Impressionism
the First World War.
Impressionism in music was a movement among various
composers in Western classical music (mainly during the late 19th MAURICE RAVEL (1875–1937)
and early 20th centuries) whose music focuses on mood and
atmosphere, "conveying the moods and emotions aroused by the Maurice
subject rather than a detailed tone‐picture"
It is a style that explores mood and atmosphere through the use of
timbre, orchestration, and progressive harmonic concepts.
History of Impressionism in Music
▪ As the nineteenth century came to a close, the fine arts entered
a new era called Impressionism
▪ This period lasted only a few decades into the twentieth
century (1870-1920)
▪ Impressionism was seen in paintings, literature, and music
▪ This period was begun by Debussy reflecting the impressionist
schools of French painting and letters
▪ He used new chord combinations, whole-tone chords,
chromaticism, and exotic rhythms and scales
Proponents of Impressionism in Music
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918)
Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was a 20th-century
French composer and one of the most prominent
figures working within the field of impressionist
music.
Life and Music
Claude Debussy was born on the 22nd August 1862 in Saint-
Germain-en-Laye, France.
❖ "It was not until 1894, aged 32, that Debussy completed the
first piece to truly declare his independence of thought: a
highly innovative piece inspired by a poem of Stephane
Mallarmé.
❖ After his first successes, Debussy began serious work on his
opera Pelleas et Melisande (completed in 1902) and the three
orchestral Nocturnes (completed in 1899).
❖ Debussy entered a new creative phase in 1903 with La Mer,
completed while staying in Eastbourne, where he observed
that "the sea behaves with British politeness".
❖ He subsequently began a passionate affair with Emma Bardac,
one-time mistress of Gabriel Faure, whereupon his wife
unsuccessfully attempted to shoot herself.
❖ In 1914, just as he was at the height of his powers, Debussy
discovered he had cancer. An operation left him so debilitated
that he composed nothing for over a year. Before his death on
March 25th 1918 in Paris, he completed one final masterwork,
the Violin Sonata. Debussy's obvious talent for the piano led
to his winning a place at the junior department of the Paris
Conservatoire in 1872 when he was only 10 years old.
Composition
❖ Debussy’s mature creative period was represented by the
following works:
● AriettesOubliees
● Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
● La Mer (1905)—a highly imaginative and atmospheric
symphonic work for orchestra about the sea
● Images, Suite Bergamasque, and Estampes—his most popular
piano compositions; a set of lightly textured pieces containing
his signature work Claire de Lune (Moonlight)
● His musical compositions total more or less 227 which include
orchestral music, chamber music, piano music, operas, ballets,
songs, and other vocal music.
● He died in Paris on March 25, 1918 of cancer at the height of
Ravel, in full Joseph-Maurice
Ravel, (born March 7, 1875, Ciboure, France—
died December 28, 1937, Paris)
❖ Ravel was born in a village near Saint-Jean-
de-Luz, France of a Swiss father and a Basque mother.
Maurice received every encouragement from his father when
his talent for music became apparent at an early age. In 1889,
at 14, he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he remained
until 1905.
❖ He is one of the rare composers whose early works seem
scarcely less mature than those of his maturity. Indeed, his
failure at the Conservatoire, after three attempts, to win the
coveted Prix de Rome for composition (the works he
submitted were judged too “advanced” by ultraconservative
members of the jury) caused something of a scandal.
❖ Indignant protests were published, and liberal-minded
musicians and writers, including the musicologist and
novelist Romain Rolland, supported Ravel. As a result, the
director of the Conservatoire, Théodore Dubois, was forced to
resign, and his place was taken by the composer Gabriel Fauré,
with whom Ravel had studied composition.
Ravel’s works include the following:
● Pavane for a Dead Princess (1899), a slow but lyrical
requiem
● Sonatine for Piano (c.1904)
● Miroirs(Mirrors), 1905, a work for piano known for its
harmonic evolution and imagination,
● Le Tombeau de Couperin (c.1917), a commemoration of
the musical advocacies of the early 18th century French
composer Francois Couperin,
● Rhapsodie Espagnole
● Bolero
Characteristics of Impressionist music
In conclusion, tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity were the most
important characteristics to define Impressionist music.
Musical Elements
The following are the musical elements that you can use in
analyzing the given music of the 20 th century such as
impressionism and expressionism.
1. Pitch – register (high or low); organization of pitches with a
pattern of intervals between them creates scales
2. Rhythm – the time element of music.
3. Melody, or musical line, is a combination of pitch and rhythm
(some say "duration").
4. Timbre – sound quality or tone color; timbre is the
characteristic that allows us to distinguish between one
instrument and another and the difference between vowel
sounds.
5. Dynamics – loud or soft, a composition that has extremely soft
passages as well as extremely loud passages is said to have a
large or wide dynamic range.
6. Texture
a. monophonic (one voice or line),
b. polyphonic (many voices, usually similar, as in
Renaissance or Baroque counterpoint),
c. homophonic (1. a melody with simple accompaniment;
 • Die Jacobsleiter ("Jacob's Ladder"), 1917-22, 1944,
unfinished.
Expressionism
• Four German Folksongs, 1925.

Expressionist music often features a high level of dissonance,

extreme contrasts of dynamics, constant changing of textures,
IGOR STRAVINSKY
"distorted" melodies and harmonies, and angular melodies with
wide leaps. Expressionism is a style of music where composers
seek to express emotional experience rather than impressions of the
external world Igor Stravinsky stands alongside fellow-composer
Schoenberg, painter Pablo Picasso, and literary
figure James Joyce as one of the great trendsetters
of the 20th century.
History of expressionism in music

Expressionism first originated in the visual arts and was later

applied to music and other arts in the early 20th century. Following ➢ Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian composer, pianist
impressionism in art and music, the harsh, bold expressionism era and conductor, later of French and American citizenship.
can be considered a counterpoint to impressionism’s gauzy ➢ He is widely considered one of the most important and
sweetness. influential composers of the 20th century and a pivotal figure
Instead of ethereal impressions of beauty in nature, expressionism in modernist music.
focuses on the inner angst and fear lurking within the subconscious ➢ Born: June 17, 1882, Lomonosov, Saint Petersburg, Russia
mind. Expressionism in music embraces jarring dissonance and ➢ Influenced by: Claude Debussy, Alexander
radical distortion.
Scriabin, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Michael Tippett, Sara
Expressionism was heavily influenced by expressionist art and
protest movements of the time. Originating primarily in Germany Murphy
and Austria, expressionist music’s freely displayed angst and ➢ He was honoured with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold
turmoil attracted some of the 20th century’s most respected and Medal in 1954 and the Wihuri Sibelius Prize in 1963. (Click
diverse composers from the United States and around the world. here for an audio excerpt from Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for
Clarinet.)
➢ Died: April 6, 1971, JW Marriott Essex House
Proponents of Expressionism in Music

Best Stravinsky Works: 10 Essential Pieces By The Great

➢ Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian
composer and painter. He was born on 13th Composer
September 1874 in the Leopoldstadt district
• The Rite Of Spring. The Rite Of Spring, one of Stravinsky's
of Vienna. His family had him take violin
best works, was first performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
lessons at the age of eight.
➢ Schoenberg had very little formal training in in 1913 and famously caused a riot. ...
music, although he would go on to study counterpoint with his • The Firebird. ...
mentor Alexander von Zemlinsky, but by that time
Schoenberg was already an established musician. • Petrushka. ...
➢ Schoenberg spent most of his life orchestrating operas and
teaching. In 1934, he moved to the United States to escape • Agon. ...
Nazi Germany, and taught at the University of Southern
California, and also at the University of California in Los • Apollo. ...
Angeles.
➢ Much of Schoenberg’s music was not understood at first, and • Oedipus Rex. ...
it is a known historical fact that many of his orchestras were
received poorly at their first performance, yet the second • Symphony of Psalms. ...
performance would attract all sorts of praise.
• The Rake's Progress
➢ Schoenberg’s greatest contribution to music was his twelve-
tone method. A method that would ensure the use of all 12
notes on the chromatic scale, which stands in sharp contrast to
classical harmony where one note (or scale) receives the most Characteristics of Expressionist music?
emphasis.
➢ Arnold Schoenberg died on 13th July 1951. The cause of his Expressionist music often features a high level of dissonance,
death was most unusual. It was said that he was highly extreme contrasts of dynamics, constant changing of textures,
superstitious and that he dreaded the number 13, and on July "distorted" melodies and harmonies, and angular melodies with
13th, when he was 76 years old (7+6=13) he lay in bed wide leaps
extremely depressed and fearful, so much so that his fear
eventually killed him. His legacy would go on to inspire
several musicians in the twentieth century.

Musical works of Arnold SchoenberG.

• Three piano pieces, 1894.

• Six pieces for piano duet, 1896.

• String Quartet in D major, 1897.

• Nachtwandler, 1901.

• Brettl-lieder (7 cabaret songs), 1901.

• Gurrelieder ("Songs of Gurre") for soli, chorus and

orchestra, 1900-1911.