Impressionism - In Music

7/29/2019 Impressionism - In Music

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ImpqessionismART APPRECIATION

ATUL ANAND JHA

B.Arch. II (B)


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Musical impressionism occurred as a reaction

to the excesses of the Romantic era. While the

earlier era was characterized by a dramatic use

of the major and minor scale systems,

impressionist music tended to make more use

of dissonance. Rather uncommon scales such

as whole tone scale are also typical for this

movement.

Romantic composers were using long forms of

music, e.g. symphony and concerto, while

impressionist composers were favoring short

forms such

as nocturne, arabesque and prelude.

Impressionist music

Stylistic origins Reaction to 19th

centuryRomanticism

Cultural origins Late 19th century

in Paris, France

Typical instruments Woodwind, strings,

harp, piano,small chamber

ensembles

Mainstream

popularity

ca. 1875 to 1925

Impqessionism in musicwas tendency in Euqopean classicalmusic, mainly in Fqance, whichappeaqed in the late nineteenthcentuqy and continued into the middleof the twentieth centuqy. Similaqlyto its pqecuqsoq in the visual aqts,musical impqessionism focuses on asuggestion and an atmospheqe qatheq

than on a stqong emotion oq thedepiction of a stoqy.


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Musical impressionism was based in France by the French composer Claude Debussy.

He and Maurice Ravel were generally considered to be the two "great"

impressionists.

Claude Debussy

August 22, 1862 March

25, 1918

French composer

Music was not centeredaround one tone or pitch,

he used symbolism

Used many parallel

chords and unprepared

modulations

Music was usually about

events that occurred in his

life

Clair de Lune was one of

his most famous works

Maurice Ravel

March 7, 1875

December 28, 1937

French composer

Influenced by Claude

Debussy

Known for his melodies,

orchestral, and

instrumental textures

and effects

His music is found a lot

in concert repertoire,also widely known for

his orchestra pieces

His piece Miroirs

(Mirrors) was a five

piano piece was a

harmonic revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ravel_au_piano.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Maurice_Ravel_1912.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Debussy_1893.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Debussy_ca_1908,_foto_av_F%C3%A9lix_Nadar.jpg


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sChaqacteqistics:Modal Influences: The medieval modes were attractive to composers who sought to escape the

"tyranny" of the major/minor sound. Emphasized were primary intervals -- octaves, fourths, and fifths --

in parallel motion. This resembled a medieval procedure known as "organum", where a melody was

harmonized by another which ran parallel to it at a distance of a fourth or fifth.

Whole-Tone Scale: Claude Debussy heard the musicians of the Far East (Java, Bali, and Indo-China). He

was fascinated by the music of the native orchestra, the gamelan, with percussive rhythms and

bewitching instrumental colors. The music of the Far East makes use of certain scales, which divide the

octave into equal major/minor system and leads to obscured fluidity.

Pentatonic Scale: The pentatonic (five-note) scale is sounded when the black yes of the piano are struck

(or also C, D, F, G and A). This scale is popularly associated with Chinese music, but is even more familiar

to us through Scottish, Irish and English folk tunes ("Auld Lang Syne" and "Comin' Through the Rye").

Impressionist Harmony: Impressionist composers regarded the chord as an entity by itself, a "thrill" that

hit the ear with a style all its own. Impressionism released the chord from its function as harmony to

movement within the melody.

Parallel Motion: In Classicism, tension was produced by moving voices in a contrary fashion.

Impressionism, on the other hand, vied chords as melodic entities. This, it was "proper to move voices in

a parallel fashion (this was "forbidden" in the Classical era).

Escaped Chords: These were harmonies which gave the impression of having "escaped" to anothertonality. Such chords are neither prepared for, nor are they resolved in any traditional sense. They simply

" "


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Musical impressionism is closely related to the superior

value of impressionist painting: placing the colour factor

to the foreground strongly influenced the shaping of new

sound effects.

These effects include long, atypical chords, the fast

movement of sounds in the piano dynamic, the

exploration of interesting timbres of an instrument and

specific articulation. On the scope of the form of pieces

of music impressionist composers enriched the way of

creating musical works.

In the majority of cases the form was a one-time idea for

putting in the kind of order 'the fantasy of sound'.

Glimmering sound has become the main feature of

impressionist music. It is conventionally called 'a timbrespot'. This phenomenon is connected with harmonic

experiments and with the new meaning of piece's

melodics. Precedence of timbre creates the melody from

the mixture of accords' timbre and figurations rather

than from the clear outline of the theme.

Since music is essentially anabstract art, it was ideal inprojecting Impressionism'svague images. The

Impressionist composers hadtwo favorite mediums: theorchestra (because of itsvariety of color) and the piano(because its damper pedalpermitted vibrating harmonies

to "suspend in mid-air").

Descriptive titles as"Reflections on the Water","The Snow is Dancing",

"Sounds and perfumes Swirl inthe Evening Air", revealcomposers as poets andpainters in addition to beingmusicians.


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It comes that sometimes the melody disappears and

only few bizarre accords reads. Impressionist harmonic

is also about using pentatonic scale, whole-tone scale

and modal modes.

Sensitization for the quality of the sounds influenced

exposing the subtle dynamic effects e.g. the variety

hues of piano (p, pp, ppp, pppp) which were often

complemented by additional written notes.

Debussy has implemented the French definitions thatsuggest sensual experiences, such as 'similarly to the

flute', 'from the distance', 'like a rainbow fog' and many

others.

Titles referring to the poetic pieces help listeners to

trigger of a wide range of emotions connected with themusic. The most popular subjects for titles are e.g.: the

rain, the play of the sea waves, unimaginative moon

landscapes and other natural phenomena.

Impressionism is usually connected with the

term sensualism.

There was little room inImpressionism for the "heaven-storming" climaxes ofRomanticism. Instead, there is a

veiling of sonority and delicatetexture.

Impressionism is "opalescent"and "transparent", shimmeringfrom time to time with showers

of sound.

Within the orchestra, flutes andclarinets are used in their darklower registers. Violins reach forupper sonorities while trumpets

and horns are muted.There is

much use of the harp, celeste,

triangle, glockenspiel and

cymbal (usually brushed with a

drumstick).


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Tsai, Shengdar. Impressionistic Influences in the Music of Claude Debussy

Adriano, Ernest Fanelli (1860-1917), Symphonic Pictures, Marco Polo, p.1-4 The Columbia Encyclopedia: "Impressionism, in music": 6th ed. New York: Columbia

University Press

References

Impressionism - In Music

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