2. Impressionism is an artistic current that commenced at French art in
the 1860s (period of napoleon III's empire), seeking to render, in an
appropriate style, as faithfully as possible, the psychic impression of the
view of an object found in nature.
It took this name after the first exhibition, in 1874, of a group of
painters that included Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir,
Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisle, Paul Cézanne, Armand Guillaumen and
Bert Morizo. One of Monet's paintings on display there, entitled
"Impression - soleil levant" (Impression-Sunrise) inspired the name in
the critics.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
4. The paintings of the Impressionists with their discrete brushstrokes
seemed to many makeshift and unfinished. However, the aim of the
Impressionists was not to accurately depict a landscape, but to give
them the impression that was generated on them when observing it.
Like the exponents of the Barbizon school, the Impressionists painted
mainly in the countryside.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
5. With regards to music, the main representative of Impressionism was
considered to be Claude Debussy with the "Prelude in the Afternoon of
a Faunus" (1892), paying particular attention to chromatic effects,
premeditated nebulous tonal shapes, static harmony and the
avoidance of dramatic dynamism, which is prominent for instance in
Beethoven. Other composers who are considered Impressionists are
Ravel, Delius, Respigi, Scriabin, etc.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
6. Debussy's love for art began in his
childhood. He watched an open-air
puppet show in the streets of Paris
while at the same time he admired
Shakespeare and Ibsen. He had even
attempted, although unsuccessfully,
the writing of a play.
IMPRESSIONISM
(19th-20th century)
7. Those who support the characterisation of the "impressionist" for
Debussy, further argue that the aim of his music is to evoke associative
"impressions and special lighting". This means that he did not want to
convey specific feelings or ideas, as Impressionism is inextricably linked
to the undefined and the mysterious.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
8. In 1893 Debussy resorted to the playwright Maeterlinck, asking
permission to compose his first and lone opera based on the play
"Pelleas and Melissanthi". The premiere of his work took place on April
30, 1902. An atmosphere of mystery prevails in the opera and hidden
meanings lurk. The symbolistic poetry by virtue of its freedom,
influenced the musical language of the composer.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
9. Debussy did not follow his father’s footsteps, who wanted him to
become a sailor, but he sailed into his own sea and illuminated the sky
of the music with the notes he hung for stars. The music owes Debussy
much more than any label could describe.
Paul Dukas (1865-1935) said in 1901: “Mr. Debussy is impossible to
categorise. Listening to his music gives the foggy impression of a
teenage dream and maybe one afternoon a Faunus will draw near to us
to tell us the beginning of modern music”.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
10. Other representatives of Impressionism:
Albert Roussel: French composer, naval officer, who later engaged
exclusively with music. He studied until 1898 and became professor of
counterpoint from 1902 to 1913. Without being carried away by the
strict academicism he was taught at the school, Roussel became
prominent mainly in the second decade of the 20th century as a
composer, influenced by Debussy.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
12. Emilios Riadis: (artistic nickname of Emilios Kouis or Kou). Greek
composer. He studied in Thessaloniki as well as in Munich, and for a
while he stayed in Paris, where he studied with Maurice Ravel and
became associated with the circles of the French Impressionists, who
played an important role in shaping his artistic personality.
Around 1915 he settled permanently in Thessaloniki, where he was
appointed piano teacher of the Conservatory there, of which he later
served as deputy director.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century)
13. Riadis seems to have engaged with all kinds of music, opera, symphonic
music, chamber music, music for piano, etc. However, his eclecticism,
up to exaggeration, allowed him to leave nothing but a creative work
very fragmentary.
IMPRESSIONISM (19th -20th century AD)
14. IMPRESSIONISM (19th-
20th century AD)
Emilios Riadis
(Thessaloniki 1886 or 1880-1935)
o Apart from his songs, some of which have
been published, relatively few of his works
are complete.
