# Anyone else love the Impressionists?



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I feel like the solo piano works during this era were written directly for me, they definitely meet all my expectations!

Who are some of your favorites other than Debussy and Ravel? Those are really the only two I've explored.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

Koechlin is definitely a great composer that deserves to be rediscovered. Les heures persanes is amazing. It's also an extremely quiet and subtle work, it sounds as the soundtrack of a dream.

And talking of dreams:

Griffes





Sorabji





Tomasi


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

norman bates said:


> Koechlin is definitely a great composer that deserves to be rediscovered. Les heures persanes is amazing. It's also an extremely quiet and subtle work, it sounds as the soundtrack of a dream.
> 
> And talking of dreams:
> 
> ...


Thanks!  I'm going to listen to all of them now.


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## mark6144 (Apr 6, 2019)

Agreed - wonderful, isn't it!

You could check out Fauré. His barcarolles and nocturnes contain some beautiful music. I also enjoy Deodat de Séverac, Charles Koechlin, and Florent Schmitt.

Not French, and somewhat different, but the preludes of Rachmaninov were contemporary with these and I enjoy them in a similar way - there is a dream-like quality to many of them.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Finding some great gems on Apple Music, thanks guys.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Claude Monet .


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

MarkW said:


> Claude Monet .


He's my favorite painter!


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## SearsPoncho (Sep 23, 2020)

Delius. I think if you turn to English music, you'll find more.

Don't know if they necessarily agreed with that description, but I know what you mean. I'm a big fan of Debussy and Ravel and wish they had written more music. Cheers.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

SearsPoncho said:


> Delius. I think if you turn to English music, you'll find more.
> 
> Don't know if they necessarily agreed with that description, but I know what you mean. I'm a big fan of Debussy and Ravel and wish they had written more music. Cheers.


I know Debussy wasn't.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I feel like the solo piano works during this era were written directly for me, they definitely meet all my expectations!
> 
> Who are some of your favorites other than Debussy and Ravel? Those are really the only two I've explored.


Try Joshua Feinberg, there's a CD by Maralyn Nonken called Spectral Piano.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Just curious Captain, did you leave the love for Bach and Mozart all behind?


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## classical yorkist (Jun 29, 2017)

I too love impressionist music. Here's my thread with lots of good stuff:
https://www.talkclassical.com/50032-impressionist-music.html?highlight=
And check out this amazing upload on the amazing Brilliant Classics channel:


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## BenG (Aug 28, 2018)

I would count RVW as an impressionist composer. He studies for many years with Ravel, and lots of his orchestral works, sound very impressionist - such as the 3rd Symphony.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

BenG said:


> I would count RVW as an impressionist composer. He studies for many years with Ravel, and lots of his orchestral works, sound very impressionist - such as the 3rd Symphony.


I'm not so sure Ben. I hear symphonic thinking in his work, even in the third. I do agree that that particular piece is evocative, just like say 'In the Fen Country'. That last title alone suggests his impressionistic intent. However, if I consider his work as a whole, I don't think of him as an impressionist, even in his 'titled' works. Hardcore Impressionism for me is more musically unhinged, for want of a better word, or maybe musically freer and even more imaginative perhaps, whereas RVW is more controlled to my ears.

Remember too that Ravel said of RVW that he was his only student who didn't sound like him.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

SearsPoncho said:


> Delius. I think if you turn to English music, you'll find more.
> 
> Don't know if they necessarily agreed with that description, but I know what you mean. I'm a big fan of Debussy and Ravel and wish they had written more music. Cheers.


Delius is one of my favorite composers, I didn't mention him only because while his music has certainly an impressionistic quality in a way he belongs more to the romantic tradition (Wagner, Grieg). But yes, he should be mentioned. Only he's a different impressionist. Well, I think that if we mentioned him we could mention also Messiaen and Takemitsu.


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## Bill Schuster (Oct 22, 2019)

I have been exploring and enjoying much from Debussy and Ravel, lately. Not generally being a fan of solo piano music, I favor their orchestral and chamber works. I also agree with the idea that Delius fits in here, somehow. His music has a certain "soundtrack" quality (not meant as an insult), that allows my mind to visualize things, similar to the way that Ravel and Debussy do.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Debussy and Ravel are wonderful, Ravel esp.....he's one of my favorite composers....Faure is pretty good, too...
I don't get into Delius, I'm afraid....starts nowhere, goes nowhere, ends up at same place...Griffes can be ok, but sometimes there's a saccharine, over- sweetness to it....


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## EmperorOfIceCream (Jan 3, 2020)

Besides Scriabin, I recommend Sorabji as was mentioned, and he has probably hundreds of hours of piano music. The best pieces of his to start out with are Etudes 3, 14, 18, and I also recommend his vocal music and Sequentia Cyclica.


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## Norse (May 10, 2010)

Definitely some Debussy/Ravel influences in Villa-lobos:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Rogerx said:


> Just curious Captain, did you leave the love for Bach and Mozart all behind?


I still respect them, but right now, it's these composers that are occupying my ears.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

The emigre to America, Charles Loeffler.






Charles Ives! In song or original orchestral forms.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I still respect them, but right now, it's these composers that are occupying my ears.


In fact, I just added the following to my Piano Music Playlist:

Goldberg Variations
Art of the Fugue
Well Tempered Clavier 
6 Partitas 
(and some other collected Bach solo keyboard works)
Mozart's Piano Sonatas
Beethoven's Piano Sonatas.
Complete Haydn Sonatas for piano


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Captainnumber36 said:


> In fact, I just added the following to my Piano Music Playlist:
> 
> Goldberg Variations
> Art of the Fugue
> ...


Good one you :angel:


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## Gothos (Jan 11, 2018)

Is that with or without Curtis Mayfield?
I'll get me coat...


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

You know, Vincent van Gogh wanted to be a musician but just didn't have the ear for it...


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

*"Today, everybody loves the impressionists!"*




(this isn't necessarily related to classical music, but it sounds like a good answer to the thread title)


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## Ras (Oct 6, 2017)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I feel like the solo piano works during this era were written directly for me, they definitely meet all my expectations!
> 
> Who are some of your favorites other than Debussy and Ravel? Those are really the only two I've explored.


Not my personal favorites, but you could try some piano music by Eric Satie and Federico Mompou.


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