Impressionism in Music and the Arts
Discovery Day
2 February 2023
The Rehearsal Onstage by Degas
As the word ‘impressionism’ was first used in painting as a term of abuse, so the first recorded use of the word in connection with music – in 1887, regarding Debussy’s Printemps – was derogatory as well. However, by 1905, the term was applied frequently to musical compositions and it was Debussy himself who maintained that music was able to put impressionist’s theories into practice more fully than painting was able to do, since music could represent the play of light fluidly, where as painting could only present it statically, and therefore unnaturally.
This lecture & study day examines some of the great works of Debussy (Preludes, Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune) as well as key works by Fauré and Ravel, side by side with the world of late 19th century French art (Monet, Degas, Renoir, Manet) to determine whether or not there is a link between impressionism in music and impressionism in art.
Our Speaker Peter Medhurst appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts.
He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Peter Medhurst