an attempt to explain and understand (Bailey, 1991, p. 331).
Romanticism's use of major-minor tonality began to seem outdated to newer composers. Arthur Cohn observes, "In the first part of the twentieth century it was quite fashionable for composers to experiment" (1965, p. 8). Going against the fashion of the times, however, sometimes resulted in the era's more enduring works. Hungarian Bela Bartok (1881-1945) wrote music that "was nonschematic and not based on the narrow pronouncements of theorists; it was beautifully unfashionable and therefore had all the attributes for long life" (Cohn, 1965, p. 8).
Impressionism came as a reaction to Wagner's extravagant romanticism. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) conceived his impressionistic works as a direct revolt against romantic flourishes and melodrama. In works such as his Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (1894), he deliberately turned his back on the personalized emotion of romaticism
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