Reflections on the Nature of Impressionism in Russian Music of the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries

Main Article Content

Aliya T. Saduova

Abstract

The author addresses the questions connected with Impressionism in Russian music: What is Impressionism and what are the peculiarities of its aesthetics; how Impressionism differs in various cultures; what the immediate manifestation of the properties of Impressionism in Russian music is; and how deep and long was the spread of musical Impressionism in Russia. The work aims to prove the idea that Impressionism in Russian music has become a reasonably bright movement of the late 19th-early 20th centuries. While reflecting on Impressionism, the author reveals the manifestation of the methods of absolutization of the moment and colorism; demonstration of anthropocentric (mainly in French musical Impressionism) and nature-centered (in Russian musical Impressionism) worldviews. Of significance is the discussion of the role of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov in the formation of the Russian Impressionist movement: the ideas of his unfinished book on the aesthetics of musical art, his late compositions, and his role in pedagogical and social activities. The article’s main conclusion is that musical Impressionism in Russia, like in France, did not coalesce into a movement with a declared manifesto. Nevertheless, it occupied a worthy place in Russian culture.


Keywords: Impressionism, Russian music, French music, absolutization of moment, coloristics, anthropocentric and nature-centered worldviews, Debussy, Ravel, Vasilenko, Lyadov, Prokofyev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Сherepnin.

Article Details

How to Cite
Saduova, A. T. (2021). Reflections on the Nature of Impressionism in Russian Music of the Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 44(3), 83–94. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/1289
Section
International Division
Author Biography

Aliya T. Saduova, Zagir Ismagilov State Arts Institute of Ufa Ufa, Russia

Кандидат искусствоведения, доцент кафедры истории музыки

Aliya T. Saduova, Ph. D (Arts), Associate Professor, Department of Music History at Zagir Ismagilov State Arts Institute of Ufa