Abstract
The crucial influence of Asian culture on impressionist music, although any categorization of this movement is far from simple, is a celebrated theme of western musicology. The profound effect of newly discovered exoticism on European visual art and music is particularly noticeable after the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1867.
It became the source of inspiration in which Debussy and others later found their unique conception of musical taste and the way to break with academic conventions. There are nevertheless parallels between musical language of impressionism with the use of sound-painting and traditional Chinese musical aesthetics, that are too close to be ignored.
The question is whether this music, based on the use of oriental musical features (exotic scales, use of harmonic colour independent of harmonic function, lack of formal structure, references to elements of nature, gong effects ...), was close to twentieth century Chinese composers' view of music and whether its influence was reflected in their creation. One of the aims of this paper is to consider the issue of acceptance of impressionism in the Chinese musical word in relation to the oriental ethos of Debussy's music but also to try to shed some light on the role of Debussy's music in the evolution of Chinese piano music in the 1980s from the perspective of harmony, musical structure and theme.
This paper is based on original Chinese sources, including the first Chinese articles presenting the work and life of Debussy, the programmes of the first performance of his works, articles published during the Debussy Incident (the Debussy Debate) of 1963, and selected sheet music to illustrate the acceptance of impressionism in the works of new wave composers.