Music

Claude Debussy

1862–1918 · French

Impressionism

Debussy is the composer most associated with musical Impressionism, though he disliked the label. By freeing harmony from traditional rules — using whole-tone and pentatonic scales, parallel chords and shimmering orchestral colour — he opened the door to twentieth-century music.

How to spot them

▸Hazy, shimmering textures; floating unresolved chords; whole-tone and pentatonic scales
▸Evocative titles about water, moonlight, sea and landscape; delicate piano writing
▸Clue patterns: Mallarmé's faun, Maeterlinck's Pelléas, Hokusai's Great Wave, his daughter Chouchou

Key works — listen

Clair de lune (from Suite bergamasque) (c. 1890 (published 1905))

Hushed, moonlit piano piece — the third movement of Suite bergamasque

Recording: Claude Debussy · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1891–1894)

Opens with a languid solo flute; inspired by Mallarmé's poem

La mer (1903–1905)

Three 'symphonic sketches' of the sea; Hokusai's Great Wave appeared on the first edition's cover

Pelléas et Mélisande (1902)

His only completed opera, after Maeterlinck's Symbolist play

Children's Corner (1906–1908)

Piano suite for his daughter Chouchou, ending with Golliwogg's Cakewalk

Deux arabesques (1888–1891)

Two early, flowing piano pieces; the first in E major is especially popular

Recording: Claude Debussy · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Quick-fire facts

•He was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris.
•He won the Prix de Rome in 1884 with the cantata L'enfant prodigue.
•He published two books of Préludes for piano, including 'La fille aux cheveux de lin' and 'La cathédrale engloutie'.
•His daughter Claude-Emma, nicknamed Chouchou, was the dedicatee of Children's Corner.
•Pelléas et Mélisande was premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1902.
•He died in Paris in March 1918 of cancer, while the city was under German bombardment.
•His Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune was choreographed by Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes in 1912.

Drill it — 9 cards

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Sources

Grove Music Online (Oxford Music Online) — Debussy, Claude
Encyclopaedia Britannica — Claude Debussy
Wikipedia — Claude Debussy