The impressionist movement in music is a movement in European classical music that had its beginnings in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Like its precursor in the visual arts, musical Impressionism focused on suggestion and atmosphere rather than strong emotion or the depiction of a story as in program music. Musical Impressionism occurred as a reaction to the excesses of the Romantic era. While the Romantic era was characterized by a dramatic use of the major and minor scale system, Impressionist music tends to make more use of dissonance and more uncommon scales such as the whole tone scale. Romantic composers also used long forms of music such as the symphony and concerto, while Impressionist composers favored short forms such as the nocturne, arabesque, and prelude. Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romantics redirects here, for the band, see The Romantics Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the industrial revolution. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing through a mouthpiece against an edge or by a vibrating reed, and in which the pitch is varied by opening or closing holes in the body of the instrument. ... See also string (disambiguation) Strings (as a sound (voice) in electronic musical instruments and synthesizers) is an imitation of classical string ensembles sound. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. ... Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. ... Program music is music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood [1]. By contrast, absolute music stands for itself and is intended to be appreciated without any particular reference to the outside world. ... The era of Romantic music is defined as the period of European classical music that runs roughly from the early 1800s to the first decade of the 20th century, as well as music written according to the norms and styles of that period. ... In music theory, the major scale (or major mode) is one of the diatonic scales. ... A minor scale in musical theory is a diatonic scale whose third scale degree is an interval of a minor third above the tonic. ... Dissonance has several meanings, all related to conflict or incongruity. ... In music, a whole tone scale (set form 6-35, 02468t) is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole step. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The term concerto (plural is concerti or concertos) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. ... A nocturne (from the French for nocturnal) is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. ... A Prelude is something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows after it. ...

Musical Impressionism was based in France, and the French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are generally considered to be the two "great" Impressionists. However, composers are generally not as accurately described by the term "Impressionism" as painters in the genre are. Debussy renounced it, saying "I am trying to do 'something different'- in a way realities- what the imbeciles call `impressionism' is a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics."^[1] Maurice Ravel composed many other pieces that aren't identified as Impressionist. Nonetheless, the term is widely used today to describe classical music seen as a reaction to 19th century Romanticism. Achille-Claude Debussy (IPA ) (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a French composer. ... Maurice Ravel in 1912. ... The following list is a partial list of painters. ... Maurice Ravel in 1912. ...

Accordingly, many musical instructions in "impressionist" pieces contain musical instructions written in French, as opposed to the traditional Italian.

See also: List of impressionistic pieces

Claude Debussyhuh Prélude à laprès-midi dun faune Suite bergamasque Clair de Lune Rêverie Estampes La Mer Childrens Corner Deux livres de Préludes Images I Images II Douze Études Pelléas et Mélisande (opera) Maurice Ravel Jeux deau (music) Miroirs Rhapsody Espagnole...

Impressionist composers

Besides the two "great" impressionist composers, Frenchmen Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, other impressionists include Karol Szymanowski (Polish), Charles Griffes (American), Paul Dukas (French), and Ralph Vaughan Williams (English). Achille-Claude Debussy (IPA ) (August 22, 1862 – March 25, 1918) was a French composer. ... Maurice Ravel in 1912. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Karol Szymanowski Karol Szymanowski Karol Maciej Korwin-Szymanowski (October 6, 1882–March 28, 1937) was a Polish composer and pianist. ... Charles Tomlinson Griffes (Elmira, New York September 17, 1884 – April 8, 1920 in New York City} was an American composer. ... Paul Dukas (October 1, 1865-May 17, 1935) was a Parisian-born French composer and teacher of classical music. ... Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM (October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958) was an influential English composer. ...

Influence

Impressionism also influenced the music of Manuel de Falla (Spanish), Frederick Delius (English), Isaac Albéniz (Spanish), Erik Satie (French), Camille Saint-Saëns (French), and Ottorino Respighi (Italian).^[2], as well as jazz musicians such as Bill Evans. Manuel de Falla y Matheu (November 23, 1876 – November 14, 1946) was a Spanish composer of classical music. ... Theodor Albert Frederick Fritz Delius CH (January 29, 1862, – June 10, 1934) was a composer born in Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the north of England. ... Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz (IPA: ) (May 29, 1860 – May 18, 1909) was a Spanish pianist and composer best known for his piano works based on Spanish folk music. ... Selfportrait of Erik Satie. ... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns () (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer and performer, best known for his orchestral works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, and Symphony No. ... Ottorino Respighi (Bologna, July 9, 1879 - Rome, April 18, 1936) was an Italian composer, musicologist, pianist, violist and violinist. ... William John Evans, (better known as Bill Evans) (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the 20th century; he remains one of the major influences on post-1950s jazz piano. ...

The musical genre known as exotica is highly reminiscent of impressionism. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Martin Dennys breakthrough album, Exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the late 1950s to mid 1960s typically with the suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism exotica means tropical ersatz...

References

• A Bartleby Article
• About Impressionism