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From: rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.music,net.music.classical
Subject: Re: Question for jazz history buffs (influence on Impressionists)
Message-ID: <724@pyuxn.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 6-Jun-84 14:07:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxn.724
Posted: Wed Jun  6 14:07:08 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Jun-84 08:05:18 EDT
References: <3822@tekecs.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
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The Impressionists were influenced by as much as possible in the spectrum of
world musics.  Debussy was certainly exposed to jazz, but he was also
influenced by Javanese music as well.  Satie's eclecticism and avant-garde
ideas (later leading to dada) were a strong influence on Debussy also.

This whole idea of acquiring influences from a wide variety of musics was an
attempt (by Debussy especially) to counter the Wagnerian school, and (at
least in my opinion) to prove that just because Wagnerian chromatic harmonic
ideas were reaching the point of no return (where some would say there was
no more tonal music to be written), there were other tonal possibilities
outside of the Western school of music.  This, of course, was shocking and
unthinkable to musical bigots (like Saint-Saens, who called Debussy's work
"the end of music as we know it", and like those who look with disdain on
any filtering of "popular" or "folk" musics into the ivory tower in which they
feel REAL music must be written).  Something to think about...
-- 
"So, it was all a dream!" --Mr. Pither
"No, dear, this is the dream; you're still in the cell." --his mother
				Rich Rosen    pyuxn!rlr