327–36;Google ScholarJacobsen, Thornkild, Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion (New Haven, 1976)Google Scholar; Babylonian and Assyrian Literature, Comprising the Epic of Izdubar, Hymns, Tablets, and Cuneiform Inscriptions, trans. Hamilton, Leonidas Le Cenci, rev. edn (New York, 1901)Google Scholar.

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48 ‘enfin Fervaal est d'une esthétique rigoureusement opposée à celle du génie de Bayreuth: celle-ci accumulant les moyens pour atteindre le maximum d'effet … celle-là procédant en sens inverse, s'acheminant du complexe au simple selon nos traditions plus hautains et désintéressées. Avec Wagner, en effet, lœuvre se trouble dans la mesure où elle se rapproche de ses fins. Avec d'Indy, elle se simplifie, se clarifie pour conclure dans cette atmosphère spirituelle de pureté suprême et de conciliation sentimentale qui sont, pour tout être bien né, des miroirs de la perfection du monde. La fin de Fervaal? un solo de ténor dans l'écho d'un chœur lointain. La fin d'Istar? une affirmation impérieuse de cet art monodique médiéval ou l'accord est de trop. La fin de la Légende de Saint-Christophe? Un chœur d'où l'orchestre est exclus.’ Giriat, Pierre, ‘Remarques sur l'œuvre dramatique’, Latinité (Mar. 1930)Google Scholar.