Impressionism Composers - DABClassic Radio

The musical impressionism emerged in France in the late 19th and early 20th century. It took its name from the painting of Monet and his contemporaries, and as it seeks to suggest more than describe: atmospheres, lights and mood built with the color of sound, unsolved floating harmonies, scales of whole tones and pentatonic, and evocative titles. Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel are their great figures, although neither of them felt comfortable with the label. Its influence was extended by Spain, England, Russia, Italy, Poland, Finland and the United States.

Main figures

Claude Debussy 1862 – 1918 Maurice Ravel 1875 – 1937

Precursor

Ernest Fanelli 1860 – 1917

Composers linked to impressionism

Lili Boulanger 1893 – 1918 Isaac Albéniz 1860 – 1909 Frederick Delius 1862 – 1934 Paul Dukas 1865 – 1935 Alexander Scriabin 1872 – 1915 Manuel de Falla 1876 – 1946 John Alden Carpenter 1876 – 1951 Ottorino Respighi 1879 – 1936 Albert Roussel 1869 – 1937 Karol Szymanowski 1882 – 1937 Charles Tomlinson Griffes 1884 – 1920 Federico Mompou 1893 – 1987 Jean Sibelius 1865 – 1957 Howard Hanson 1896 – 1981