Impressionists

[nakulanb]

I think these French composers are my favorite.  They really create beautiful artistic worlds and atmosphere.  I also love Monet and Gogh for painters of this time.

What do you guys think?

[Mirror Image]

Debussy and Ravel are certainly amongst my favorite composers, but I wouldn't discount other French composers like Poulenc, Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Roussel, Fauré, Pierné, Hahn, Milhaud, Boulanger, Boulez, Grisey, Varèse et. al. There are many greats from France!

[Mandryka]

I think these French composers are my favorite.  They really create beautiful artistic worlds and atmosphere.  I also love Monet and Gogh for painters of this time.

What do you guys think?

I agree, because of Debussy's Preludes Book 2.

[vandermolen]

I'm not a great fan of Impressionist painting, apart from this one by Monet:

As for music, I have the highest opinion of Debussy, Ravel, Dutilleux, Damase and Sauguet.

[nakulanb]

Well, you guys have given me more artists of this period to study and listen to!

[Mandryka]

I'm not a great fan of Impressionist painting, apart from this one by Monet:

Haystacks

[vandermolen]

Haystacks

Impression Sunrise (where the Impressionists got their name from).

[Jo498]

I never found the "branding" of Debussy and Ravel as "impressionist" in analogy to the painters all that convincing. Sure, a few works like La Mer seem to invite it to a certain degree. But my favorite music of these two, mostly piano and chamber, hardly does. There is little or nothing "impressionist" about their violin sonatas or string quartets.

[Mandryka]

The problem I have with the category « impressionist » is that, in painting, it has become the sort of art you see on the lid of a box of cookies - i.e. it has lost its transgressive, heretical power. Art isn't performative, so it's not obvious that this is retrievable for Manet, for example, without commentary and criticism. His paintings have become expensive decorative panels.

It is retrievable for Debussy - I mean I know there are musicians who force it into being the aural equivalent of the biscuit box lid, but not all of them do.

This thought, which is probably balderdash as they say, came to me just now while listening to Michel Beroff on Denon.

[Mirror Image]

I never found the "branding" of Debussy and Ravel as "impressionist" in analogy to the painters all that convincing. Sure, a few works like La Mer seem to invite it to a certain degree. But my favorite music of these two, mostly piano and chamber, hardly does. There is little or nothing "impressionist" about their violin sonatas or string quartets.

It is common knowledge that both Debussy and Ravel disliked the term and, honestly, it really doesn't mean all that much to me either.

[vandermolen]

I never found the "branding" of Debussy and Ravel as "impressionist" in analogy to the painters all that convincing. Sure, a few works like La Mer seem to invite it to a certain degree. But my favorite music of these two, mostly piano and chamber, hardly does. There is little or nothing "impressionist" about their violin sonatas or string quartets.

I respectfully disagree. Vaughan Williams, speaking of Ravel, said the 'he taught me to orchestrate in points of colour rather than in lines' this sounds quite 'Impressionist' to me. Also the LP cover below proves that they go together