FIRST QUARTER MUSIC 10 – MONTH 1

LESSON 1: IMPRESSIONISM

What is Impressionism? What is the history and background of Impressionism?

Impressionism influence arts and music. It

began in 19th century. It is a movement in painting
started in France. Characterized by visual
impression of the moment in terms of the shifting of
color and light.
Impressionist artists paint with many colors,
and the usual subjects are outdoors; for example,
nature’s landscape. There are paintings can be very
bright and vibrant.

Impressionism

- an art movement
- Artists painted real-life images.
- inspired by anti- establishmentism, foreign or Asian influences and desire to paint
modern life What is Impressionism in Music?
It has been said that Impressionism music was adapted from Art Impressionism.
Impressionism music is a style of music that makes use of sound to let the listener feel the
moods that focus on the structure of music. It also started and developed in France in the 19 th
century.
What are the characteristics of Impressionism Music?
• irregular rhythm in terms of phrases
• avoids traditional harmonic progression
• has unresolved dissonance
• make use of sound to let the listener feel the moods that focus on the structure of
music
• uses whole-tone scale

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• frequently uses modality and exotic scales

Dissonance - the lack of agreement and

consistency in the progress of harmony of music

Modality- “modal” refers to original modes used

in music composition
- traditional way of composing was
abandoned in Impressionism music

Irregular rhythm – is any rhythm that involves

dividing the beat differently form what’s allowed by the
time signature

Who are the notable composers and musicians?

Achilles-Claude Debussy
a French composer, born on August 22,
1862
a pianist at the age of 9
He has unique use of harmonies which
defied the sacred rules of music theory.
He was commended by his professors as
a music genius in his period.
He composed “Prelude to the Afternoon
of a Faun” which made him popular.
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“Pelleas et Melisande” – his only famous 2
opera
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MAJOR WORKS:
 Clair de lune (“Moonlight,” in Suite bergamasque, 1890–1905)
 Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894; Prelude to the Afternoon
of a Faun)
 The opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1902)
 La Mer (1905; “The Sea”)
 Deux Arabesques - one of the very early impressionistic pieces of
music
 Jeux ‘Poème Dansé’ - was the last orchestral score that Debussy
completed before his death
- His greatest orchestral work.

Joseph- Maurice Ravel

a French composer, born March 7, 1875
a pianist and conductor
He liked to experiment with musical
form.
noted for his musical craftsmanship and
perfection of form and style in such
works
remains the most widely popular of all
French composers
was admitted to the Paris Conservatoire at
age 14,
Paris Conservatoire - a prestigious music
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and dance school located in the capital of 3
France, studying under Gabriel Fauré
died in Paris on December 28, 1937
FIRST QUARTER MUSIC 10 – MONTH 1

MAJOR WORKS:
 Boléro (1928) – his best-known work, in which repetition takes the
place of development
 The ballet Gaspard de la nuit (1908, first performed
1912) - exceptionally difficult to play
 Daphnis et Chloé (1912) -his complex orchestral work that
require skilful balance in performance
 La Valse – an orchestral work, a piece with varying credits as a ballet
and concert work
 Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead
Princess; 1899)
 the Jeux d'eau (1901), also known as "Fountains" or
"Playing Water," dedicated to Fauré
 Miroirs (1905)

What is a whole-tone
scale?
- is the arrangement of pitches in scale which separated by
a whole step (or whole step), in contradistinction to the
chromatic scale (consisting entirely of half steps, also
called semitones) and the various diatonic scales, such as
the major and minor scales (which are different
arrangements of whole and half steps)

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FIRST QUARTER MUSIC 10 – MONTH 1

Examples of Whole-tone scales:

Whole-tone Scale on C

Whole-tone Scale on B

ACTIVITY 1: Musical and Art Interpretation

Consider the following Impressionist painting and Impressionist music in terms of
application and cultural influences, and then answer the questions at next page.

Sunrise by Claude Monet

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FIRST QUARTER MUSIC 10 – MONTH 1

Listen to Engulfed Cathedral by Claude Debussy on your LMS account.

Question: By looking at the painting and listening to the music, what
interpretation do you have with regard to 20th century art and music?

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ACTIVITY 2: How does Impressionist music sounds like?

A. Listen to the music composed by the famous Impressionist composer, Maurice Ravel,
Bolero, which made him popular.
You may refer to this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r30D3SW4OVw or
see the video provided on your LMS account.

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FIRST QUARTER MUSIC 10 – MONTH 1

B. Answer the following questions.

1. How do you find the flow of music?
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2. How will you described Impressionism based on what you have heard?
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3. If you are going to compose a song, would you consider adapting this genre of
music?
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ACTIVITY 3: Similarities of Musical Compositions

Listen to the Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (by Debussy) and Bolero (by Ravel) on
your LMS account and then compare them.

BOLERO
PRELUDE TO THE AFTERNOON OF A
FAUN

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