![]() ![]() Impressionism in the visual arts soon blossomed into a similar style and aesthetic in music. Rather than painting an exact likeness or strict representation, the Impressionists endeavoured to convey their perceptions of a scene, often playing with light, employing vague outlines, and utilising subtle colours. ‘Impression, Sunrise’ has been hailed as one of the cornerstones of the Impressionist Movement. We feel present, active observers, yet there’s a vagueness, an indistinctness which seductively draws us into the picture and heightens our curiosity. Monet portrays a supremely calm scene with the misty, foggy atmosphere enveloping the harbour. ![]() Most notably, the sun shines a vibrant orange, cutting through the haze and industrial smoke. Cranes, other heavy machinery and factory chimneys complete the scene. Two individuals can be seen in the rowboat in the foreground, while in the background, larger ships and boats inhabit the harbour. Painted in the early 1870s, Monet’s ‘Impression, Sunrise’ depicts a view of the port of Le Havre in north-western France. Monet’s ‘Impression, Sunrise’ ‘Impression, Sunrise’ by Claude Monet I’ve always had more than a passing interest in the painting on the cover, but have never really taken the time to investigate fully – until now. I’ve had this collection of Debussy’s piano pieces for many, many years and couldn’t count how many times I’ve opened it, or how many pieces I’ve chosen for my piano students from it. With more generic titles, my students and I have to get a little more creative. Sometimes a composer will give the performer a helping hand with an evocative title like ‘Lavender Fields’ where it’s not difficult to imagine swathes of purple flowers undulating gently in the golden glow of a Summer sunset. It’s a technique I use a lot with my students. In essence, I’m adding a visual connection or stimulus to a piece of music (or vice versa, an aural stimulus to a piece of art). My goal is to have both the art piece and composition amplify and strengthen the emotions and feelings intrinsic to both works. If you artificially make the sun brighter or darker (as it is in reality), the primitive brain sees it better.As part of my ‘In Harmony’ series of blog posts, I want to explore linking an artwork (whether it be a painting or photograph) with a specific piece of music. If Monet had painted the sun brighter than the clouds (as indeed it is), the painting might be less interesting. The sun is poorly defined and ambiguous to the portion of our brain that carries information about position and movement. Thus, there is an inconsistency between our perception of the sun in the primitive and primate portions of our brain. But to the primate subdivision, the sun appears normal. To the more primitive subdivisions of our brain, the sun is nearly invisible. The sun is perceived differently is different parts of our mind. (Click painting to reset.) This lack of contrast explains the painting’s eerie quality. ![]() Notice how the sun nearly disappears if you remove the color. Why is this so? The sun is nearly the same luminance as the grayish clouds. To many spectators, the sun undulates or pulsates slightly. The sun is set against the dawn, the orange color against the gray and the vibrant force of the sun against its motionless surroundings. ![]()
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