Dictionary of Music - Birding America

190 impressionismimpressionism The name of a movement of nineteenth-centuryFrench painting, led by the paintersMonet, Manet, Renoir, and others, which is alsoused for a style of music created principally byDebussy. Influenced both by the impressionistpainters and by such symbolist poets of his time asVerlaine, Louÿs, and Mallarmé, Debussy emphasizedthe expression of mood and atmospherethrough pure tone color instead of traditionalmelody or harmony. The general effect of impressionistmusic is vagueness of form, although the harmoniesmay actually follow a form as strict assonata form. Debussy himself rejected the term“impressionist,” but ironically he is the only composerto whom the term can be strictly applied. Nevertheless,his style had great influence on other composers,especially Ravel, and, somewhat less so, onDukas and Roussel (France); Frederick Delius andCyril Scott (England); de Falla (Spain); Respighi(Italy); and Charles Loeffler and Charles Griffes(United States). Perhaps the most important contributionof impressionism was its use of new harmoniesand scales, which opened up new tonal possibilitiesfor future composers.impromptu (aN prôNp tY′) French: “improvised.”A term used as a title by nineteenth-centurycomposers for a short keyboard composition thatsounds as though it might have been improvised.Among the composers of impromptus are Schubert,Chopin, and Fauré.improvisation The invention of music—a wholecomposition, a variation on a theme, or ornamentationof a repeated section—at the same time that it isbeing performed. In earlier periods the ability toimprovise was considered essential for most musicians.Today it is an important element of jazz, and italso plays a role in ALEATORY MUSIC, in which theperformer must decide which of a number of methodsor notes to use, and in live electronic music.The very nature of improvisation—being performedon the spot, without being written down—makes it impossible to know exactly how music wasimprovised long ago. The style of music produced inthis way can only be guessed at from examples ofsimilar music that were written down and from writteninstructions given to musicians. Improvisationmost likely was a common practice throughout theMiddle Ages, Gregorian chant melodies probablybeing composed in the course of performance simplyby using the tonal material of the various churchmodes. In the later Middle Ages, as one or morevoice-parts were added to the single voice-part of theplainsong, the new part frequently was a melodymoving at a certain interval (distance) from the originalmelody (see CANTUS FIRMUS; DISCANTUS;FAUXBOURDON; ORGANUM). During the Renaissance(1450–1600), when instrumental music gained newimportance, the improvisation of melody (rather thanharmony) became an important practice. One of themore common practices was the improvisation ofvariations on a continuously repeated bass figure(OSTINATO), especially on such well-known bass patternsas the FOLIA, PASSAMEZZO, and ROMANESCA.As counterpoint became more highly developed,the performer was called on to improvise lengthypolyphonic compositions. In the baroque period(1600–1750) the keyboard performer was expectedto be able to improvise a complete accompanimentfrom a bass line (see FIGURED BASS). By the late seventeenthcentury, improvising entire fugues wasrequired of any organist of standing; among themost famous improvisers of this period were Sweelinck,Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, and, later, Bach andHandel. Until about 1800, cadenzas in solo pianoand violin concertos were left entirely to the performer(see CADENZA). The same had been true insolo vocal music (especially in opera), and in muchinstrumental music, a practice that gave virtuosoperformers a chance to show off their skill. Afterabout 1800 composers tended to be more specific,writing out all the notes of the music. Nevertheless,improvisation continued to be practiced by someoutstanding nineteenth-century pianists and organists,among them Beethoven and later Liszt (both onthe piano), and Franck and Bruckner (organ). By thetwentieth century improvisation of this kind wasrare except among organists, where the tradition waskept alive by such great masters as Marcel Dupré.Jazz is based largely on improvisation, not onlyby soloists but by an entire ensemble. Early jazz performersbased their improvisations on a commontradition of rhythm, harmony, and instrumental