PianoCurio

Debussy never called himself an Impressionist, so why do we do it anyway?

You've probably heard that Debussy didn't like this term, and perhaps someone has even corrected you on its use. But there's rarely much discussion about why.

After several months of researching and writing, I hope this video (premiering Friday the 31st) will provide answers and prompt new discussions about the elusive concept of musical Impressionism: What exactly is misleading about the label "Impressionism"? Why did Debussy and other composers/scholars reject it? Does it still mean the same thing it did a century and a half ago? And most importantly, should we continue to use it?

Some might be surprised to learn that one of the earliest documented mentions of Impressionism in music was not in relation to Debussy, but to Richard Wagner, who was seen as the preeminent modernist of music before Debussy came of age. Jules Laforgue's 1883 essay ‘L’Impressionnisme’ compared Wagner with the artistic movement in this way:

"...in the work of Monet and Pissarro in particular, where everything is conveyed by means of a thousand delicate brushstrokes, dancing in every direction like coloured straws—all of them competing to produce the overall impression. No longer an isolated melody, the whole is a symphony, alive and changing, like Wagner’s 'forest murmurs' [from Siegfried] battling to become the great voice of the forest, like the universal Unconscious, the law of the world, that single, great, melodic voice arising from the symphony created by the consciousnesses of peoples and individuals. This is the guiding principle of the plein-air Impressionist school."

So musical Impressionism was taken to mean many melodic fragments coming together to form an overall picture, or feeling, or...something. But that was only the beginning of a very long and non-standardized use of the term in music. Most notably, in 1887 Debussy's orchestral suite 'Printemps' was accused of being vaguely impressionistic, and so began the word's long connection to his music.

That's where the video picks up this fascinating thread.

1 month ago | [YT] | 7

PianoCurio

For the many who asked: here is an extended version of the retro Alkan chiptune (fun parts only). Thanks again for watching! For those wondering, I put the original MIDI file into BeepBox to create this.

6 months ago | [YT] | 5

PianoCurio

Thank you to everyone who has watched and commented on my Alkan etude video! Last week, I decided to make this silly but hopefully informative video about a strange, obscure piano piece and, for some reason, 50,000 people watched it on the first day. I have learned a lot from trying new things in this video and reading many of the reactions. If you like deep dives into the forgotten corners of piano music history, this channel is for you, and there's a lot more to come.

6 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 34

PianoCurio

New Widor Christmas single just dropped 🎅🏻 🎹 ⬇️

11 months ago | [YT] | 6

PianoCurio

Excited to share that the great ‪@smalin‬ has expertly animated all of the bizarre antics of Shchedrin’s Humoresque, using my own performance! Check it out here:

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 12

PianoCurio

Which of these composers are you most curious about?

1 year ago | [YT] | 23

PianoCurio

Part 2 of the 100 sonatas project is here! Continue the journey in the "Wanderer Decade," when pianist-composers steered sonata forms into new directions and innovated virtuosic techniques that heralded the age of bravura pianism.

1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 18

PianoCurio

Update: Decade two (1810-1819) of the 100 sonatas series is about 70% complete and should be finished this weekend. These sonatas are decidedly more adventurous and searching, even darker in many cases, so I am choosing to title the video the "Wanderer Decade" as a nod to the famous 1818 painting by Caspar David Friedrich. I've broken my initial rule already - there will be a few composer repeats - but it is all in the name of musical quality. I love to feature variety and obscure composers, but in certain years there is just little available music of value to be salvaged outside of the big-name composers. Still, there are some real hidden gems in here, including one of my favorite recent sonata discoveries by a lesser-played pianist-composer.

By the way, Kuhlau wrote more than just sonatinas! There are several large-scale sonatas by him that I have not fully explored, but that certainly merit at least as much attention as his sonatinas. I understand the appeal of accessibility to the student-teacher market, but how is it possible that only Kuhlau’s sonatinas seem to be widely available in modern editions? I hope to demonstrate my case in the upcoming video installment. Coming soon!

1 year ago | [YT] | 38

PianoCurio

Two new videos queued up for this week, but meanwhile, how about finding your favorite movement in this ambitious, previously unrecorded suite by the famous French organist? #5 gets my vote.

1 year ago | [YT] | 8