IMPRESSIONISM VS.

EXPRESSIONISM

Impressionism in music was a movement among various composers in Western classical music (mainly
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries) whose music focuses on suggestion and atmosphere,
"conveying the moods and emotions aroused by the subject rather than a detailed tone‐picture".
Musical Impressionism is the name given to a movement in European classical music that arose in the late
19th century and continued into the middle of the 20th century. Originating in France,
musical Impressionism is characterized by suggestion and atmosphere, and eschews the emotional excesses
of the Romantic era.
Impressionism was the most important art movement of the 19th century, and its impact extended
throughout the world until well into the 20th century. The name derives from a painting exhibited by Monet in
1874, catalogued as "Impression Sunrise". There is no precise definition of the style.

Throughout history, art and music have developed in parallel with each other. The impressionist
movement is no exception. Impressionism in art began in France near the end of the 19th century.
Impressionist painters did not seek to show reality in the classical sense of a picture-perfect image;
instead, they emphasized light and color to give an overall “impression” of their subjects. Much in the
same way, impressionism in music aims to create descriptive impressions, not necessarily to draw
clear pictures.

The music is not designed to explicitly describe anything, but rather to create a mood or atmosphere.
This is done through almost every aspect of music: melody, harmony, color, rhythm, and form.
Melodies tend to be short in nature, often repeated in different contexts to give different moods. In
terms of color, notes are often drawn from scale systems other than the traditional major and minor.
These include pentatonic, whole-tone, or other exotic scales (for example, Debussy, a major figure of
impressionism, was influenced by Asian music).

(Achille) Claude Debussy[n 1] (French: [aʃil klod dəbysi];[7] 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer.
He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among
the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Joseph Maurice Ravel (/rəˈvɛl/; French: [ʒozɛf mɔʁis ʁavɛl]; 7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French
composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with impressionism along with his elder
contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In the 1920s and 1930s Ravel
wainternationally regarded as France's greatest living composer.
MUSICAL ELEMENTS: 20TH CENTURY

MUSIC

n conclusion, tone color, atmosphere, and fluidity were the most important characteristics to
defineImpressionist music. Most often represented by short, lyrical pieces, composers such as
Debussy became prolific in this style from 1890-1920.May 16, 2016
 Introduction. Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating
in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a
subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.

The term expressionism "was probably first applied to music in 1918, especially to Schoenberg",
because like the painter Wassily Kandinsky he avoided "traditional forms of beauty" to convey
powerful feelings in his music. Wikipedia

Expressionist music often features:

 a high level of dissonance.
 extreme contrasts of dynamics.
 constantly changing textures.
 'distorted' melodies and harmonies.
 angular melodies with wide leaps.
 extremes of pitch.
 no cadences.

Expressionists are using their emotions to define their words andImpressionists are using their
words to define their emotions. The expressionismand impressionism literary movements occurred
alongside the art movements of the same names and shared some of the same characteristics.

ECLECTIC-deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.
"universities offering an eclectic mix of courses"

ATONALITY-Atonality in its broadest sense is music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality, in this sense,
usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day, where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on
a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale function independently of one another
(Kennedy 1994). More narrowly, the term atonality describes music that does not conform to the system
of tonal hierarchies that characterized classical European music between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries
(Lansky, Perle, and Headlam 2001). "The repertory of atonal music is characterized by the occurrence of pitches in
novel combinations, as well as by the occurrence of familiar pitch combinations in unfamiliar environments" (Forte
1977, 1).
Angular contour-

1
Post-Romanticism

- late romantic characteristics extended into the 20th century

- expansive melodies, chromatic harmonies, lush orchestrations, affinity for programmatic
elements

2
electronic music

- any type of music created whole or in part by electronic means

- may utilize recording devices (tape recorder), synthesizers, and more recently,
computers

3
Jazz
- a uniquely American musical style developed initially by African Americans in New
Orleans, Chicago, and New York
- emphasized syncopation
- inflected melodies (including "blue" notes Flat3, Flat5, and Flat7) and improvisation
- ex. "West End Blues", Louis Armstrong

4
Serialism

- a compositional approach developed in the 20th century by the Second Viennese School
- any number of musical parameters (such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, tone colour) are
organized using a specific ordering (set) that undergoes manipulation
- sometimes used as a synonym for dodecaphonic (or twelve-tone) music

5
Expressionism in music

- early 20th century German style

- marked by extreme dissonance, angular melodies, irregular rhythmic groupings
- explored deeply psychological themes
- ex. "Erwartung" op. 17, Arnold Schoenberg

6
Indeterminacy, aka aleatoric music

- a style that evolved in the mid-20th century

- relied on randomness and chance to determine some of the aspects of the music and its
performance

7
Impressionism in music

- late 19th and early 20th century French style associated most closely with the music of
Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel
- often programmatic
- use of non-traditional scales: modes, whole tone, pentatonic
- 9th chords, parallel harmonies
- blurring of the metrical pulse
8
neo-Classicism

- a post WWI style marked by a return to absolute music and traditional formal structures
- cultivated a less emotional (more detached) sensibility
- ex. Symphony No. 1, op. 25 "Classical" first movement, Sergei Prokofiev

9
minimalism in music

- a style o music that evolved in the latter half of the 20th century
- generally characterized by he seemingly endless repetition of short melodic patterns,
complex cross-rhythms, and a return to tonal/modal principles
- its adherents include Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, and Michael Nyman
- ex. "Six Pianos", Steve Reich

10
neo-Romanticism

- generally, a late 20th century style

- a return to tonal principles, lush orchestration, and expansive melodies
- characterized by heightened emotionalism

11
Second Viennese School

- the trio of early 20th century composers formed by Schoenberg and his disciples Alban
Berg and Anton Webern
- works demonstrate Expressionism
- developed twelve-tone method
- music marked by atonality and contrapuntal textures
- ex. Violin Concerto, first movement, Alban Berg
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