Music of the Impressionist Period
1 day 9:30 am - 4:30 pm or 4 weeks x 90 minutes
The period from around 1880 to 1920, sometimes described as Impressionism, elicited some of the most beautiful and bewitching compositions of western music history. Composers such as Sibelius, Elgar, Mahler, Debussy and Ravel gave the world exotic and rich new sounds, in the last moments before many composers abandoned ‘normal’ music and went atonal. This study day examines the music of this period in its historical and social context. No musical knowledge is necessary.
This course part of a series of music history courses, exploring the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Impressionist periods. you may attend the courses in any order.Course Outline
Session 1
- The turn of the twentieth century: a fascinating period of history
- What is Impressionism? What is Impressionism in music?
- Social, cultural and historical background: Europe, 1880-1920
- The art of the Impressionist period: we look at art and architecture of the period, and see parallel tastes in art and music
Session 2
- Musical genres of the Impressionist period: experiments in genre
- Compositional techniques: what Impressionist composers were trying to achieve, and how they achieved it
- Musical characteristics: what to listen for, and how to get more out of Impressionist music
- Contrasting composers: Puccini, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Satie, Rakhmaninov
Session 3
- Song in the Impressionist period: Mahler and Richard Strauss
- Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
- Richard Strauss: Four Last Songs
- Opera in the Impressionist period
- Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
Session 2
- The Symphony in the Impressionist period
- The symphonies of Mahler, Rakhmaninov, Elgar and Vaughan Williams
- The Concerto in the Impressionist period
- Elgar: Cello Concerto
- Rakhmaninov’s piano concertos
- Sibelius: Violin Concerto
- Piano music of the Impressionist period
- Debussy: Clair de Lune
- Satie’s Gymnopedies and Gnossiennes
- The piano music of Ravel
Buy the course notes for this class
In hard copy book form, through Lulu Press$22 + postage
About Susan Deas
Susan Deas is a professional musician, lecturer and teacher. She has been teaching music appreciation courses for more than twenty years, through Sydney University's Centre for Continuing Education, WEA Sydney and at other venues. Her training includes a Bachelor of Music with a major in Performance (Piano) and Musicology, a Master of Music Studies (Studio Pedagogy), a Bachelor of Arts (Communications), and an A.Mus.A in Musicianship. Susan teaches piano and music theory to adults and children, and plays piano and organ at various venues around Sydney. Susan is an Accredited Member of the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW.
More about Susan’s qualifications