# Realism in Music



## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Do you have examples of realism in music -- or "realist" music?

We have these oft-disputed labels like avant-garde, impressionist, minimalism, or post-modern, etc etc. Realism, however, is not one of these standard "genres" for music. So what do you think -- is there music that you would fit neatly under that "realist" label? Do such categorizations bug you?


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Avey said:


> Realism, however, is not one of these standard "genres" for music.


It is, in opera. Realism aka verismo is one of the well-known styles of Italian opera. As in realist literature, you get ordinary working class dudes and depiction of their difficult life:






I'm not much of a fan, though, of realism in any branch of the arts.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

,


Aramis said:


> I'm not much of a fan, though, of realism in any branch of the arts.


I am a fan of realism in the arts, where it effectively transmits to the perceiver's mind the quantum of pleasure or understanding that we can convince ourselves the creator had in mind. Nineteenth-century American landscape art, especially in its apotheosis in the Luminist school, is an example of a kind of pictorial realism that can be astonishingly moving. As a kayaker, I have several times found myself within a Luminist landscape right out of Gifford or Kensett. In music, there are a few pieces that come to mind: Sibelius' _Nightride and Sunrise_ is an example of a fairly effective stab at a sort of realism that works for me, and there are other examples of "daybreak" music--Ravel, Grofe, Grieg. And how about the Beethoven 6?


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## Guest (Nov 11, 2015)

Luc Ferrari, _Presque Rien._


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

some guy said:


> Luc Ferrari, _Presque Rien._


Something like that is what I think of when I hear realism in music.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I think there cannot be 'realist' music, because realism applies only to things which fully represent or comment on something else in society. Pure written and performed notes can't do that. Only words and images can, which is why there can be such thing as 'realist' opera aka verismo. The music isn't realist, but the words, characters and settings are.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Honegger's _Pacific 231_?


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Two more quickies: Little Train of the Caipira, from BB #2, Villa-Lobos, and Circenses, from Feste Romane, Respighi. This latter is really something when heard loud.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Can we better Beethoven's _Pastoral_?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Lots of things by Richard Strauss, particularly _Symphonia Domestica_ or _AlpenSinfonie_


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

The choices thus far suggest that "realist" music is simply program music. And that may be right, or wrong, I have no idea.

I tend to agree with CoAG, though, in how I understand realism--for whatever the genre is worth--because such a label cannot apply to music. If anything, absolute music is more _realist_ than program music, since the music is acting as music alone, representing sound and music as it exists in life. Or(!) realism in music would need to be a piece of music replicating music from some instance in reality--e.g., music that copies what was playing in the background when the Titanic sunk.

But then I think of music that copies bird calls, and that would seem "realist" to me.

Anyways, recalling what I said in the opening, I think I see why _realism_ is not a common genre for music. It just seems inapplicable to the art form.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Aramis said:


> It is, in opera. Realism aka verismo is one of the well-known styles of Italian opera. As in realist literature, you get ordinary working class dudes and depiction of their difficult life:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I tend to prefer the Italian non verismo operas from the same time.


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