The concert harp (as opposed to Celtic harps or harps from indigenous cultures of the Americas) is a relatively new addition to the orchestra. Before the 19th century, harps were limited to the notes of the diatonic scale (the white keys on a piano), which meant they could not play the increasingly complex harmonies of 19th century orchestral and chamber music.
In 1894, Pleyel, a Paris-based instrument company best known for its pianos, announced a new chromatic harp, which, by adding additional strings, allowed the instrument to play every note in the chromatic scale. To promote their new invention’s superiority to its rival, the pedal harp (also known as the double-action harp), Pleyel commissioned Claude Debussy to compose a work that would show off the new instrument’s capabilities. After Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane premiered in November 1904, Érard, another instrument manufacturer, hired Maurice Ravel to write a work that would promote their double-action harp. Ravel finished his Introduction and Allegro in early summer 1905.
Debussy’s Danses sacrée et profane became an instant success and is a staple of harp repertoire; unfortunately for Pleyel, the same cannot be said for the chromatic harp. With almost double the number of strings, musicians found it unnecessarily complicated and difficult to play, and the design never caught on. Debussy might have anticipated this result, as he indicated in the score to the Danses that they could be performed on either harp; he later arranged a version for piano.
(A word about the title: in French, “profane” simply refers to music whose origins are secular; unlike its English counterpart, the French “profane” is not associated with ideas of debauchery or blasphemy.)
Debussy’s affinity for non-Western tonalities, particularly the pentatonic (five-note) scales found in Javanese gamelan music, suffuse the “Danse sacrée.” The music is delicate; from its opening notes listeners enter a hushed, cloistered realm. In Debussy’s time, listeners would have associated these tonalities with the “exotisme” of what was then known as Orientalism. In the “Danse profane,” Debussy emphasizes a clear waltz tempo which propels the music through a series of harmonic shifts. Through a no-holds-barred use of chromaticism, Debussy navigates smoothly through a series of key centers without calling particular attention to them, rather like a person wandering through the galleries of a large museum, taking in many diverse and unique works of art.
© Elizabeth Schwartz