Claude Debussy

Lore & Background

Debussy was born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement. He showed enough musical talent to be admitted at age ten to the Conservatoire de Paris, where he studied piano, harmony, and composition. Despite disapproval from conservative professors, he pursued innovative composition. He took many years to develop his mature style and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with his only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande. His early influences included Russian and Far Eastern music and works by Chopin and Liszt. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement. Throughout his career he wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments. Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at age 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years.

Reader's Guide

Debussy's significance lies in his development of a personal harmonic and orchestral style that challenged the musical establishment of his day. His orchestral works, including Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Nocturnes, Images, and La mer, as well as his piano works such as the 24 Préludes and 12 Études, have strongly influenced a wide range of composers, including Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, George Gershwin, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and jazz pianist Bill Evans. His music was a reaction against Wagner and the German tradition, and he regarded the classical symphony as obsolete, seeking an alternative in his 'symphonic sketches' La mer. His legacy endures as a pivotal figure in the transition from late Romanticism to modernism in music.

Did You Know?

• Debussy was admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris at age ten.
• He won the Prix de Rome in 1884 with his cantata L'enfant prodigue.
• His only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, brought him international fame in 1902.
• He died from cancer at his home in Paris at age 55.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Achille-Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer, prominent in the style commonly referred to as Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term." — Claude Debussy "The colour of my soul is iron-grey and sad bats wheel about the steeple of my dreams." — Claude Debussy "Every sound perceived by the acute ear in the rhythm of the world about us can be represented musically. Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear." — Claude Debussy "The worship of Adonis is united with that of Christ." — Claude Debussy