Birthday quote 22nd August

Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy, was a French composer. He and Maurice Ravel were the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music, though Debussy disliked the term when applied to his compositions. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1903. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed.

Debussy, the eldest of five children, was born Achille-Claude Debussy (he later reversed his forenames). At the age of seven, he began piano lessons and in 1872, at age ten, Debussy entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he spent the next 11 years. He became a lifelong friend of fellow student and distinguished pianist Isidor Philipp. After Debussy's death, many pianists sought Philipp's advice on playing his works.

During the summers of 1880, 1881, and 1882, he accompanied Nadezhda von Meck, the wealthy patroness of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, as she travelled with her family in Europe. The young composer's many musical activities during these vacations included playing four-hand pieces with von Meck at the piano, giving music lessons to her children, and performing in private concerts with some of her musician friends. He won the 1884 Prix de Rome with his composition L'enfant prodigue and he received a scholarship to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, which included a four-year residence at the Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome, to further his studies.

However, he found the artistic atmosphere stifling, the company boorish, the food bad, and the monastic quarters "abominable". Neither did he delight in Italian opera, as he found the operas of Donizetti and Verdi not to his taste. In June 1885, he wrote of his desire to follow his own way, saying, "I am sure the Institute would not approve, for, naturally it regards the path which it ordains as the only right one. But there is no help for it! I am too enamoured of my freedom, too fond of my own ideas!" Debussy finally composed four pieces that were sent to the Academy, but they chided him for "courting the unusual" and hoped for something better from the gifted student.

During his visits to Bayreuth in 1888-9, Debussy was exposed to Wagnerian opera, which would have a lasting impact on his work. Around this time he met Erik Satie, who proved a kindred spirit in his experimental approach to composition and to naming his pieces. Both musicians were bohemians during this period, enjoying the same cafe society and struggling to stay afloat financially.

In 1889, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, Debussy first heard Javanese gamelan music. He incorporated gamelan scales, melodies, rhythms, and ensemble textures into some of his compositions. Debussy's music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of nontraditional tonalities.

Debussy died of rectal cancer in his Parisian home at the age of 55.

Born 22nd August 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
Died 25th March 1918 in Paris, France

Art is the most beautiful of all lies.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.