![]() ![]() The “Prelude” begins with a solo flute, evoking the myth of Pan, whilst the horn calls and harp glissandos contribute to the magical woodland scene setting. In fact, Debussy’s Impressionist masterpiece, “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune”, is inspired by a poem of the same title by Symbolist poet, Mallarmé. Impressionism’s musical pioneer, Debussy, ironically disliked the term he preferred to liken his artistic attitude to the Symbolist poets – who disrupted syntactic function for expressive effect – just as he did with functional harmony. ‘ Tone colour’ is a term often applied to Impressionist music, a further connection to its visual counterpart. In some ways, the painting and musical methods can be compared: parallel motion creates the aural equivalent of sweeping strokes and isolated chords evoke the dabbing of a brush. ![]() For the listener, Impressionism strove to induce a feeling of detached observation rather than ones of progression and investment. Some argue the musical movement was a reaction to fin-de-siècle Germancentric maximalist music, as Impressionism nurtures individual musical moments rather than teleological structures. ![]() This is more difficult to conceptualise in music than in art characteristics of Impressionist music include harmonies, chosen for their sounds rather than their function, that produce evocative natural and exotic soundworlds. Impressionism translated into music around the turn of the century and adopted the approach of ephemerality rather than realism the (largely) natural, peaceful subject matter was transcribed via descriptive titles. ![]()
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