French Impressionism

Almost anyone who ever took a piano lesson (or lived in a house with someone who did) has "Clair de Lune" etched on his or her DNA. Chances you (or your sibling) didn't play it quite this well. Plus, you can hear how Ravel actually wrote more than just "Bolero."

In fact, one of the most gracefully beautiful pieces Ravel ever wrote was the Mother Goose Suite (Ma Mère l'Oye). It started life as a piano suite for four hands (that's two pianists) and was subsequently orchestrated for a ballet, giving the original composition a more complex and expressive shape.

Much of the music you have heard thus far is from the Big Three of French Impressionism: Ravel, Debussy, and Satie. But don't stop there; many lesser-known gems await, such as Jacques Ibert's "La Cage De Cristal" and Gabriel Fauré's majestic "Requiem." Close your eyes and enjoy their musical "paintings."

Most people have at least a passing acquaintance with French Impressionism as an art movement. After all, who hasn't seen Monet, Renoir, and the like? Right around the same time, a group of French composers was doing the same thing with music: using notes to "paint" an impressionistic aural canvas. Setting a scene. Much like their painterly comrades, these works were considered radical at first and are now among the most beloved in Western culture.