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Achille Claude Debussy, b. Saint-Germain-en-Laye,
Aug. 22, 1862, d. Paris, Mar. 25, 1918, was the creator and
leading exponent of French musical impressionism. He had his
first piano lesson at the age of 9. In 1873, Debussy entered
the Paris Conservatory, where he studied piano with Antoine
Francois Marmontel and composition with Ernest Guiraud. His
cantata L'enfant prodigue won the Prix de Rome in 1884.
From 1887 on, Debussy confined his activity to composition,
rarely appearing in public as a performer. Although he associated
little with musicians, he enjoyed the company of the leading
impressionist poets and painters who gathered at the home
of the poet Stephane Mallarme. Their influence is felt in
Debussy's first important orchestral work, Prelude to the
Afternoon of a Faun (1892-94), inspired by Mallarme's poem,
L'Apres-midi d'un faune. This work established the style of
impressionist music and initiated Debussy's most productive
period, which lasted nearly 20 years. During that time he
composed the orchestral suites Nocturnes (1893-99), La Mer
(1903-05), and Images (1906-09); most of his piano music,
including the two books of Preludes (1910-13); the incidental
music to The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (1911); the ballet
Jeux (1912); a number of songs and some chamber music; and
his one completed opera, Pelleas et Melisande (1892-1902),
based on Maurice Maeterlinck's drama.
In 1899, Debussy married Rosalie Texier, a dressmaker. He
left her in 1904 for Emma Bardac, wife of a Parisian banker.
He married Bardac in 1908; they had one daughter, Claude-Emma,
the "Chouchou" to whom the Children's Corner suite
(1906-08) was dedicated. About 1910 Debussy developed cancer,
which sapped his strength during his last years. His sadness
during World War I hastened the deterioration of his health.
Many projects were planned, such as an opera based on Edgar
Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," but
few were completed. He died during the bombardment of Paris
by German artillery.
Debussy's style was one of the most important influences on
20th-century music. As a student he refused to submit to the
rules of traditional musical theory. Later he stated "There
is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law."
He rejected the overblown forms and the harmonic style of
the post-Wagnerians such as Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss.
He preferred understated effects similar to those achieved
by the French impressionist painters and poets. Pelleas et
Melisande, the most significant impressionist opera, has been
called a masterpiece of understatement. He wanted his music
to sound improvisatory, as though it had not been written
down. Many of his compositions are miniatures, such as the
24 piano preludes, which often have fanciful titles such as
"What the West Wind Saw," "Dead Leaves,"
and "Sounds and Scents Revolve in the Evening Air."
Debussy's piano music is the most important since Chopin's.
He created a subtle pianistic style that made new demands
on performing technique, and the shifting, blurred sonorities
of the style were achieved by a new use of the damper pedal.
His best-known composition is probably "Clair de lune"
(Moonlight) from "Suite Bergamasque" (1890-1905)
for piano.
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