A style of French painting at the end of the 19th century that aimed to capture an impression of a scene, particularly through the subtle interplay of colours and light, characterized by vague, blurred outlines, and often capturing a particular mood or atmosphere
Neither Debussy nor Ravel liked the term 'Impressionism' but there are some similarities between the ambiguous harmonies and blurred structures of this music and impressionist painting
The form of the movement is: A1 (Aeolian), A2 (C# Dorian), A3 (more chromatic), A1 repeat, A2 repeat, A3 repeat, B (Eb major ish), Combination of B theme with A material, Winding up for return of A, A1 reprise, A2 reprise, A3 reprise
There are many motivic connections between sections, with larger and smaller chunks of melody developed and combined, particularly at the end of the bridge section back to the A reprise
Textures and sonorities in Ravel's String Quartet, second movement
Rapid all-pizzicato texture at the beginning
Tremolos and rapid repeated figures in the second idea of the A section
Layers built up just before the reprise, with second violin playing the opening idea in triple stop pizzicato, against hush triplet arpeggios and a tune played in challenging double stopped octaves, all over a pedal
Wide range of string techniques and effects including tremolo, rapid arpeggio figures, and use of mutes
At the beginning of the B section, the cello has the melody whilst the violin II has the bass part with the viola in the middle, drastically changing the colour