IN SEARCH OF IMPRESSIONISTS
imck...@interserv.com
I simply adore the music of Ravel, Debussy, Delius,
Bax, Cyril Scott, Griffes. But how much more is there?
Each composer is an indiviual so it would be foolish to
ask "are there any Debussy sound-alikes out there?"
Only Debussy can be Debussy. But the music style
known as "Impressionist" can be rather broad. Sadly
it mostly died a far-too-early death after WW I.
France, being the strongest driving force behind the
movement was so depressed after the war that no one
really felt like writting in this delicate style
any longer. It is very difficult to search out other
composers of this style. It was too short a period to
be the subject of any books, unlike the Baroque,
Classical, and Romantic periods. Impressionism is
usually lumped in with the vast "20th Century Contempo"
which contains everything from Atonal to Minimalist". And
Classical Radio is no help either. They are obessed with
the "Dead German Society". Forgive me for being totally
"blasphemous" but I can't stand Mozart, Bach, Brahms, or
Beethoven except his symphonies. It either sounds like
what Bax called "Sewing Machine Music" or clumps along
like a hippo in ballet tights. I simply don't like much
composed before 1875. I go for the dead French, British
and Russian guys myself. Also, CD's are great, but
their cost makes experimental buying rather painful.
So I am turning to the expertise of this newsgroup. Are
there any other Impressionist lovers out there? Any other
unknown or unsung Impressionist composers I should know
about? I usually fall asleep to a Classical FM station
in hopes of waking in the middle of the night to chatch
and unknown gem being played at an ungodly hour. It works
rarely. Discovered Wm. Alwynn's "Lyra Angelica" and a real
beauty called "The Island" by Phillip Sainton (any info on
his other works?). But 95% of the time it's dead German
stuff. UGHHH!!!!!!!! @#$%&!!!!!!!!!!
IMPRESSIONIST FANS OF THE WORLD UNITE ON THE NET!!!!
My dream is to learn music theory and become a
Neo-Impressionist composer and single handedly revive
this beautiful dead artform. With any luck the 21st
century might start as the 20th had....beautifully.
Any WELCOMED help with CD/LP titles/numbers, book titles,
society adresses, WEB pages, FTP sites or WHATEVER else,
R-U-S-H them to: imck...@interserv.com .....PLEASE!!!
GOD SAVE ME FROM THE DEAD GERMAN SOCIETY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Brooke
: IN SEARCH OF IMPRESSIONISTS
: So I am turning to the expertise of this newsgroup. Are
: there any other Impressionist lovers out there? Any other
: unknown or unsung Impressionist composers I should know
: about? I usually fall asleep to a Classical FM station
: in hopes of waking in the middle of the night to chatch
: and unknown gem being played at an ungodly hour. It works
: rarely. Discovered Wm. Alwynn's "Lyra Angelica" and a real
: beauty called "The Island" by Phillip Sainton (any info on
: his other works?). But 95% of the time it's dead German
: stuff. UGHHH!!!!!!!! @#$%&!!!!!!!!!!
Getting bang up to date, have you ever tried anything by the Japanese
composer Toru Takemitsu? There's a huge Debussy influence there,
which is appropriate as Debussy was himself influenced by oriental
music and scales.
The best introductory CD I can think of is a collection of Takemitsu
pieces ('Riverrun', 'Water-Ways', 'Rain Coming', 'Rain Spell', 'Tree
Line') played by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Oliver Knussen
with Paul Crossley on piano, and it's on Virgin Classics VC 7 91180-2.
I'm not sure what Takemitsu would think of being called
'impressionist' (Debussy and Ravel didn't like the term much either),
but those titles are a pretty fair description of what you hear.
Whatever you make of it, it's guaranteed not to sound either dead or
German...
Michael
Francis Cox
It's interesting to hear so forceful a view about the central canon of the
repertoire: 'Dead Germans' indeed! Some names to look out for which are
contrasting opposites to that culture might be:
Faure': subtle and immaculately crafted music of a high order. The chamber
music is particularly fine, e.g. piano quartet, violin sonata.
Chopin: a fantastic harmonic imagination, poetic melody, and passion too.
Piano works almost exclusively, e.g. nocturnes, ballades.
Vaughan Williams: folk-song influenced works are good, e.g. Lark Ascending,
Norfolk Rhapsody, 3rd Symphony.
Finzi: many lyrical vocal works, also touching music for string orchestra.
Takemitsu: influenced to some degree by Impressionism I believe.
--
Francis Cox ............. fc...@octave.demon.co.uk