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    Impressionist Music 10

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    Joshua Guiriña
    The document discusses Impressionist music, which originated in 1870s-1880s France during the Impressionist period of painting. Key Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel used new instrumentation, avoided tonal centers, and had fluid rhythms to suggest moods or scenes rather than describe them directly. Though Debussy disliked the term, their music came to be known as Impressionist. Their style broke conventions and explored new sounds outside of traditional structures.

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    Impressionist Music 10

    Uploaded by

    Joshua Guiriña
    1K views17 pages
    The document discusses Impressionist music, which originated in 1870s-1880s France during the Impressionist period of painting. Key Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel used new instrumentation, avoided tonal centers, and had fluid rhythms to suggest moods or scenes rather than describe them directly. Though Debussy disliked the term, their music came to be known as Impressionist. Their style broke conventions and explored new sounds outside of traditional structures.

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    IMPRESSIONIST MUSIC

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    The document discusses Impressionist music, which originated in 1870s-1880s France during the Impressionist period of painting. Key Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel used new instrumentation, avoided tonal centers, and had fluid rhythms to suggest moods or scenes rather than describe them directly. Though Debussy disliked the term, their music came to be known as Impressionist. Their style broke conventions and explored new sounds outside of traditional structures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    1K views17 pages

    Impressionist Music 10

    Uploaded by

    Joshua Guiriña
    The document discusses Impressionist music, which originated in 1870s-1880s France during the Impressionist period of painting. Key Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel used new instrumentation, avoided tonal centers, and had fluid rhythms to suggest moods or scenes rather than describe them directly. Though Debussy disliked the term, their music came to be known as Impressionist. Their style broke conventions and explored new sounds outside of traditional structures.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 17

    Impressio

    nist Music
    It all began with Monet’s
    painting: Impression, Sunrise.
    Monet, as you probably know, was the most
    famous Impressionist painter, and the term
    was borrowed from that painting.
    The Impressionistic Period began in the 1870s-
    1880s with painters like Monet, and ended
    around the 1920s-1930s.
    Of course, impressionist music carried on
    beyond that, in its various off-shoots like neo-
    impressionism, but I like to think of the dates of
    impressionism coinciding with
    Monet’s Impression, sunrise painting, and
    Monet’s death.
    Impressionist Music Style
    The style of impressionist music isn’t deeply
    emotional and personal like the bulk of Romantic Era
    music.

    Impressionist music doesn’t get personal in the same


    way. It’s like the difference between a detached
    observer of a story – a third-person narrator –
    compared to a first-person, up-close-and-personal
    account
    “suggest or evoke, but don’t describe.”
    Characteristics
    1. Orchestration
    Instruments were played in new ways, like flutes
    and clarinets playing darker, lower sounds. The
    harshness of horns were mellowed by being
    muted.
    Tinkly, shimmery instruments were often used,
    like the harp, triangle and glockenspiel.
    2. Atonality, lack of a tonal centre
    Impressionist music really liked going outside of
    the key box. Most of us are familiar with the
    whole major/minor modality – where a song is
    based in a specific key, and it’s a major or minor
    key.
    Impressionist composers liked to write songs
    that weren’t in any key at all – and we call that
    atonality.
    3. Fluid Rhythm
    A lot of impressionist music lacks a steady,
    defined rhythm. It’s fluid and changeable – not
    the kind of music you tap your toes to.
    Impressionist Composers
    Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel were the
    main men of impressionist music. They were
    both French composers active at the turn of
    the 20th century (and beyond).
    Debussy really didn’t like when his music was
    referred to as “Impressionist”, however. He
    much preferred the term “Symbolism” when
    referring to his music, as that was a literary
    movement that directly inspired him.
    “imbeciles call [it] ‘impressionism’, a
    term employed with the utmost
    inaccuracy.”
    Debussy was a gifted pianist and an intrepid musical
    explorer. He didn’t set out to write Impressionist
    music (as we’ve established, he hated that
    comparison) – rather, he was just interested in
    pushing boundaries and exploring new sounds.
    He went to a French music academy, but felt stifled by
    the teachings, finding them to be too old-school.
    Early works he wrote while at the school were
    deemed “bizarre”, and “courting the unusual”
    *Arabesque #1 (Deux Arabesques)
    *La Mer
    *Claire de Lune
    Maurice Ravel was in the generation after
    Debussy, and is considered one of France’s
    greatest composers. Like Debussy, Ravel didn’t
    enjoy the “Impressionist” comparison.
    They were acquainted with each other and had
    other things in common, like being musical rule-
    breakers and not being suited to conservatory
    life.
    *Ravel: Jeux d’eau
    *Albeniz: Iberia

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