Claude Debussy

Impressionism

Music of tone colours and moods rather than fixed forms: the term comes from painting.

💡 Did you know? Debussy hated the label „Impressionism“, borrowed from painting for his music: he called it a „stupid term“.

France

Born in 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris; late in life he proudly signed as 'musicien français'.

💡 Did you know? Debussy dissolved traditional harmony and paved the way for the modern music of the 20th century.

Clair de lune

The third movement of the 'Suite bergamasque': named after a poem by Paul Verlaine.

💡 Did you know? „Clair de lune“ (Moonlight) is Debussy's best-known piece and still scores countless films and commercials.

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

After a poem by Mallarmé; Pierre Boulez said its flute melody begins 'the music of our time'.

💡 Did you know? The conductor Pierre Boulez called the „Faune“ the „birth of modern music“, with it the 20th century begins.

La Mer

Three symphonic sketches (1905); the first edition's cover featured Hokusai's 'Great Wave off Kanagawa'.

💡 Did you know? „La Mer“ paints the sea in sound: Debussy, who felt called to be a sailor, wrote most of it far from the coast.

Pelléas et Mélisande

Based on Maeterlinck's Symbolist drama: an opera of hushed tones and suggestion.

💡 Did you know? In „Pelléas et Mélisande“ Debussy dispensed almost entirely with classical arias: the singers declaim almost in speech.

gamelan

The floating sounds of the Indonesian ensemble opened new harmonic worlds to him.

💡 Did you know? The exotic sound of the Indonesian gamelan orchestra at the 1889 World's Fair fascinated Debussy and deeply influenced his harmony.

Prix de Rome

The stay at the Villa Medici in Rome rather bored the headstrong young man, though.

💡 Did you know? Debussy too won the Prix de Rome: though the free spirit found the mandated study years in Rome an ordeal.

his daughter Chouchou

Claude-Emma, nicknamed Chouchou, was his only child: the suite ends with the famous 'Golliwogg's Cakewalk'.

💡 Did you know? Debussy wrote the playful suite „Children's Corner“ for his beloved daughter „Chouchou“, who outlived him by only a few years.

Pleasure is the law

Already at the Conservatoire he questioned rules that had stood for centuries.

💡 Did you know? His floating whole-tone scales became a hallmark of Impressionism.

during the First World War

He died of cancer; amid the chaos of war his death went almost unnoticed.

💡 Did you know? Debussy died in 1918 while German guns shelled Paris; there was no time for a grand funeral in the midst of war.

Claude Debussy

Claude Debussy was a French composer whose floating, colourful sound world led music into the 20th century.

💡 Did you know? He rejected the term „Impressionism“ for his music all his life and called it „stupid“.

Clair de lune

‘Moonlight’: Debussy's floating, impressionist piano piece, delicate as a watercolour.

💡 Did you know? The title comes from a poem by Paul Verlaine.