The

Art Movement in Europe :

IMPRESSIONISM
(1875-1925)
v Impressionism is a movement
that started in 1860’s.

v Desire to paint modern life

instead of academic subjects of
mythology and history
 The Paris Salon or
“Exhibition of Living Artists”
C laude Pierre-Auguste Edgar Degas Berthe
M onet Renoir M orisot

Paul A lbert Sisley

The Art Movement in Europe :

IMPRESSIONISM
IN MUSIC
(1875-1925)
Impression, Sunrise (1872)
Claude Monet
 AR
M
T

US
IC
 Musical Impressionism was
based in France, and the French
composers Claude Debussy and
Maurice Ravel are generally
considered to be the two “great”
Impressionists.
Claude Debussy Maurice Ravel
(1862-1918) (1875-1973)
 • A very talented
musician

• Went to French
Academy in Rome
to broaden his
education
Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
 “I love music passionately. And because I
love it, I try to free it from barren traditions
that stifle it. It is a free art gushing forth, an
open-air art boundless as elements, the
wind, the sky, the sea. It must never be shut
in and become an academic art.”

- Claude Debussy
 • Arabesque No. 1

• Prélude à l'Après-
midi d'un faune
• lisle Joyeuse

Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
 • A French composer,
pianist and
conductor

• Went to French
Academy in Rome
to broaden his
education
Maurice Ravel
(1875-1973)
 • Jeux d'eau
• Bolero

Maurice Ravel
(1875-1973)
 WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF
IMPRESSIONISM IN MUSIC?

1. The rhythm of impressionism is irregular in terms

of phrases.
2. It avoids the traditional harmonic progression.
3. It has unresolved dissonance.
4. It uses the whole-tone scale, uses the 9th chord,
and also frequently uses modality and exotic scales.
 INSTRUMENTS USED DURING THE
IMPRESSIONIST PERIOD
• The Impressionist composers two favorite mediums
were the orchestra and the piano.
Within the orchestra, flutes and clarinets were used in
their dark lower registers.
Violins reached for upper sonorities while trumpets
and horns were muted. There was much use of harp,
celeste, triangle, glockenspiel, and cymbal which was
usually brushed with a drumstick.
 INSTRUMENTS USED DURING THE
IMPRESSIONIST PERIOD
• Impressionistic musical pieces were performed by
pianists, string quartets, symphonies, and orchestras