His mature compositions, distinctive and appealing, combined modernism and sensuality so successfully that their sheer beauty often obscures their technical innovation. Debussy is considered the founder and leading exponent of musical Impressionism, and his adoption of non-traditional scales and tonal structures was paradigmatic for many composers who followed.
The son of a shopkeeper and a seamstress, Debussy began piano studies at the Paris Conservatory at the age of While a student there, he encountered the wealthy Nadezhda von Meck most famous as Tchaikovsky's patroness , who employed him as a music teacher to her children; through travel, concerts and acquaintances, she provided him with a wealth of musical experience.
Most importantly, she exposed the young Debussy to the works of Russian composers, such as Borodin and Mussorgsky, who would remain important influences on his music. Debussy began composition studies in , and in he won the prestigious Prix de Rome with his cantata L'enfant prodigue. The couple settled at the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne from 24 July to 30 August , where Debussy was to correct proofs to his symphonic suite La mer , and celebrate his divorce from Texier on 2 August.
After a brief visit to London, the couple returned to Paris in September, buying a house in a courtyard development off the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne now Avenue Foch , where Debussy was to reside for the rest of his life. He loved his music — and perhaps himself. I think he was wrapped up in his genius… He was a very, very strange man.
Claude-Emma outlived her father by scarcely a year, succumbing to the diphtheria epidemic of after her doctor administered the wrong treatment. Debussy died of rectal cancer at his Paris home on 25 March , at the age of He had been diagnosed with the cancer in after experiencing haemorrhaging, and in December underwent one of the earliest colostomy operations ever performed.
The military situation in France was critical, and did not permit the honour of a public funeral with ceremonious graveside orations.
One side argues that the term is a misnomer, an inappropriate label which Debussy himself opposed. It can be argued that he would have been pleased with application of the current definition of Impressionism to his music. In contrast to the enormous works of Wagner and other late-romantic composers, however, around this time Debussy chose to write in smaller, more accessible forms. Suite bergamasque recalls rococo decorousness with a modern cynicism and puzzlement.
In this work he used the Phrygian mode as well as less standard scales, such as the whole-tone, which creates a sense of floating, ethereal harmony. Debussy was beginning to employ a single, continuous theme and break away from the traditional A-B-A form, with its restatements and amplifications, which had been a mainstay of classical music since Haydn.
In contrast to the large orchestras so favoured by late-romanticism, Debussy wrote this piece for a smaller ensemble, emphasizing instrumental colour and timbre.
It would be his only complete opera. Based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck, the opera proved to be an immediate success and immensely influential to younger French composers, including Maurice Ravel. These works brought a fluidity of rhythm and colour quite new to Western music. La mer — essays a more symphonic form, with a finale that works themes from the first movement, although the middle movement, Jeux de vagues , proceeds much less directly and with more variety of colour.
Again, the reviews were sharply divided. Some critics thought the treatment to be less subtle and less mysterious than his previous works and even a step backward. During this period Debussy wrote much for the piano. The set of pieces entitled Pour le piano uses rich harmonies and textures which would later prove important in jazz music.
The evocative Estampes for piano give impressions of exotic locations. Debussy came into contact with Javanese gamelan music during the Paris Exposition Universelle.
Pagodes is the directly inspired result, aiming for an evocation of the pentatonic structures employed by the Javanese music. The Preludes are frequently compared to those of Chopin. Debussy wanted people to respond intuitively to these pieces so he placed the titles at the end of each one in the hope that listeners would not make stereotype images as they listened.
A lush and dramatic work, written in only two months, it is remarkable in sustaining a late antique modal atmosphere that otherwise was touched only in relatively short piano pieces.
He was also an occasional music critic to supplement his conducting fees and piano lessons. Unlike in his earlier work, he no longer hides discords in lush harmonies. The forms are far more irregular and fragmented. With the sonatas of —, there is a sudden shift in the style. Despite the thinner textures of the Violin Sonata there remains an undeniable richness in the chords themselves. Debussy planned a set of six sonatas, but this plan was cut short by his death in so that he only completed three cello, flute-viola-harp and violin sonatas.
He uses scales such as the whole tone scale, musical modes, and the octatonic scale in his preludes that exaggerate this tonal ambiguity, making the key of each prelude almost indistinguishable at times. Further plans, such as an American tour, more ballet scores, and revisions of Chopin and Bach works for re-publication, were all cut short by the outbreak of World War I and his poor health. Some people have claimed that Debussy structured parts of his music mathematically.
Debussy was also one of the first to master the incorporation of the chromatic scales in the Phrygian modes in his works, as is exemplified by his String Quartet in G Minor. Besides being a prolific and skilled composer, Debussy also taught many students throughout the duration of his life. Claude Debussy died on March 25, of rectal cancer in Paris, France. Home About List Blog Contact. Claude Debussy.
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