Debussy and Impressionism - Research Paper Example

and Number The art of Debussy, as a man of his time, is reflected in his work. The application of the term "impressionist" to Debussy and the music he created is a matter of debate both within and outside of academic circles. The composer himself denied it, saying that in composing his music he was merely “trying to do something different” (Thompson 161). The exact quote from a March 1908 letter reads, "I am trying to do something different- in a way realities- what the imbeciles call `impressionism is a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics."  Yet in a letter to his friend Arthur Hartmann he unconsciously affirms it when, in discussing his inspiration for a new piece, he writes, “I became lost in my impressions, dazed in my emotions” (44) . In denying the influence of impressionism on his work Debussy may have been reacting to early negative critical reviews of the impressionist movement in general. Today, perhaps, he might have been pleased to be included. Using two works, Monet’s Impression, Sunrise and Debussy’s Printemps, this essay explores the relationship between the two and offers evidence to support the notion that Debussy, despite protestations to the contrary, was indeed an impressionist. Impressionism: A Challenge of Artistic Proportions The Impressionism period covers approximately two decades from the late 1860s through the 1880s. The movement, originating in France in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, developed in response to the French Academy of Fine Arts and its narrow, overbearing and restrictive rules as to what did or did not constitute art. A group of painters who became known as the Impressionists [not a compliment in those days] felt strongly about securing independence from these restrictive standards and the dictates of its annual official art exhibition, The Salon. The term impressionist was first used by French art critic Louis Leroy in 1874 in response to Monets painting Impression, Sunrise--a work that will play an intrinsic role in the comparisons between Debussy as an impressionist and the artistic impressionists of the time. Leroy, a vehement critic of the movement, harshly criticized Monet’s work in the French newspaper, Le Charivari as appearing unfinished, an opinion obviously based on current artistic standards steeped in realism. “A preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more highly finished than this seascape" (Louis Leroy, 1874, criticism of Monets Impression, Sunrise). As an artist of the time it was no wonder then that Debussy tried to distance himself from the movement. With Printemps, however, he obviously failed, at least according to one critic whose vitriolic judgment bore similar response to Leroy’s. Trezise writes: The report by the Secretary to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1887 described the works as follows: Monsieur Debussy does not lapse into banality, nor is he platitudinous. On the contrary, he has a pronounced tendency – too pronounced – towards an exploration of the strange. One has the feeling of musical colour exaggerated to the point where it causes the composer to forget the importance of precise construction and form. It is to be strongly hoped that he will guard against this vague impressionism, which is one of the most dangerous enemies of truth in works of art. (102) As a piece that evolved over time, other conclusions detract from an argument that the price was a product of pure impressionist influence. Vallas writes, “At the end of 1887, the Académie was more lenient towards the second envoi, Printemps. This composition was inspired by Botticelli Primavera” [hardly an impressionist work] and, apart from the title, has nothing in common with the two choruses written for the Prix de Rome...” (41) A Comparison of Theory In theory the impressionists were concerned with the effects of light on an object rather than an exact depiction of form. Using primary colors impressionists eliminated stringent formatic details, suggesting rather than defining forms, using gradations of color to suggest shadow. A soft “suggested” naturalness was achieved by the placing of short brushstrokes side by side, juxtaposing primary colors to, while blending when observed from a distance also offered contrast, giving the work vivid life—as the vivid sun in Sunrise illuminates an otherwise foreground of formless shadow. The results were works more eye-catching to the beholder—luminous, one might say, than the subtle tonality of realism. As earlier painters clearly balanced compositions—a central image flanked by similarly weighted forms—impressionists favored “asymmetrical compositions” that too the untrained and unappreciative eye seemed to lack balance and continuity. (Characteristics of American Impressionism, para. 1). For Monet, a painter primarily of landscapes in his early years of impressionist experimentation, this basic theory of light and color was dogma and obvious in his work, the body of which reflected constantly his exploration with shadow and color at various times of the day, and in different seasons of the year. Essentially, it was a naturalist’s approach based on perception. While impressionist artists concerned themselves with theories of color, light and shadow, the impressionist movement in music, though not as frequently discussed by academics, had its own distinct movement generally acknowledged as initiated by Debussy. “The impressionist movement is often considered to mark the beginning of the modern period in art and, to a lesser degree, in music...led by French composer Claude Debussy” (Impressionism, para. 1;10). To support the view that Debussy was reacting to the formal patterns of his predecessors Mozart and Beethoven, and the romanticism of Shubert and Schumann, Debussy deliberately created new and innovative devices, such as those created by visual impressionist artists. “On the one hand he used the whole-tone scale and complex, hitherto unexploited intervals of the ninth and higher; on the other...he returned to the parallel fourth and fifth intervals of the medieval church modes... The extensive piano literature composed by Debussy required new performing techniques, including generous but sensitive use of the pedals” (Impressionism para.10). It was no doubt a revolt against earlier musical schools. It is important to note that Debussy himself insisted when it came to his music There is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law. Printemps and Sunrise: The Controversies Impressions, Sunrise: Although not essentially different in spirit from the other Monets shown at the first Impressionist exhibition of 1874 held at Nardar’s rooms on the Boulevard des Capucines, it was singled out for censure and criticism by critics and public alike. Leroy, as previously stated, was merciless in his judgment of Sunrise and the entire impressionist movement. Using the imaginary character of an old painter, “Vincent,” Leroy mocks the painting, suggesting that the painting eventually drives Vincent mad. “I am the impression that advances, the avenging palette knife”(Leroy, La Chiavari, 1874) Clearly Leroy and at first the public at large took issue with what they saw as Monet’s failure to “follow the rules,” insisting, much like Debussy proposed, that theory in the painting came in a poor second to imagery concocted haphazardly by the artist. While the painting first incurred public derision, the word impressionism quickly caught on and as a result Sunrise was purchased for a good amount of money for the time. The sun is set against the dawn, the orange color against the gray and the vibrant force of the sun against its motionless surroundings. Printemps (1887-88) A symphonic suite for chorus, piano and orchestra met with similar reaction when Debussy attempted to introduce it in Rome at the Villa di Medici’s year-ending concert. Debussy sent to them his symphonic suite [Printemps] to which the judges took exception on the grounds of its formlessness—a charge regularly leveled at Monet and specifically by Leroy in Sunrise. Debussy forwarded his manuscript to the Société des Beaux Arts in Paris...”A verdict of undue modernity was given by these arbiters of taste [who]... deemed it insufficiently precise in form and design” (Liebich 32-33). Unlike Sunrise, Debussy’s work was not shortly thereafter accepted and it was not published until twenty years after its creation. (Vallas 160) In June 1885, a year before composing Printemps, Debussy wrote of his desire to follow his own way, saying, "I am sure the Institute would not approve, for, naturally it regards the path which it ordains as the only right one. But there is no help for it! I am too enamoured of my freedom, too fond of my own ideas” (Thompson 77). To say that Monet and Debussy led somewhat parallel lives and had similar independent personalities when it came to their respect arts is defendable. Rouan quotes Monet. “I was born undisciplined," wrote Monet. "Never, even as a child, could I be made to obey a set rule. What little I know I learned at home...I decorated our blue copy paper with ultra-fantastic drawings, and I drew the faces and profiles of my schoolmasters as outrageously as I could, distorting them out of all recognition" (Rouart 21). Debussy, admittedly “too fond of [his] own ideas”(Vallas 3) and insistent on views counter to the accepted musical norms of the time, equates well with Monet’s spirit of experimentation in their respective arts. It is interesting and provocative from a comparison standpoint to note that Printemps was composed five years after the emergence of impressionism brought about by Monet and Sunrise, which artistic movement had taken a firm hold of French society. It seems likely then that while Debussy was “too fond of [his] own ideas,” his unique and non-conformist ideas might well have conformed to the non-conformity of the day. Debussy, also argumentative and experimental, challenged the rigid teachings of the musical art establishment with Printemps with its dissonances and intervals as did Monet Sunrise, with its distorted muted forms shocked into relevance by a sharply contrasted sun. Debussy, however, a mere eleven when Sunrise made its controversial debut, the composer was probably not as impacted by the event as some might suggest. Thus Debussy’s “taste for unusual chords, complex rhythms, and unexpected progressions of subtle harmonies (Vallas 4) can not be directly attributed to Monet’s approach, no matter Liebich’s statement describing Printemps as “an evocation of the spirit [impression] of spring, and its delicately tinted harmonies...”(32). Just because both works were similarly at first dismissed by the establishment this does not mean the two artists, in using what might be interpreted as an impressionist approach, were necessarily committed to the specific artistic process of creating “impressions,” or better, that their idea of images were necessarily the same. The question then from a more technical standpoint becomes: can specific artistic approaches applied in Sunset be similarly applied to Printemps? Yet Stillman, a flautist, maintains “What the Impressionists did in art, Debussy did in music” (43). She makes her point using several comparisons: “He [Debussy] turned away from the established style of composition, overturning tradition and creating his own individual style which would influence generations of composers” (43). But was the same result [effect] necessarily a product of the same cause? Or was it that, as Debussy maintains, he “was simply trying to create something different.” Yes he rejected aspects of common practice harmony and musical structures and forms he deemed rigid in favor of music that emphasized color, texture, and counterpoint. Yes he explored new vistas of aural color, unlocking the instrument’s unique timbre and creating new combinations of sound through his orchestration”(Stillman 43) But did those combinations always result in impressionist images? Artist Paul Gaugin once wrote that “color…is vibration just as music is” (Stillman 15). But does that vibration result in an image? Charles Baudelaire pointed out that “the art of the colorist is evidently in some respects related to mathematics and music”(16). But a colorist can work in styles other than impressionism. Renoir was probably the first to apply the term impressionism to music in speaking to Richard Wagner”(43) but was not speaking of Monet or Sunsrise specificially. Critic and writer Camille Mauclair was more definitive: The landscapes of Claude Monet are in fact symphonies of luminous waves…and the music of Monsieur Debussy, based not on a succession of themes but on the relative values of sounds in themselves, bears a remarkable resemblance to these pictures. It is Impressionism consisting of sonorous patches”(Stillman 44) In composing Printemps Debussy made deliberate decisions to achieve an affect. “...his [Debussy’s] determination to opt for wordless chorus in...Printemps allowing [allowed] him to experiment with the voice as musical colour” (Trezise 29). Trezise quotes Debussy: “Ive decided to write a work of special colour, recreating as many sensations as possible. Im calling it Printemps, not spring from the descriptive point of view but from that of living things” (101). Monet experimented with the application of the colors themselves, both men achieving in the works sensations, impressions for the viewer and listener. The exact quote from a March 1908 letter reads, "I am trying to do something different- in a way realities- what the imbeciles call `impressionism is a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by art critics."  Was Debussy an Impressionist? Let us examine the topic and make our conclusion. If one listens to Suares, Debussy is not an impressionist although he is speaking in general of his work, which may have been what caused Debussy to balk at being called an impressionist. “He [Debussy] is not the slightest bit an impressionist. He is, on the contrary, the musician who makes use everywhere of symbols. For the landscape worthy of music, worthy of poetry, worthy of art in short, is a symbol and only a symbol" (Thompson 18) Tsai counters: An impressionist is thus one who tries to suggest and evoke meaning rather than flatly describe. In music this is characterized by tonality, unresolved dissonance, and ambiguities” Debussy has certainly been described as thus. Its a system of sensation, in which reality stands and is ultimately conceived in personal perception. Did not Debussy admit he was only trying to create “realities.” (para 1-3) It seems Debussy more objected to labels than to comparisons of techniques and ideas, and for that, who would not? Certainly not an artist priding himself on his originality. As quoted by Tsai, Schmidt writes “The public...quickly exchanged study of these works for a rapid and easy label, which if thoughtfully applied to a limited one percent of Debussys works, might have been ingenious” (14) ingenious, it seems had it been applied to early works such as Printemps which, written in odd form closer to Monet’s challenge of art tradition with Sunrise, may have impacted a young composer who had a penchant for “weird little preludes...and complex interludes by which he brought the distant tonalities of two consecutive pieces into gear” (Vallas 5). Enter the discussion about the music as more symbolism than impressionism and one is confronted with more ambiguity in pinpointing Debussy’s musical influences, particularly, as Tsai writes, “It seems that the distinctions made between Symbolism and Impressionism are truly superfluous” (Tsai, para 18) Did Debussy distain impressionism? No. As far as the literature goes he said little about the impressionist art movement except that he did not want to be lumped into the category, but simply desired the freedom to experiment with various ideas. His issues with being called an impressionist might have been purely semantic. Tsai writes: After careful study of the major impressionist/symbolist influences in Debussys life, it seems obvious that those who denied the proper place of the term impressionism in application to Debussys music were unequivocally mistaken. For, when Debussy responded to the original critic with those famous words, "what those imbeciles call impressionism " he was reacting to the idea of inherent negative imprecise, vague, and sloppy connotations of the word... Even better, is the term Debussyism, as Debussy himself embodied all the qualities which are representative of impressionism in music. This fact is neatly illustrated in all of his mature works, most notably...La Mer [and its]... revolutionary usage of tonal ambiguity... pedal point, unresolved chords, dissonance, chromaticism [which] all support the idea that the whole of Debussys works truly were, without a doubt, impressionist in nature. (29)  Works Cited “Characteristics of American Impressionism.” Online Learning: The Fox Chase. http://www.flogris.org/learning/foxchase/html/about_impressionism.php Hartmann, Arthur. Hsu, Samuel, Grolnic, Sidney and Peters, Mark A., eds. Claude Debussy As I Knew Him. Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 2003. “Impressionism.” http://www.members.tripod.com/~Tatiyana/impressionism.htm Leroy, Louis. “The Exhibition of the Impressionists.” La Chiaviari, April 25, 1874. Liebich, Louise. Claude-Achille Debussy. London: J Lane, 1908. Rouart, Denis. Claude Monet. Emmons, James, trans. New York: Skira, 1958. Schmitz, E. Robert. 1889-1949: The Piano Works of Claude Debussy. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950 Stillman, Mimi. “Debussy, Painter of Sound and Image” The Flutist Quaterly, Fall 2007. 41-46. http://www.mimistillman.org/debussystillman.pdf Thompson, Oscar. Debussy: Man and Artist. Tudor Publishing Company, 1940. Trezise, Simon. The Cambridge Companion to Debussy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Tsai, Shengdar. “Impressionist Influences in the Music of Claude Debussy.” http://www.tcd.ie/Music/JF%20History/debussy.html Vallas, Leon. Debussy: His Life and Works. O’Brien, Marie, O’Brien, Grace, transls. London: Oxford University Press, 1933. Read More