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.
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