Russian composers are impressionists. Musical impressionism. French musical impressionism

Application of the term " impressionism"to music is largely conditional - musical impressionism is not a direct analogy to impressionism in painting and does not coincide with it chronologically (its heyday was the 90s of the 19th century and the 1st decade of the 20th century).

Impressionism arose in France, when a group of artists - C. Monet, C. Pissarro, A. Sisley, E. Degas, O. Renoir and others - presented their original paintings at Paris exhibitions in the 70s. Their art was sharply different from the smoothed and faceless works of the academic painters of that time: the impressionists left the walls of their workshops into the free air, learned to reproduce the play of the living colors of nature, the sparkle of the sun's rays, multi-colored reflections on the moving surface of the river, the diversity of the festive crowd. The painters used a special technique of fluent spots-strokes, which seemed chaotic up close, but at a distance gave rise to a real feeling of a living play of colors, fanciful play of light. The freshness of an instant impression was combined in their paintings with the subtlety and sophistication of psychological moods.

Later, in the 80-90s, the ideas of impressionism and partly its creative techniques found their expression in French music. Two composers - C. Debussy and M. Ravel - most clearly represent the movement of impressionism in music. Their piano and orchestral sketch pieces express with particular harmonic and modal novelty the sensations caused by the contemplation of nature. The sound of the sea surf, the splash of a stream, the rustle of the forest, the morning chirping of birds merge in their works with the deeply personal experiences of a musician-poet in love with the beauty of the world around him. They both loved folk music- French, Spanish, oriental, admired its unique beauty.

The main thing in musical impressionism is the transmission of moods that acquire the meaning of symbols, subtle psychological nuances, attraction to poetic landscape programming. He is also characterized by refined fantasy, poeticization of antiquity, exoticism, and an interest in timbre and harmonic beauty. What he has in common with the main line of impressionism in painting is his enthusiastic attitude towards life; moments of acute conflicts and social contradictions are avoided in it.

Classic expression " musical impressionism" found in the works of C. Debussy; its features also appeared in the music of M. Ravel, P. Dukas, F. Schmitt, J. J. Roger-Ducas and other French composers.

Debussy is rightfully considered the founder of musical impressionism, who enriched all aspects of modern compositional skill - melody, harmony, orchestration, form. His innovative experiments were partly inspired by the outstanding discoveries of Russian realist composers, primarily M. P. Mussorgsky. At the same time, he adopted the ideas of new French painting and symbolist poetry. Debussy wrote many piano and vocal miniatures, several pieces for chamber ensembles, three ballets, and the lyrical opera Pelléas et Melisande.

Musical impressionism inherited many features of the art of late romanticism and national music schools XIX century (" Mighty bunch", F. List, E. Grieg, etc.). At the same time, the impressionists contrasted the clear relief of contours, extreme materiality and oversaturation of the musical palette of the late romantics with the art of restrained emotions and transparent, meager texture, and the fluent changeability of images.

The work of impressionist composers greatly enriched the expressive means of music, especially the sphere of harmony, which reached great beauty and sophistication; the complication of chord complexes is combined in it with the simplification and archaization of modal thinking; The orchestration is dominated by pure colors, capricious highlights, and the rhythms are unsteady and elusive. The colorfulness of modal harmonic and timbre means comes to the fore: the expressive meaning of each sound and chord is enhanced, and previously unknown possibilities for expanding the modal sphere are revealed. The music of the Impressionists was given a special freshness by their frequent use of song and dance genres and elements musical language peoples of the East, Spain, early forms of black jazz.

Inspired pictures of nature are conveyed with amazing, almost visible concreteness in his orchestral pieces: “Preludes to the Afternoon of a Faun”, in the cycle “Nocturnes” (“Clouds”, “Festivities” and “Sirens”), three sketches “The Sea”, the cycle “Iberia” (three sketches of the nature and life of southern Spain), as well as in the piano miniatures “Island of Joy”, “Moonlight”, “Gardens in the Rain”, etc. The work of Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) reflected a later era. The drawing of his compositions is sharper, sharper, the colors are clearer and more contrasting - from tragic pathos to caustic irony. But in his compositional style there is also a sophisticated sound design, a complex and colorful play of colors, typical of musical impressionism. Ravel's best piano pieces are dominated by a whimsical iridescence. sounds inspired by living nature (“Play of Water”, “Sad Birds”, “Boat in the Ocean”) Throughout his life, the composer developed the motifs of his beloved Spain. This is how “Spanish Rhapsody” for orchestra, the comic opera “The Spanish Hour” appeared. Bolero".

Ravel paid great attention to genres dance music. Among several of his ballets, the fairy tale ballet “Daphnis and Chloe”, created by him in collaboration with the Russian troupe of S. P. Diaghilev, stands out. Ravel knew the secrets of musical humor well and wrote music for children with love. Such are his pieces for the piano “Mother Goose”, turned into a ballet, or the opera “The Child and the Magic”, in which the Clock and the Couch, the Cup and the Teapot appear amusingly as characters. IN recent years During his life, Ravel turned to more modern, rhythmically sharpened musical means, in particular to the intonations of jazz (sonata for violin and piano, two piano concertos).

The traditions of impressionism, begun by French masters, were continued in the works of composers of various national schools. They were originally developed by M. de Falla in Spain, A. Casella and O. Respigi in Italy, S. Scott and F. Dilius in England, K. Szymanowski in Poland. The influence of impressionism was experienced at the beginning of the 20th century. and some Russian composers (N. N. Cherepnin, V. I. Rebikov, S. N. Vasilenko). A. N. Scriabin combined the independently formed features of impressionism with fiery ecstasy and violent impulses of will. Originally realized achievements French impressionism noticeable in early works I. F. Stravinsky (ballets “The Firebird”, “Petrushka”, opera “The Nightingale”).

Romantic art raised the ideal of a person endowed with a living soul, suffering in a world of disharmony and social evil. In the second half of the 19th century. “excessive humanity” and “hypertrophied sensitivity” (as romantic art was criticized) are beginning to lose their positions. The image of a romantic artist gradually lost its attractiveness. Anti-romantic sentiments are a harbinger of a new stage in the development of artistic culture. Europeans, having lost faith in both the cult of human reason and the cult human feeling, are increasingly inclined towards individualistic life positions.

The art of impressionism became the harbinger of new cultural trends.

Music. The constant confrontation between old and new is characteristic not only of French painting, but also of music, where impressionism took hold with some delay. Its first and most striking exponent was Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Debussy's music is closely connected with the national and cultural traditions of France. However, it is obvious and bright innovative character his writings. The composer was among those who boldly introduced into modern European music intonations of medieval modes, rhythms of African-American jazz.

The peak of the composer's creativity coincided with the onset of the 20th century. His music is filled with a jubilant feeling of the fullness of life and bright colorful effects. Among the symphonic works of this time, the three-part suite “The Sea” stands out. But the composer’s creative achievements in the field of piano music are especially great.

The cycle of 24 preludes written by Debussy in 1910-1913 can be called an “encyclopedia” of impressionist piano art. Each of the plays is a colorful picture, as if competing with painting. However, Debussy did not strive for accuracy in musical depiction. For him, color and color were always just a means of conveying personal moods and feelings born under the impression of a particular image. The musical associations suggested by nature are amazingly diverse and unexpected (“Wind on the Plain”, “Sails”). Musical “painting” of landscapes is adjacent to delicate watercolor “drawings” (“Girl with flaxen hair”). Twilight melancholy, reminiscent of the poetry of symbolism, emanates from “Mists”, “Steps in the Snow”, “Dead Leaves”. Among the preludes written based on literary source, the “Sunken Cathedral” stands out. The play was born under the impression of a Breton legend about a city swallowed up by the sea, but rising at dawn from the abyss to the sound of bells. In this ancient legend, the composer was attracted not by the mysticism or romance of antiquity, but by the opportunity to “paint” with sounds a picturesque picture of the approaching dawn, in the silence of which the bells suddenly ring out, coming from the depths of the sea, from where the bulk of the city suddenly emerges.

A continuator of Debussy's traditions, the greatest impressionist composer was Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). One of best essays this time - piano piece"The Game of Water" (1901). In the music you can hear the murmuring tints and splashing of streams, in which rainbow light is reflected. The images and associations inspired by the sounds are confirmed by the epigraph that Ravel prefaced the play: “The river god laughing at the water that tickles him.”

“Bolero” was written in 1928 by order of the famous ballerina Ida Rubinstein. However, the life of the composition as a choreographic number was very short-lived. Ida Rubinstein danced “Bolero” in a gypsy costume on a table, causing the delight of the jaded Parisian public with the extravagance of the number. It was obvious that such an interpretation did not correspond to the scale of brilliant music. Later, “Bolero” gained enormous popularity primarily as an independent symphonic work, saturated with the elements of dance, bright, passionate, and dynamic in Spanish. “Bolero” is a rare example of a large musical concept, embodied on the basis of one (!) “Spanish” theme, composed by Ravel himself. Thanks to exceptional orchestral visualization, the composer managed to achieve colossal tension in the development of this image, directed towards a jubilant climax.

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy (French Achille-Claude Debussy) (August 22, 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris - March 25, 1918, Paris) - French composer.

He composed in a style often called impressionism, a term he never liked. Debussy was not only one of the most important French composers, but also one of the most significant figures in music in the world. turn of the 19th century and XX centuries; his music represents a transitional form from late romantic music to modernism in 20th century music. Died of colon cancer.

Debussy - French composer, pianist, conductor, music critic. He graduated from the Paris Conservatoire (1884) and received the Prix de Rome. Student of A. Marmontel (piano), E. Guiraud (composition). As the home pianist of the Russian philanthropist N. F. von Meck, he accompanied her on her travels around Europe, and visited Russia in 1881 and 1882. He performed as a conductor (in 1913 in Moscow and St. Petersburg) and a pianist, performing mainly his own works, and also as a music critic (from 1901).

Debussy is the founder of musical impressionism. In his work he relied on French musical traditions: the music of French harpsichordists (F. Couperin, J. F. Rameau), lyric opera and romance (C. Gounod, J. Massenet). The influence of Russian music (M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), as well as French symbolist poetry and impressionist painting, was significant. D. embodied in music fleeting impressions, the subtlest shades of human emotions and natural phenomena. Contemporaries considered the orchestral “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” (based on the eclogue of S. Mallarmé, 1894) to be a kind of manifesto of musical impressionism, in which the instability of moods, sophistication, sophistication, whimsical melody, and colorful harmony characteristic of D.’s music were revealed. D.'s most significant creations are the opera “Pelleas and Mélisande” (based on the drama by M. Maeterlinck; 1902), in which a complete fusion of music with action is achieved. D. recreates the essence of the unclear, symbolically foggy poetic text of this work, along with the general impressionistic coloring. , symbolist understatement is characterized by subtle psychologism and vivid emotionality in the expression of the characters’ feelings. Echoes of this work are found in the operas of G. Puccini, B. Bartok, F. Poulenc, I. F. Stravinsky, S. S. Prokofiev. The transparency of the orchestral palette marks 3 symphonic sketches “The Sea” (1905) - D.’s largest symphonic work. The composer enriched the means musical expressiveness, orchestral and piano palette. He created an impressionistic melody, characterized by flexibility of nuances and at the same time vagueness.

In some works - “Bergamas Suite” for piano (1890), music for G. D. Annunzio’s mystery “The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian” (1911), the ballet “Games” (1912), etc. - features later inherent in neoclassicism appear, they demonstrate Debussy’s further searches in the field of timbre colors and coloristic comparisons. D. created a new pianistic style (études, preludes) for piano (1st notebook - 1910, 2nd - 1913), equipped with poetic titles (“). Delphic dancers”, “Sounds and aromas flutter in the evening air”, “Girl with flaxen hair”, etc.), create images of soft, sometimes unreal landscapes, imitate the plasticity of dance movements, evoke poetic visions, genre paintings of Debussy, one. one of the greatest masters of the 20th century, had a significant influence on composers in many countries.

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Origin

Musical impressionism has, first of all, impressionism in French painting as its predecessor. They not only have common roots, but also cause-and-effect relationships. And the main impressionist in music, Claude Debussy, and especially Erik Satie, his friend and predecessor on this path, and Maurice Ravel, who took the baton of leadership from Debussy, looked for and found not only analogies, but also expressive means in the works of Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne , Puvis de Chavannes and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

The term “impressionism” itself in relation to music is emphatically conditional and speculative in nature (in particular, Claude Debussy himself repeatedly objected to it, however, without offering anything definite in return). It is clear that the means of painting associated with vision and the means of musical art based mostly on hearing, can be connected with each other only with the help of special, subtle associative parallels that exist only in consciousness. Simply put, the blurred image of Paris "in autumn rain"and the same sounds, "muffled by the noise of falling drops" already in themselves have the property of an artistic image, but not of a real mechanism. Direct analogies between the means of painting and music are possible only through composer's personality who has been personally influenced by artists or their paintings. If an artist or composer denies or does not recognize such connections, then talking about them becomes, at a minimum, difficult. However, before us as an important artifact there are confessions and, (what matters most) the works themselves of the main characters of musical impressionism. It was Erik Satie who expressed this idea more clearly than others, constantly emphasizing how much he owes to artists in his work. He attracted Debussy to himself with the originality of his thinking, independent, rough character and caustic wit, which absolutely did not spare any authorities. Also, Satie interested Debussy with his innovative piano and vocal compositions, written with a bold, although not entirely professional, hand. Here below are the words with which in 1891 Satie addressed his newly found friend, Debussy, encouraging him to move on to the formation of a new style:

When I met Debussy, he was full of Mussorgsky and persistently sought ways that were not so easy to find. In this regard, I have long surpassed him. I was not burdened by either the Rome Prize or any others, for I was like Adam (from Paradise), who never received any prizes - definitely lazy!...
At this time I was writing “Son of the Stars” to a libretto by Péladan and explained to Debussy the need for a Frenchman to free himself from the influence of Wagnerian principles that do not correspond to our natural aspirations. I also said that although I am in no way an anti-Wagnerist, I still believe that we should have our own music and, if possible, without “German sauerkraut.” But why not for these purposes use the same visual means that we see in Claude Monet, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and others? Why not transfer these funds to music? Nothing could be simpler. Isn't this what real expressiveness is?

But if Satie derived his transparent and stingy impressionism from symbolic painting Puvis de Chavannes, then Debussy (through the same Satie) experienced the creative influence of more radical impressionists, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro.

It is enough just to list the names of the most striking works of Debussy or Ravel to get a complete idea of the impact on their work as visual images, and landscapes of impressionist artists. So, in the first ten years, Debussy wrote “Clouds”, “Prints” (the most figurative of which, a watercolor sound sketch - “Gardens in the Rain”), “Images” (the first of which, one of the masterpieces of piano impressionism, “Reflections on the Water ", evokes direct associations with the famous painting by Claude Monet "Impression: Sunrise")… According to the famous expression of Mallarmé, impressionist composers studied "hear the light", convey in sounds the movement of water, the vibration of leaves, the blowing of wind and the refraction of sunlight in the evening air. The symphonic suite “The Sea from Dawn to Noon” suitably summarizes Debussy’s landscape sketches.

Despite his often-publicized personal opposition to the term “impressionism,” Claude Debussy repeatedly expressed himself as a true impressionist artist. So, speaking about the earliest of his famous orchestral works, “Nocturnes", Debussy admitted that the idea for the first of them (“Clouds”) came to his mind on one of the cloudy days, when he was looking at the Seine from the Bridge of Concorde... Well Regarding the procession in the second part (“Celebrations”), this idea was born from Debussy: “... while contemplating the equestrian detachment of soldiers of the Republican Guard passing in the distance, whose helmets sparkled under the rays of the setting sun... in clouds of golden dust.” Likewise, the works of Maurice Ravel can serve as a kind of material evidence of direct connections from painting to music that existed within the Impressionist movement. The famous sound-visual “Play of Water”, the cycle of plays “Reflections”, the piano collection “Rustles of the Night” - this list is far from complete and it can be continued. Sati, as always, stands somewhat apart; one of the works that can be named in this regard is, perhaps, “The Heroic Prelude to the Gates of Heaven.”

The surrounding world in the music of impressionism is revealed through the magnifying glass of subtle psychological reflections, subtle sensations born of contemplation of minor changes occurring around. These features make impressionism similar to another art movement that existed in parallel - literary symbolism. Erik Satie was the first to turn to the works of Josephin Péladan. A little later, the work of Verlaine, Mallarmé, Louis and especially Maeterlinck found direct implementation in the music of Debussy, Ravel and some of their followers.

Despite all the obvious novelty of the musical language, impressionism often recreates some expressive techniques characteristic of the art of previous times, in particular, the music of French harpsichordists of the 18th century and the Rococo era. It would only be worth recalling such famous visual plays by Couperin and Rameau as “Little windmills" or "Chicken".

In the 1880s, before meeting Erik Satie and his work, Debussy was fascinated by the work of Richard Wagner and was completely in the wake of his musical aesthetics. After meeting with Satie and from the moment of creating his first impressionistic opuses, Debussy with surprising sharpness switched to the position of militant anti-Wagnerism. This transition was so sudden and sharp that one of Debussy’s close friends (and biographer), the famous musicologist Emile Vuillermeau, directly expressed his bewilderment:

“Debussy's anti-Wagnerism is devoid of greatness and nobility. It is impossible to understand how a young musician, whose entire youth was intoxicated by the intoxication of “Tristan” and who, in the formation of his language, in the discovery of an endless melody, undoubtedly owes so much to this innovative score, contemptuously ridicules the genius that has given him so much!
- (Emile Vuillermoz, “Claude Debussy”, Geneve, 1957.)

At the same time, Vuillermeau, internally bound by a relationship of personal hostility and enmity with Erik Satie, did not specifically mention him and released him as a missing link in creating a complete picture. Indeed, French art of the late 19th century, crushed by Wagnerian musical dramas, asserted itself through impressionism. For a long time, it was precisely this circumstance (and the growing nationalism during the period between the three wars with Germany) that prevented us from talking about the direct influence of the style and aesthetics of Richard Wagner on Impressionism. Perhaps the first to raise this question was the famous French composer of Cesar Franck’s circle, Vincent d’Indy, Debussy’s senior contemporary and friend. In his famous work"Richard Wagner and his influence on musical art France,” ten years after Debussy’s death, he expressed his opinion in categorical form:

“The art of Debussy is indisputably from the art of the author of Tristan; it rests on the same principles, is based on the same elements and methods of constructing the whole. The only difference is that Debussy interprets Wagner’s dramatic principles..., so to speak, a la française» .
- (Vincent d'Indy. Richard Wagner et son influence sur l'art musical français.)

Representatives of impressionism in music

The main environment for the emergence and existence of musical impressionism always remained France, where Claude Debussy's constant rival was Maurice Ravel, who after 1910 remained practically the sole head and leader of the Impressionists. Erik Satie, who acted as the pioneer of the style, due to his nature was unable to move into active concert practice and, starting in 1902, openly declared himself not only in opposition to impressionism, but also founded a number of new styles, not only opposite, but also hostile to him. Interestingly, in this state of affairs, for another ten to fifteen years, Satie continued to remain a close friend, friend and opponent of both Debussy and Ravel, “officially” holding the post of “Forerunner” or the founder of this musical style. Likewise, Maurice Ravel, despite very complex and sometimes even openly conflicting personal relationships with Erik Satie, never tired of insisting that meeting him was of decisive importance for him and repeatedly emphasized how much he owes to Erik Satie in his work. Literally at every opportunity, Ravel repeated this to Satie himself “to his face,” which greatly surprised this universally recognized “the clumsy and brilliant Herald of new times” .

The followers of Debussy's musical impressionism were French composers of the early 20th century - Florent Schmitt, Jean Roger-Ducas, Andre Caplet and many others. The first to experience the charm of the new style was Ernest Chausson, who was friends with Debussy and, back in 1893, became acquainted with the first sketches of “The Afternoon of a Faun” hand-in-hand, performed by the author on the piano. Latest works Chausson clearly bears traces of the influence of just emerging impressionism - and one can only guess what the later work of this author might have looked like if he had lived at least a little longer. Following Chausson and other Wagnerists, members of César Frank's circle were influenced by the first impressionist experiments. Thus, Gabriel Piernet, Guy Ropartz and even the most orthodox Wagnerist Vincent d'Indy (the first performer of many orchestral works by Debussy) paid full tribute to the beauties of impressionism in their work. Thus, Debussy (as if in retrospect) still prevailed over his former idol - Wagner, whose powerful influence he himself overcame with such difficulty... Such a venerable master as Paul Dukas experienced the strong influence of early examples of impressionism, and in the period before The First World War - Albert Roussel, already in his Second Symphony (1918) moved away from impressionistic tendencies in his work, to the great disappointment of his fans.

On turn of XIX-XX centuries, certain elements of the impressionist style were developed in other composition schools in Europe, uniquely intertwined with national traditions. Of these examples, we can name the most striking: in Spain -

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1. Impressionism in music. Main features

2. The work of Achille-Claude Debussy

3. 1890s - the first period of creative flourishing

3.1 Opera "Pelléas et Mélisande"

4. Debussy's work at the beginning of the 20th century

4.1 Three symphonic sketches “The Sea” (1903-1905)

4.2 Suite “Children's Corner” (1906-1908)

5. The last decade of Debussy's life

Conclusion

Works of Achille-Claude Debussy

List of used literature

Debussy impressionism musical direction

1. IMPRESSIONISM IN MUSIC. KEY FEATURES

The formation and flourishing of impressionism in painting was observed in the mid-60s of the 19th century. The origin of impressionism in music, the founder and brightest representative of which was Claude Debussy, dates back to the mid-90s of the 19th century. The origins of impressionist music lie in the late romanticism of the 19th century century, in the works of F. Liszt, E. Grieg and other composers. The music of the Impressionists is just as poetic, but more expressive. The main representatives of this musical style: Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel.

The main features of impressionist music:

1. She is bright and enthusiastic, avoiding sharp social problems music. She has in common with pictorial impressionism an enthusiastic attitude towards life.

2. The predominance of colorful genre or landscape origins

3. The interpretation of musical genres has changed. In the field of symphonic and piano music, mainly program miniatures and suite cycles (a return to Rococo) were created.

4. Appeal to the French. folklore, music of the East, elements of fairy-tale and fantasy.

5. The desire to convey the composer’s mood and emotions, which are certain symbols for himself and his listeners. Compared to impressionistic painting, which sought to depict an impression, music in the style of impressionism sought to evoke an impression in listeners with the help of symbols that acquired meaning and subtle psychological nuances.

6. Impressionist instrumentation is characterized by a reduction in the size of the classical orchestra, transparency and timbre contrast, separation of groups of instruments, fine detailed elaboration of texture and the active use of pure timbres of both solo instruments and entire homogeneous groups. IN chamber music the favorite timbre combination of Satie and Debussy, almost symbolic for impressionism, is the harp and flute.

2. THE WORK OF ACHILLE-CLAUDDE DEBUSSY

Achille-Claude Debussim (22 August 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris - 25 March 1918, Paris) was a French composer, conductor, pianist and music critic. The founder of musical impressionism. In his work he relied on French musical traditions: the music of French harpsichordists (F. Couperin, J. F. Rameau), lyric opera and romance (C. Gounod, J. Massenet). The influence of Russian music (M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), as well as French symbolist poetry and impressionist painting, was significant. Debussy embodied fleeting impressions in music, the subtlest shades of human emotions and natural phenomena.

Debussy was born into a family of modest means - his father was a former marine, then a co-owner of a pottery shop. The first piano lessons were given to the gifted child by Antoinette-Flora Mothe (mother-in-law of the poet Verlaine).

His parents, petty bourgeois, loved music, but were far from real professional art. Random musical impressions early childhood contributed little to the artistic development of the future composer. The most striking of them were rare visits to the opera. Only at the age of nine did Debussy begin to learn to play the piano. At the insistence of a pianist close to their family, who recognized Claude's extraordinary abilities, his parents sent him to the Paris Conservatory in 1873. This educational institution was in the 70-80s of the 19th century a stronghold of the most conservative and routinist methods of training young musicians. Here for 11 years he studied with A. Marmontel (piano) and A. Lavignac, E. Durand and O. Basil (music theory).

Debussy's diligent studies in the first years brought him annual solfeggio prizes. Debussy's pianistic talent developed extremely quickly. Already in student years his playing was distinguished by its internal content, emotionality, subtlety of nuance, rare variety and richness of sound palette. For the first time, his pianistic talent was awarded a prize only in 1877 for his performance of a Schumann sonata.

The first serious clashes with the existing methods of conservatory teaching occur in Debussy's harmony class. Debussy's independent harmonic thinking could not put up with the traditional restrictions that reigned in the course of harmony. Only the composer E. Guiraud, with whom Debussy studied composition, truly became imbued with the aspirations of his student and found unanimity with him in artistic, aesthetic views and musical tastes.

Already Debussy’s first vocal compositions, dating back to the late 70s and early 80s (“A Wonderful Evening” to the words of Paul Bourget and especially “Mandolin” to the words of Paul Verlaine), revealed the originality of his talent.

Even before graduating from the conservatory, Debussy undertook his first trip abroad Western Europe at the invitation of the Russian philanthropist N. F. von Meck. He played at her houses and estates in Switzerland, Italy, Vienna and Russia. During these travels, new musical horizons opened up before him, and his acquaintance with the works of Russian composers of the St. Petersburg school turned out to be especially important.

In 1881, Debussy came to Russia as a pianist to participate in von Meck's home concerts. This first trip to Russia (then he visited there two more times - in 1882 and 1913) aroused the composer's enormous interest in Russian music, which did not wane until the end of his life.

Seventeen-year-old Debussy was a music teacher in the von Meck family, Tchaikovsky's patron and passionate music lover. Debussy taught the children of the millionaire piano, accompanied singers, and participated in home musical evenings. The hostess doted on the young Frenchman and talked with him for a long time and enthusiastically about music. However, when the young musician fell madly in love with her fifteen-year-old daughter Sonya and asked Nadezhda Filaretovna for her hand in marriage, conversations about music immediately stopped... The presumptuous music teacher was immediately denied his place.

Since 1883, Debussy began to participate as a composer in competitions for the Grand Prix de Rome. The following year he was awarded it for the cantata “ Prodigal son" Debussy's stay in Rome (1885-1887) turned out to be fruitful for him: he became acquainted with ancient Italian choral music of the 16th century (Palestrina) and at the same time with the work of Wagner (in particular, with the musical drama Tristan and Isolde).

At the same time, Debussy's stay in Italy was marked by an acute clash between him and the official artistic circles of France. The laureates' reports to the Academy were presented in the form of works that were examined in Paris by a special jury. Reviews of the composer’s works - the symphonic ode “Zuleima”, symphonic suite“Spring” and the cantata “The Chosen Virgin” (written upon arrival in Paris) - this time revealed an insurmountable gap between Debussy’s innovative aspirations and the inertia that reigned in the largest artistic institution in France. The composer was accused of a deliberate desire to “do something strange, incomprehensible, impossible,” of an “exaggerated sense of musical color,” which makes him forget “the importance of precise design and form.”

These works were still far from the composer's mature style, but already revealed innovative features, manifested primarily in the colorful harmonic language and orchestration. Debussy clearly expressed his desire for innovation in a letter to one of his friends in Paris: “I cannot limit my music to too correct a framework... I want to work to create an original work, and not always fall into the same paths... ."

Upon returning from Italy to Paris, Debussy finally broke with the academy.

The desire to get closer to new trends in art, the desire to expand his connections and acquaintances in the artistic world brought Debussy back in the late 1880s to the salon of the major French poet of the late 19th century and the ideological leader of the Symbolists, Stéphane Mallarmé. Here Debussy met writers and poets, whose works formed the basis for many of his vocal compositions created in the 1880-1890s. Among them stand out: “Mandolin”, “Ariettes”, “Belgian Landscapes”, “Watercolours”, “Moonlight” to the words of Paul Verlaine, “Songs of Bilitis” to the words of Pierre Louis, “Five Poems” to the words of the greatest French poet of the 1850s 1860s by Charles Baudelaire (especially “Balcony”, “Evening Harmonies”, “At the Fountain”) and others.

Clear preference given to vocal music in the first period of creativity, is largely explained by the composer’s passion for symbolist poetry. However, in most of the works of these years, Debussy tries to avoid both symbolist uncertainty and understatement in the expression of his thoughts.

In 1890, Debussy began work on the opera “Rodrigue and Ximena” based on the libretto by K. Mendes, but two years later he left the work unfinished (for a long time the manuscript was considered lost, then it was found; the work was instrumental by the Russian composer E. Denisov and staged in several theaters).

3. 1890s. FIRST PERIOD OF CREATIVE FLOORING

The 1890s is the first period of Debussy’s creative flourishing in the field of not only vocal, but also piano (“Bergamas Suite”, “Little Suite” for piano four hands), chamber-instrumental ( string quartet) and especially symphonic music. In 1893 he began composing an opera based on Maeterlinck's drama Pelleas and Melisande. By the end of the 19th century. the work of Debussy, which was considered analogues of impressionism in fine arts and symbolism in poetry, covered even more wide circle poetic and visual associations. Among the works of this period are the “string quartet in G minor” (1893), which reflected a passion for oriental modes, the vocal cycle “Lyrical Prose” (1892-1893) based on its own texts, “Songs of Bilitis” based on poems by P. Louis, inspired by pagan idealism Ancient Greece, as well as “The Willow Tree,” an unfinished cycle for baritone and orchestra based on poems by Rossetti.

At this time, the two most significant symphonic works were created - the prelude " Afternoon rest Faun" (on a poem by Mallarmé) and "Nocturnes".

Only after the performance of “Faun” in 1894 did they start talking about Debussy the composer in wide musical circles in Paris. This prelude became a kind of manifesto of musical impressionism, in which the instability of moods, sophistication, sophistication, whimsical melody, and colorful harmony characteristic of Debussy’s music were manifested. But the isolation and certain limitations of the artistic environment to which Debussy belonged, as well as the original style of his compositions, prevented the appearance of the composer’s music on the concert stage.

The first concert entirely dedicated to the music of Debussy took place in 1894 in Brussels in art gallery“Free aesthetics” - against the backdrop of new paintings by Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin and others. In the same year, work began on three nocturnes for orchestra. In "Nocturnes" Debussy's desire for life-real artistic images. Impressionism in painting attracted his attention. The author compared the first of the nocturnes (Clouds) with “a picturesque sketch in gray tones.”

In 1899, shortly after marrying fashion model Rosalie Texier, Debussy lost even the small income he had: his publisher J. Artmann died. Burdened with debts, he still found the strength to finish “Nocturnes” in the same year, and in 1902 - the second edition of the five-act opera “Pelleas and Melisande”.

3.1 OPERA “PELEAS AND MELISANDE”

During the 1890s, Debussy worked on his only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande. The composer searched for a long time for a plot close to him and finally settled on the drama of the same name by the Belgian symbolist writer Maurice Maeterlinck. The plot of this work attracted Debussy, according to him, because it “ characters they do not reason, but endure life and fate.” The abundance of subtext made it possible for the composer to realize his motto: “Music begins where the word is powerless.” Debussy recreates the essence of an unclear, symbolically foggy poetic text. This work, along with a general impressionistic coloring and symbolist understatement, is characterized by subtle psychologism and vivid emotionality in the expression of the characters’ feelings. Debussy preserved in the opera one of the main features of many of Maeterlinck's dramas - the fatal doom of the heroes before the inevitable fatal outcome, a person's disbelief in his own happiness. Debussy, to a certain extent, managed to soften the hopelessly pessimistic tone of the drama with subtle and restrained lyricism, sincerity and truthfulness in the musical embodiment of the real tragedy of love and jealousy.

The novelty of the opera's style is largely due to the fact that it was written in prose text. The vocal parts of Debussy's opera contain the subtle nuances of colloquial French speech. The melodic development of the opera is an expressive melodious and declamatory line. There is no significant emotional rise in the melodic line even in the dramatically climactic episodes of the opera.

The opera premiered on April 30, 1902 at the Opera Comic Theater (opera comic). The public and critics reacted very unevenly to the new product, to say the least. But the job was done: a page in the history of music was turned, because... After getting acquainted with “Pelleas”, both the jury musicians and the average mass listener could not help but become clear that their new musical interlocutor was being explained in a new sound language, that the question of a whole new direction in art was in turn.

4. WORK OF DEBUSSY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY

The beginning of the century is the highest stage in the composer's creative activity. The works created by Debussy during this period speak of new trends in creativity and, first of all, Debussy’s departure from the aesthetics of symbolism. The composer is increasingly attracted to genre and everyday scenes, musical portraits and pictures of nature. Along with new themes and plots, features of a new style appear in his work. Evidence of this are such piano works as “Evening in Grenada” (1902), “Gardens in the Rain” (1902), “Island of Joy” (1904). In these works, Debussy reveals a strong connection with the national origins of music.

Among the symphonic works created by Debussy during these years, “The Sea” (1903-1905) and “Images” (1909), which includes the famous “Iberia,” stand out.

In the cycle “Estamps” (1903), a style characteristic of Debussy’s piano work is already emerging. In 1904, Debussy entered into a new family union - with Emma Bardac, which almost led to the suicide of Rosalie Texier and caused merciless publicity of some circumstances of the composer's personal life. However, this did not prevent the completion of Debussy’s best orchestral work - three symphonic sketches “The Sea” (first performed in 1905), as well as the wonderful vocal cycles- “Three Songs of France” (1904) and the second notebook of “Gallant Celebrations” based on poems by Verlaine (1904).

4.1 “THE SEA”, THREE SYMPHONY SKETCHES (1903-1905)

The brilliance and at the same time transparency of the orchestral palette is marked by the triptych “The Sea” - Debussy’s largest symphonic work, in which the author’s individuality is captured most fully. The composer enriched the means of musical expression. He created an impressionistic melody, characterized by flexibility of nuances and at the same time vagueness. Everything in his “Sea” is inspired: everything down to the smallest touches of orchestration - any note, any timbre - everything is thought out, felt and contributes to the emotional animation with which this sound fabric is full. "The Sea" is a true miracle of impressionist art..."

Throughout the rest of his life, Debussy had to struggle with illness and poverty, but he worked tirelessly and very fruitfully. Since 1901, he began appearing in periodicals with witty reviews of the events of the current musical life. His aesthetic principles and views are expressed extremely clearly in Debussy's articles and book. He sees the source of music in nature: “Music is closest to nature...”, “Only musicians have the privilege of embracing the poetry of night and day, earth and sky - recreating the atmosphere and rhythm of the majestic awe of nature.”

Most of his piano works appeared during the same period. The two series of “Images” (1905-1907) were followed by the suite “Children’s Corner” (1906-1908). The desire to reveal the world in music through the eyes of a child in the images familiar to him - a strict teacher, a doll, a little shepherd, a toy elephant - forces Debussy to widely use both everyday dance and song genres, as well as professional music in a grotesque, caricatured form.

4.2 SUITE “CHILDREN’S CORNER”

The piano suite "Children's Corner" was written and published in 1908. It is dedicated to the composer’s little daughter, Shusha (of course, it is only dedicated, and not intended for learning, since the girl was only three years old at that time). The suite was first performed publicly on December 18, 1908 by pianist Harold Bauer. Debussy brought into his music, along with high poetry, that playful irony, that soft, affectionate humor that colored his attitude towards his daughter, towards her childhood inventions, and the public immediately felt and appreciated this. The composer himself, as Harold Bauer recalled, “was not calm about his public invasion of the field of humor - during the concert he did not enter the hall and was very pleased to learn that he musical fantasy made the audience laugh."

First of all, we should consider what means Debussy uses to create various shades humor, which is so rich in this work.

The composer himself made funny drawings for the design of the first edition of the cycle.

The creation of a humorous mood is also facilitated by a purely musical technique, which plays a large role in the musical dramaturgy of the suite - parodying already familiar music, rethinking widely famous topics and musical images. In this regard, the most characteristic are the first and last plays. The first is “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum” and with its title and pianistic texture parodies the textbook collection of pedagogical etudes “Gradus ad Parnassum” by Clementi. It is with seriousness and annoying systematicity that the musical image of the doctor is associated (bitter but necessary medicine that must be taken regularly). The ironic subtext of the last play, “The Puppet Cake-Walk,” is that Debussy introduces into its middle part the famous “motif of languor” from Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” (a work that, by the way, Debussy valued very highly, despite his rejection of the principles Wagner). This motif, which embodies the main features of Wagner’s harmonic language and has become the musical slogan of entire generations of Wagnerists, is presented by Debussy in a deliberately ironic manner. With such witty, purely musical means, Debussy, from the position of a musician of his time, debunks the ideals of romanticism.

The most popular Russian collection of plays for children in our time, Tchaikovsky's "Children's Album" was also probably known to Debussy - after all, this work was created shortly before the time when he communicated with the von Meck family (written in May 1878), and the young pianist , in all likelihood, played or performed many of these plays with Nadezhda Filaretovna’s children.

The program description belonging to the remarkable performer of Debussy’s music, pianist Alfred Cortot, is unusually poetic:

“From the very first bars of the play “Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum” there appears a charming image of a child at the piano, a somewhat mocking story about his innocent, unequal and humble struggle with the monotonous difficulties of the treacherous Muzio Clementi. What melancholy, what exorbitant disappointments or an irresistible desire for entertainment because of a ray of sunshine, because of a flying fly, because of a crumbling rose, is also revealed by unexpected stops and slowdowns from discontent. And in conclusion, what an uncontrollable impulse for movement, for games, for finally found freedom.

Then follow in "Elephant's Lullaby" wonderful stories, gently sung to the gentle felt elephant, too big for the small hands that rock him.

She (meaning Shushu) tells him these stories without words, inventing them for herself - six-year-old Scheherizade, living in wonderful childhood dreams, stronger than reality, more captivating than magic. And then does the child or the toy fall asleep?

Maybe both a child and a toy.

“Serenade for a doll”... Behind the slightly mocking imitation of monotonous accompaniment is all the wayward grace and free whim of children’s chatter, which is heard by the motionless smile of a new doll, frozen in a curious pose, given to it by the girl’s next whim.

"The snow is dancing." The snow is dancing, and it’s both sad and pleasant, clinging to the window, watching the serenely falling flakes from a warm room. What happened to the birds and flowers? And when will the sun shine again?

“The Little Shepherd” is a small imaginary and charming shepherd of a simple-minded flock... the poetry of rural delights, silence and distance is created by your naive transformation...

“Puppet Cake-Walk” - a curious polychinelle moves: it moves apart, then comes back together; comic dodges are accompanied by such lively laughter, such captivating fun that the hand that controls this game trembles with tenderness from an inexpressible feeling.”

Cortot showed here what a discovery of a new world - the soul of a child, his immediate reactions, his deeply emotional questions and willful vivid fantasies - was this unusual Debussy cycle.

5. THE LAST DECADE OF DEBUSSY'S LIFE

Although the first signs of cancer appeared already in 1909. The last decade in Debussy’s life was distinguished by continuous creative and performing activity until the outbreak of the First World War. Concert trips as a conductor to Austria-Hungary brought the composer fame abroad. He was received especially warmly in Russia in 1913. The concerts in St. Petersburg and Moscow were a great success. Debussy's personal contacts with many Russian musicians further strengthened his attachment to Russian musical culture.

He conducted his own works in England, Italy, Russia and other countries.

Debussy's artistic achievements were especially great in the last decade of his life in piano creativity: “Children’s Corner” (1906-1908), “Box of Toys” (1910), “Twenty-Four Preludes” (1910 and 1913), “Six Antique Epigraphs” for four hands (1914), “Twelve Etudes” (1915) .

Debussy's twelve etudes are associated with his long-term experiments in the field of piano style, the search for new types of technique and means of expression. But even in these works he strives to solve not only purely virtuoso, but also sound problems.

Two notebooks of his piano preludes should be considered a worthy conclusion to Debussy’s entire career. Debussy created a new pianistic style (études, preludes). His 24 preludes for piano (1st - 1910, 2nd - 1913), equipped with poetic titles (“Delphic dancers”, “Sounds and aromas float in the evening air”, “Girl with flaxen hair”, etc.), they create images of soft, sometimes unreal landscapes, imitate the plasticity of dance movements, and evoke poetic visions and genre paintings. Two notebooks of piano preludes demonstrate the evolution of the unique sound-visual writing characteristic of the composer's piano style. Here, as it were, the most characteristic and typical aspects of the artistic worldview, creative method and style of the composer were concentrated. The cycle essentially completed the development of this genre in Western European music, the most significant phenomena of which so far have been the preludes of Bach and Chopin.

For Debussy, this genre sums up his creative path and is a kind of encyclopedia of everything that is most characteristic and typical in the field musical content, circle poetic images and the composer's style.

In 1911, he wrote music for d'Annunzio's mystery "The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian", the score based on his markings was made by the French composer and conductor A. Caplet. In 1912, the orchestral cycle "Images" appeared.

Debussy had long been attracted to ballet, and in 1913 he composed the music for the ballet Les Games, which was performed by Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons company in Paris and London.

In the same year, the composer began work on the children's ballet “Toy Box” - its instrumentation was completed by Kaple after the death of the author. This stormy creative activity was temporarily suspended by the First World War, but already in 1915 numerous piano works appeared, including Twelve Etudes dedicated to the memory of Chopin.

Debussy began a series of chamber sonatas, to a certain extent based on the style of French instrumental music 17-18 centuries He managed to complete three sonatas from this cycle: “for cello and piano” (1915), “for flute, viola and harp” (1915), “for violin and piano” (1917). He still had the strength to remake the opera libretto based on E. Poe’s story “The Fall of the House of Usher” - the plot had long attracted Debussy, and even in his youth he began work on this opera; he has now received an order for it from G. Gatti-Casazza of the Metropolitan Opera.

To last days life - he died on March 26, 1918 during the bombing of Paris by the Germans - despite serious illness, Debussy did not stop his creative search.

CONCLUSION

Claude Debussy embodied in music fleeting impressions, the subtlest shades of human emotions and natural phenomena. He, one of the greatest masters of the 20th century, had a significant influence on composers in many countries and on the further development of musical art.

WORKS OF ACHILLE-CLAUDDE DEBUSSY

Rodrigo and Ximena (1890-1893; not completed). In 1993 it was completed by Edison Denisov

Pelléas and Mélisande (1893-1895, 1898, 1900-1902)

The Devil in the Bell Tower (1902-1912?; sketches)

The Fall of the House of Usher (1908-1917; not completed). In 2007 it was completed by Robert Orledge

Crimes of Love (Gallant Celebrations) (1913-1915; sketches)

Kamma (1910-1912)

Games (1912-1913)

Toy Box (1913)

Orchestral works

Symphony (1880-1881)

Suite "The Triumph of Bacchus" (1882)

Suite "Spring" for women's choir and orchestra (1887)

Fantasia for piano and orchestra (1889-1896)

Prelude "Afternoon of a Faun" (1891-1894). There is also an original arrangement for 2 pianos, made in 1895.

Three nocturnes: “Clouds”, “Celebrations”, “Sirens” (1897-1899)

Rhapsody for alto saxophone and orchestra (1901-1908)

"The Sea", three symphonic sketches (1903-1905). There is also an original arrangement for piano 4 hands, made in 1905.

Two Dances for Harp and Strings (1904). There is also an original arrangement for 2 pianos, made in 1904.

"Images" (1905-1912)

Chamber music

Piano Trio (1880)

Nocturne and scherzo for violin and piano (1882)

String Quartet (1893)

Rhapsody for clarinet and piano (1909-1910)

Piece “Syrinx” for solo flute (1913)

Sonata for cello and piano (1915)

Sonata for violin and piano (1916-1917)

Works for piano

A) for piano 2 hands

"Gypsy Dance" (1880)

Two Arabesques (1888)

Mazurka (circa 1890)

"Dreams" (circa 1890)

"Bergamas Suite" (1890; edited 1905)

"Romantic Waltz" (circa 1890)

Nocturne (1892)

"Images", three plays (1894)

Waltz (1894; notes lost)

Piece “For Piano” (1894-1901)

"Images", 1st series of plays (1901-1905)

Suite "Prints" (1903)

"Island of Joy" (1903-1904)

"Masks" (1903-1904)

Play (1904; based on a sketch for the opera “The Devil in the Bell Tower”)

Suite “Children's Corner” (1906-1908)

"Images", 2nd series of plays (1907)

"Hommage a Haydn" (1909)

"Preludes", book 1 (1910)

"More Than Slow (Waltz)" (1910)

"Preludes", book 2 (1911-1913)

"Heroic Lullaby" (1914)

Melody of Tears (1915)

B) for piano 4 hands

Andante (1881; unpublished)

Divertimento (1884)

"Little Suite" (1886-1889)

“Six ancient epigraphs” (1914). There is the author's arrangement of the last of the six pieces for piano 2 hands, made in 1914.

B) for 2 pianos

"Black and White", three plays (1915)

Unfulfilled plans (in brackets - the years of their origin and/or existence)

Opera "Salambo" (1886)

Music for the play “Satan's Wedding” (1892)

Opera "Oedipus at Colonus" (1894)

Three Nocturnes for violin and orchestra (1894-1896)

Ballet "Daphnis and Chloe" (1895-1897)

Ballet "Aphrodite" (1896-1897)

Ballet "Orpheus" (circa 1900)

Opera "As You Like It" (1902-1904)

Lyrical tragedy "Dionysus" (1904)

Opera "The Story of Tristan" (1907-1909)

Opera "Siddhartha" (1907-1910)

Opera "Oresteia" (1909)

Ballet “Masks and Bergamasques” (1910)

Sonata for oboe, horn and harpsichord (1915)

Sonata for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet and piano (

Two Gymnopedies (1st and 3rd) by E. Satie for orchestra (1896)

Three dances from P. Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Swan Lake” for piano 4 hands (1880)

“Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” by C. Saint-Saëns for 2 pianos (1889)

Second Symphony by C. Saint-Saëns for 2 pianos (1890)

Overture to the opera by R. Wagner " Flying Dutchman» for 2 pianos (1890)

“Six Etudes in Canon Form” by R. Schumann for 2 pianos (1891)

LIST OF REFERENCES USED

1. Medvedeva I. A. Debussy, Claude // Musical encyclopedic dictionary. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia, 1990. - P. 165.

2. Nestyev I.V. Foreign music of the 20th century, M., Publishing house "Music", 1975

3. Kremlev Y. Claude Debussy, M., 1965

5. Rosenschild K. Young Debussy and his contemporaries, M., 1963

6. Alschwang A. Claude Debussy, M., 1935;

7. Alschwang A. Works by Claude Debussy and M. Ravel, M., 1963

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Russian composers are impressionists. Musical impressionism. French musical impressionism

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