Whether you are after works like Debussy’s rich, sweeping portrayal of the sea, La Mer, or Mascagni’s passionate tale a woman betrayed, Cavalleria Rusticana, browse our sheet music and scores, and explore all the wonders and marvels of impressionism and verismo today!
The subtle blurring of a picture, the scenting and illuminating of the world around us, the radiant purity of impression, this was the path of a group of young French artists lead by Claude Monet, whose painting “Impression – Soleil Levant” gave this artistic movement its name, and its purpose.
Impressionism in music mirrors the artistic movement, using atmospheric tonality to blur the pictures, clear melodies clouded by complex harmony, using chromaticism, whole-tone rows and exotic scales, but above all, introducing bold and inventive instrumentation, to create new sound impressions and varied, contrasting moods.
Verismo, which comes from the Latin “verus” or truth, is a clear move away from the romantic tradition of using tales from the past, with an emphasis on story-telling, and instead focusing on reality, and a true representation of human character and emotion. Verismo is the Italian Operatic antithesis of the German mythological operatic movement of Richard Wagner, and his new form of musical theatre. Verismo operas are characterised by their impressive, dramatic musical portrayal of realistic, modern themes from everyday life, with a great contrast between the light and the dark human characters, qualities and emotions.
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