Early 20th Century Romanticism Essay

The period of early 20th century was the time that the great musical changes were happened. At the end of the 19th century, enormous social and technological change prompted pessimism. By that time, there was a sense that progress could not continue forever. Old ideas and values no longer necessary and romanticism reached its limit in arts. Especially in music, Romanticism seems overextended which means music can no longer be longer, grander, more expressive. Because of this reason, the ‘modernist’ movement driven by pessimism for change in the early 20th century and it aimed to move away the ideas of romanticism. The emergence of modernism, which rejects traditional values and embraces the new and progressive, is the reaction against romanticism and modernist music contributed to develop innovative compositional techniques and experimental music. In this essay, how impressionist musicians (Debussy and Ravel) react against romanticism through their music will be discussed.
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Estampes consists of three pieces: Pagodes, Soiree dans grenade, and Jardins sous la pluie. As we can see through the evocative titles, Estampes evoke distinctive styles and visual images. The ‘Pagodes’ is evoking a Chinese landscape of vaporous and fascinating unreality by using pentatonic melodies. In the ‘Soiree dans Granade’, he uses the changing of rhythms of songs and dances based on Spanish traditional rhythm and it is expressing the atmosphere of night with air sound. In the Jardins sous la pluie, he uses arpeggio and other effects of piano sounds to express the sounds of rain drop and the reflection of water drops. Like the discussion of the features of impressionism music which mentioned above, ‘Estampes’ also presents the beauty, pleasure of music and the nature by