Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I have recently reflected on the Impressionist movement, and thought about how it affected the music of the time as well. This effect came somewhat later than the art movement, but had many of the same elements. Like the painters, composers of this time created works that focussed on suggestion and atmosphere, rather that strong emotion or the telling of a story. Musical impressionism developed partly in response to the excessively dramatic music of the Romantic period. While Romantic composers had written long forms of music such as symphonies and concertos, the Impressionists used shorter forms such as preludes, nocturnes, and arabesque. Two of the great Impressionist composers were Clausde Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Debussy's Claire de Lune, and Ravel's Bolero are good examples of their style of work. The Impressionist movement in music was primarily in France, however it did spread a bit to England where Ralph Vaughn Williams exhibited impressionist sounds. He was a student of Ravel and his music uses harmonies found in English folk music which is well-suited for the Impressionist sound.Typical instruments in Impressionist music were woodwinds, strings, harp, piano, and small chamber ensembles. It was popular from about 1890 til 1940.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, I had no idea there were impressionist composers! And French ones to boot!
    Thanks for the insight, Janis!

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  2. Thanks for this new angle, Janis! Can you recommend any particular pieces - or have personal favourites - that are considered especially Impressionist?

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