Impressionism vs Expressionism

Classical Music of the 20th Century

Impressionism
Impressionism

Claude Monet - Soleil levant

Claude Monet - Water Lilies
Impressionism
 Goal of Impressionism
 Movement
 NOT “Capturing the subject”
Impressionism
Musical Example:

La Mer mov. II - Claude Debussy

Impressionism
The Great Impressionist of Music

Claude Debussy
1862-1918
Impressionism
The Great Impressionist of Music

Maurice Ravel
1875-1937
Impressionism
Musical Example:

La cathedrale engloutie - Debussy

“The Sunken Cathedral”
Impressionism
 Musical Characteristics
 Atmospheric
 Non-emotional (Opposite of Romantic music)
 Explored other scales (e.g. whole tone)
Expressionism
Expressionism

Germany
France
The Scream -
Munch
Sunflowers -
Van Gogh
Expressionism

Goals of Expressionism
 Capture “being alive”
 Express emotional experience… not
physical reality
 Expressionism also in dance, architecture,
and movies
Expressionism

Musical Example:

Pierrot Lunaire - Schoenberg

Expressionism

Notable Composer:

Arnold Schoenberg
1874 - 1951

Students:
Alban Berg
Anton Webern
Expressionism

Musical Example:

Five Pieces for Orchestra -

Schoenberg
Expressionism

Musical Characteristics:
 Atonal (no key center)
 Dissonance (represents inner turmoil)
 Primal
Impressionism Expressionism

-Tonal -Non Traditional -Atonal

-Non-emotional harmony -Dissonant
-“Color” -“New Sounds” -Inner emotions
Other 20th Century
Classical Musical Styles
 Post Romantic/Nationalism - Mahler, Sibelius
 Free Dissonance - Ives
 12 Tone - Schoenberg, Berg, Webern
 Neoclassicism - Stravinsky, Hindemeth, Ravel
 Minimalism - Glass, Reich, Le Monte Young
 Post Modernism/Electronic - Cage
 Jazz Influenced - Gershwin, Copland, Milhaud