| Originated in France in the late 19th century and carried on into the early 20th century.
Major composers include Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, though both composers disliked
the term and considered it an inaccurate label for their music and for any kind of
music in general. Prominently focuses on color, or timbre of instruments, as well
as extended and ambiguous tonality and chords, common usage of modes and exotic scales,
parallel motion, and musical evocations of imagery, such as in Debussy's La Cathédrale
Engloutie, a musical depiction of the mythical cathedral of Ys rising from the ocean.
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DDEX Data Dictionary, 19-12-03