La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin

Here's a short little song by Claude Debussy, one of the most influential composers of his time. You may remember me talking about him on a Bill Evans song. The title refers to a girl with flaxen hair (blonde hair). But somehow, the melody reminds me of a cat walking around. I don't know why. I just got that image in my head.

This one was written in 1910, and it was known to be simpler than most of Debussy's other writing. For example, it has some more common chord patterns (though not the most obvious ones), and it doesn't change into a lot of different keys. It isn't that long, either.

Listen to the song here
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The title that Debussy chose fits the song pretty well. I read that girls with flaxen hair were often used in paintings as a symbol of innocence and purity. There is also a poem by Leconte de Lisle with the same name (which Debussy is considered to have named the song after).

Because it's such a simple song with a melody that's easy to remember, it's become one of Debussy's most popular songs. A piano player might even expect it to be in the key of C major, to add to the simplicity. But Debussy decided to do something different and write the song in Gb, which could be considered the "opposite" of C.

If you've played a piano, you might be able to read this and understand what I'm saying about opposite keys. This is a chart called the circle of 5ths (or 4ths) that musicians use to visualize the relationships between keys.

He probably thought that writing in that key would change the mood of the song. Emotions and pictures were a big part of what he was trying to create with his music. I have to admit, that is reminding me of Bill Evans a lot. I've heard recordings of renowned jazz pianists improvising when they're playing on their own, and they sure do sound like they've learned from classical composers like Debussy. Sometimes they sound more like him than like the recordings that supposedly "defined" jazz.

I don't know what you see when you think about this song. Maybe you see a lot of people coming together to listen to one melody. Or maybe there's a cat walking around, or a little blond-haired girl. Or you might see a representation of a composer that changed music for years to come.

Really, if you think about it, there are a lot of people that changed music by creating something new. They're just spread out in all kinds of different areas. There's really a lot to fill your teacup with, isn't there?

~Liya