Introduction to Impressionism
To define Impressionism in music it to be met with differing opinions. In art, it is a style from the 1860’s in France that is depicting a moment or feeling. The most renown painter would be Claude Monet (1840- 1926).
It is clearly a painting of a pair overlooking the sea filled with sail boats. What we can infer from Monet’s brush strokes is it is a windy day perfect for sailing and maybe you can imagine a sea breeze as you’re walking the cliffs.
What does this mean when music is labeled as Impressionism? Does the music become “blurred” like this painting? Claude Debussy’s (1862- 1918) “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun” is history’s examples of Impressionism in music. It’s based on a poem by French poet Stéphane Mallarmé about a fauns morning encounter with nymphs. Debussy “blurs” the music by using whole tone scales, dissonance and chromaticism evident in the opening measures of music with the flute solo. But is he blurring the music like a painting or instead suggesting a mood or experience for the listener?
Debussy and Impressionism
In exploring the public’s view of Debussy and Impressionism, there are two articles I would like to reference. “In Debussy the World Has Lost a True Leader” from The Sun (March 31, 1918 by W.J. Henderson and “Thoughts on Influence of Claude Debussy” from the New York Tribune (March 31, 1918) by Grenville Vernon. The articles are written shortly after the death of the composer and can be found in the archive of the Library of Congress.
W.J. Henderson comments on the “regrettable” views of the public toward Debussy.
“People who have heard only “Pelléas et Mélisande” (opera) and “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” may have proceeded thenceforward through life with the idea that the one consisted entirely of Mary Garden and the whole tone scale and the other of Leonide Massino and a flute” (paragraph 4).
Henderson moves on to explain Debussy’s harmonic characteristics and how he used so much more than the whole tone scale that he is well-known for. He describes his use of Gregorian modes, scales, the overtone series, and extended chords.
“The resolution of a chord in music means that it must give way to another chord to which it can appear only as an introduction. By refusing to resolve and treating the chords mentioned as independent Debussy created a range of novel and striking effects in harmony all of which jarred at first upon our unaccustomed ears” (paragraph 7).
In this, he is referring to the traditional way of composing that relies solely on tonality and how Debussy decided to step away from that thinking. Henderson questions whether Debussy will have a lasting impact in the compositional world stating “music of every type has been touched by the new colors with which he set his daily pallet” (paragraph 15). Henderson relies on theoretical principles and public view of Debussy to describe the type of composer Debussy was. Within the article, there wasn’t a single mention of Impressionism.
In the New York Tribune “Thoughts on Influence of Claude Debussy” (March 31, 1918), Grenville Vernon writes “color and atmosphere were what he aimed at” (paragraph 1) not precision of form and tonality. Vernon compares Debussy to Edgar Allan Poe referring to the two men as “genius without time and without place” (paragraph 4). He praised Debussy for opening the path of music for future composers “to advance to an art more human and more universal” (paragraph 4). This article doesn’t mention characteristics of Debussy’s music but rather comments on what Debussy has given to the world during his lifetime.
Both articles give insight into the publics view of Debussy. It’s clear he was a respected composer who provided a new look into music. But was this new look Impressionism or was it a label placed on his music after it had been heavily analyzed and debated? Does labeling something help in understanding or experiencing it or is it a practice that is more of a hindrance? Should we continue to label Debussy’s music as Impressionistic simply because that’s how it has always been? Or is it time to reevaluate?
