Backup of the Impact of the Impressionist Movement on French Piano Music in the Early 20th Century

8/10/2019 Backup of the Impact of the Impressionist Movement on French Piano Music in the Early 20th Century

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The impact of the Impressionist movement on French piano music in

the early 20th

Century

The Impressionist movement is renowned as one of the most divisive musicalmovements in history; to such an extent that one of its most famous and influential

composers, Claude Debussy, openly voiced his opposition to the term. He believed it

to be a way of simple classification for his music, avoiding the proper analysis of its

content.1More than likely he also rejected the term due to his prior knowledge of the

negative connotations it originally held when used in the description of Claude

Monets Impression, Soleil Levant.2Ravel, though never outright deriding the term,

decided that the lack of structural lines was not the way in which he wished to

ultimately compose, adapting an almost mechanical form of composition and

dissonance, owing to the sounds of his childhood, and not overly impressionist in

style.3 Other artists, such as Satie, explicitly distanced themselves from the

Impressionist movement.4These factors create a fascinating backdrop to a movement

that entirely altered French piano music in many ways, including its composition,

performance and inspiration. This essay seeks to document and analyse some of the

developments in these areas throughout this turbulent but hugely influential time in

the history of French piano music.

The spread of the Impressionist style in French piano music owes much to virtuoso

pianist Ricardo Vies. A force to be reckoned with in Impressionist piano

performance, he was an essential component in the realisation of works by the

influential composers early in the movement, before his overly free way of

interpretation cooled some, Ravel especially, towards his performances.5Indeed, his

belief in the style was all too clear even before its spread to France, and certainly his

1Lesure,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/073532Venturi, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4267423Larner (1996), pp. 20-26.4Orledge,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/401055Rodger,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e7153


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performance debuting Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibitioncould not fail to be,

in part, the catalyst for rapid growth of the movement throughout French piano music.

Being reasonably nationalist, Vies began searching for composers in France with

similar ideals to his own, and encouraging composers to adapt their style. 6

It was in 1902 that he performed one of the first truly Impressionist piano pieces by a

French composer. Maurice Ravels Jeux dEau is a composition taking much

influence from Lizsts Les Jeux dEaux la Villa dEste. Ravel uses innovative

compositional techniques and performance directions to create the impression of the

movement of water. Ravels ingenuity is displayed in how the piece itself is played,

instructing Vies to allow the higher notes of the piece to ring out using the pedal,

giving the sense of a consistently fluid, rippling effect through the composition.

Ex. 1:

Though the clarity of the notes being played may suffer as the harmonics of the

arpeggios build up, Ravel believed them to be subservient to the hazy impression of

vibrations in the air.7These ideas enabled Ravel and composers under his influence

to wash their music with sustained colour and manifest the sensation of certain

6Nichols,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e71537Palmer (1973), pp. 111-113.


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environments or objects, rather than merely attempting to replicate them. 8 The

inscription on the piece further validates the theory that this work is purely

impressionist. Taken from an Impressionist poem, it reads River God laughing at the

water that tickles him.9Reading the preceding quotation in relation to the piece itself

all but confirms the piece as Impressionist in inspiration as well as in composition.

Jeux dEauwas to have a profound impact on all of French piano music, far more so

than Debussysrather romantically orientated piano workPour la Piano, premiered in

the same year. The lack of impressionist textures and ideals in this piece meant it

paled in comparison to the shimmering Impressionism of Jeux dEau.Debussy had

already created his ideal of Impressionist work, completing his opera Pellas et

Mlisandebeforehand but was seemingly unable to immediately transfer his ideas to

his piano music (barring the stirring pentatonic work Clair de Lune in 1890).10

Though it could be argued that Jeux dEau was Ravels most seminal work, it falls

short of being widely accepted as his greatest piano music. That honour falls to

another composition of water-music based impressionism, the haunting Gaspard de la

Nuit. The first of this three-part collection based on the poems by Aloysius Bertrand is

Ondine. Amusingly, the piece was originally intended as a caricature of

romanticism butRavelsfears that during the process of composition he had become

carried away with the intricacy of the music were well founded. The result is a

juxtaposition of two styles: a synthesis of Romanticism and Impressionism.11Notice

in the example, taken from the first bars of the piece, the strong melodic line in the

second stave, written in a style more associated with Romantic works than those of

the Impressionism movement.

8Pastler,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/500269Larner (1996), pp. 68-69.10Nichols (1975), pp. 15-16.11Larner (1996), p. 109.


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Ex. 2:

Comparing this to the top line demonstrates the contrast in styles, with the lower stave

anchoring the intricate rhythmic action of the top stave. The harmonies used on the

top stave do not concur with that of Romantic music, with a perfect fifth and minor

sixth constantly changing, giving the effect of a tremolo on the piece. Later in the

piece we see more evidence of the Impressionist style, with similar arpeggios to those

used in his Jeux dEau to create a musical manifestation of the Water Fairy in

Bertrands poetryattempting to woo him and the maniacal laughter within seconds of

his rejecting her.

Ex. 3:

It is wise also to note Ravels attention to the melodic line, which provides a tenable

link for the listener to the ever-changing spectrum of tonality used throughout the

piece.12In parts where this link is not applied, the arpeggios themselves can be seen to

12Palmer (1973), pp. 116-117.


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take on both the harmonic and melodic content of the piece, with the melody moving

at a similar pace but somewhat disguised by the harmonic arpeggios at work. 1314

Ex: 4

This proved to be one of Ravelslast truly Impressionist works as he moved his sound

to a more dissonant level. He did retain many of the fundamental compositional

techniques of Impressionism, its seamless movement into new styles indicative of its

influence on all of French piano music.15

Claude Debussy is in the unique position of being the emergent talent on whom the

term Impressionist was mockingly thrown, just like Claude Monet in the fine art

movement. Monet was an artist Debussy openly admitted feeling he had a great

affinity with, once taking for a compliment Emile Vuillermozs figurative naming of

him as a pupil of Monet.16This also indicates to us that the term Impressionism,

though he disliked its use as a generalization, was not an altogether inaccurate

terminology for his influences and by extension works.

13Larner (1996), pp. 109-110.14Kelly,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/5214515Palmer (1973), pp. 118-119.16Lesure et all,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/07353


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DebussysEstampescollection came at a point in his life when his compositions had

become a sought after commodity and his opinion mattered greatly to the

Impressionist movement. His operaPellas et Mlisandehad just catapulted him into

a position of massive influence, though many felt that his piano works had yet to

reach their zenith in terms of quality.17 The first piece of the collection, Pagodes,

shows the fundamental difference between his style of composition and that of Ravel,

but also shows some of the unifying traits of both composers at work. Debussys

primary concern in this piece is its texture, weaving the composition through several

layers with calculated decisions throughout based almost solely on texture. His expert

use of the pentatonic is quite deliberately overshadowed by his unerring dedication to

the textural ideal, as opposed to the form or tonality of the piece.

Ex. 5:

From the point of view of Impressionism, its steady assimilation into French piano

music is noticeable through its application by different composers. Pagodescontains

a section of arpeggios, which apes in a striking fashion the arpeggios in the

aforementioned Ravel pieceJeux dEau.

17Palmer (1973), pp. 118-119.


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We also see traces of influence from foreign folk music in this piece, used by

Debussy to create a feeling of the orient. Though the foreign element is not

Impressionist in terms of composition, his reasons for its inclusion certainly are. He

uses these sounds to create an almost physical texture of the oriental fountain as the

subject of the piece.18

Undoubtedly Debussy was influenced by Ravels work. It does, however, differ from

Ravels use by virtue of the fact that Debussy considered texture before line or form,

while Ravel approached his composition with the melodic line of the piece very much

at the forefront of his consideration. These differences aside, it is clear that the

Impressionist style was bleeding through French piano music, even with a composer

who refuted the term.

Over time Debussy made several attempts to distance himself from the Impressionist

term, trying to divert attention to the compositions themselves instead of the label

attached to them. One of his most audacious attempts was to place the titles of each of

hisPrludes (1908)at the end of the piece.

Ex. 6:

By doing this he hoped to avoid an instant belief that these pieces were based on the

titles, hoping the listener would instead notice the textures throughout and not merely

18Griffiths (1978), p. 124.


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generalise each composition as Impressionist by virtue of its name.19In the first book

we also see Debussy shorten the length of the pieces in comparison to his previous

works and eradicating all repeats from his composition. Des pas sur la Neige, the

sixth piece in his first book ofPrludes, is so typical of a piece from these collections.

Most are based on a small amount of themes and in the case of this piece it could be

argued that only one theme really exists; certainly one is more prominent than any

other. The concept of using large amounts of ornamentation is gone, indeed within the

collection very little exists. This was a telling precursor to the future of French piano

music, moving further away from composing complicated music towards composing

with a specific inspiration in mind, allowing the music to solely concentrate on

projecting the idea to the listener.20

Ex. 7:

The example above shows the main two-note theme fromDes pas sur la Neige. Note

the extremely thin harmonic content. Given Debussys attention to detail regarding

texture, one can only assume that he has purposely created the opaque feeling,

perhaps to aurally manifest the idea of a snowbound environment.21 Although this

piece has very little actual modulation, Debussy does lean heavily towards other

remote keys such as D flat major and G flat major without, strictly speaking, altering

the key of the piece. An example of this is given below, with the chord giving the

listener an uneasy wait to hear if the semi-implied modulation to the relative major

will in fact occur.22

19Lesure et all,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/0735320Myers (1971), pp. 95-98.21Gatti, www.jstor.org/stable/73811622Whittall (1999), pp. 25-28.


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Ex. 8:

The works of Debussy and Ravel directly influenced many French composers.

Composer Paul Dukas can be taken from a long list of composers just late enough to

the Impressionist movement to be called imitators but relatively skilful composers in

their own right. With DukasLa Plainte, au Loin, du Faune, we see very obvious

Impressionistic elements.

Ex. 9:

Given the depth of Impressionism in the piece, it is unsurprising that it is dedicated to

Claude Debussy himself. The style is slow and downcast, again using the aesthetic

features of Impressionism, given that it is in mourning of Debussys death.23

Historically there has been great difficulty in labelling a specific composer as

Impressionist. Certain elements of most French composers composition could be

termed Impressionistic. But still Debussy fought against the term for most of his life,

even given his love of Impressionist artists. Roussel was certainly influenced by it

before evolving his music in his own independent direction, trying to compose in a

more natural fashion.24 Even Satie, who wished to completely separate music and

inspiration, composed at least one piece that could be termed impressionist: his

23Palmer (1973), pp. 129-130.24Labelle,



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second Sarabande.25 Perhaps that is in fact the most compelling evidence for the

dissemination of Impressionism throughout French music: a composer who openly

disagreed with the very fabric of Impressionism still, if only for the creation of one

piece of music, fell under its spell.

Bibliography

Books:

25Orledge,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/40105


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Abraham, Gerald, The Concise Oxford History of Music(Oxford: Oxford University

Press, 1979)

Brower, Harriette, The Worlds GreatMen of Music(New York: Frederick A. Stokes

& Co, 1922)

Griffiths, Paul,A Concise History of Modern Music(Norwich: Jarrold & Sons Ltd,

1978)

Larner, Gerald,Maurice Ravel(London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1996)

Mauclair, Camille, The French Impressionists(London: Duckworth & Co, 1903)

Myers, Rollo,Modern French Music (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1971)

Nichols, Roger,Debussy(London: Oxford University Press, 1975)

Palmer, Christopher,Impressionism in Music(London: Hutchinson & Co, 1973)

Whittall, Arnold,Musical Composition in the Twentieth Century(Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 1999)

Websites:

Gatti, Guido M, The Piano Works of Claude Debussy, www.jstor.org [Website]

www.jstor.org/stable/738116 (Date Accessed: 07/10/2012)

Hargreaves-Ashworth, Alec, Twentieth-Century Painting: The Approach Through

Music, www.jstor.org [Website] www.jstor.org/stable/728052 (Date Accessed:

13/10/2012)

Howat, Roy, Debussy, www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/07353 (Date

Accessed: 13/10/2012)

Kelly, Barbara L, Ravel, Maurice, www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]


Accessed: 07/10/2012)


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Kennedy, Michael, Impressionism, www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e5138 (Date

Accessed: 13/10/2012)

Labelle, Nicole, Roussel, Albert, www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]


Accessed: 13/10/2012)

Lockspeiser, Edward, Roussel and Ravel, www.jstor.org [Website]


Landormy, Paul, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), www.jstor.org [Website]


Nectoux, Jean-Michel, Faur, Gabriel www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]


Accessed: 07/10/2012)

Nichols, Roger, Vies, Ricardo www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t114/e7153 (Date

Accessed: 13/10/2012)

Orledge, Robert, Indy, Vincent d, www.oxformusiconline.com [Website]


(Date Accessed: 13/10/2012)

Orledge, Robert, Satie, Erik, www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/40105 (Date

Accessed: 07/10/2012)

Palmer, Peter, Music and the Asthetics of Symbolism, www.jstor.org [Website]

www.jstor.org/stable/25434456 (Date Accessed:13/10/2012)

Pasler, Jann, Impressionism, www.oxfordmusiconline.com [Website]


Accessed: 07/10/2012)

Rasn, Vera, Le Six and Jean Cocteau, www.jstor.org [Website]www.jstor.org/stable/729312 (Date Accessed: 07/10/2012)


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Venturi, Lionello, The Aesthetic Idea of Impressionism, www.jstor.org [Website]


Musical Examples:

Jeux dEau, Maurice Ravel:

http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/b/b8/IMSLP03175-Ravel-Jeuxd_Eau-

Demets.pdf

Gaspard da la Nuit, Maurice Ravel:

http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/6/6a/IMSLP246875-PMLP02576-

Ravel__Maurice-Gaspard_de_la_nuit_Durand_7207_scan.pdf

Backup of the Impact of the Impressionist Movement on French Piano Music in the Early 20th Century

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