Claude Debussy(1862-1918)
- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France. His
father was a salesman and kept a china shop. His mother was a
seamstress. Some traumatizing events in his childhood caused him a
depression and he never spoke about his early years. Later he could not
compose without having his favorite porcelain frog.
Debussy's piano teacher, Mme. Maute, had been a student of
Frédéric Chopin. She sent Debussy to the
Paris Conservatory, where he studied from 1872-84 with
César Franck, Ernest Guiraud and others. He
lived at the castle of Nadezhda von Meck and taught her children. She
was a wealthy patroness of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and
eventually Debussy played all pieces by Tchaikovsky in addition to
other classical repertoire. She also took Debussy on trips to Venice,
Vienna and Moscow. In Vienna he heard "Tristan und Isolde" by
Richard Wagner and later admitted
that it had influenced him for a number of years.
Debussy won the Prix de Rome twice--in 1883 and 1884--and the money
covered his studies at the Villa de Medici in Rome for the next four
years. In Rome he met Franz Liszt and
Giuseppe Verdi and heard more of Wagner's
music, which made a strong impression on him. In 1888 and 1889 he went
to listen to yet more of Wagner's music at the Bayreuth Festspiehaus.
There he was very impressed by "Parsifal" and other of Wagner's works.
He used the Wagnerian chromaticism for upgrades to his own tonal
harmony in "Cinq poems de Baudelaire" (1889).
Debussy became influenced by the impressionist poets and artists in the
circle of Stéphane Mallarmé. In 1890
he wrote his most famous music collection for piano, "Suite
bergamasque", containing "Clair de Lune". His "Prelude to the Afternoon
of a Faun" (1892) continued the most productive 20-year period in his
life. He composed orchestral "Nocturnes", "La Mer", "Images"
(1899-1909), and the intricate ballet "Jeux" (1912) for "Ballets
Russes" of Sergei Diaghilev. He was
fascinated with
Maurice Maeterlinck's play "Pelleas
et Melisande", which inspired him to compose the eponymous symbolist
opera which was praised by Paul Dukas and
Maurice Ravel.
In 1908 Debussy married singer Emma Bardac after they had a daughter,
Claude-Emma. Debussy called her Chou-Chou and composed for her the
collection of piano pieces "Children's Corner Suite" (1909). His piano
masterpiece "Preludes" were composed in 1910-1913. The twelve preludes
of the first book are alluding to Frédéric Chopin, with more
provocative harmonies, especially the "La Cathedrale Engloutie". In the
second book of twelve preludes Debussy explored avant-garde, with
deliciously dissonant harmonies and mysterious images.
The beginning of WW I and the onset of cancer depressed Debussy. He
left unfinished opera, ballets and two pieces after stories by
Edgar Allan Poe that later were
completed by his assistants. He died on March 25, 1918, in Paris.
father was a salesman and kept a china shop. His mother was a
seamstress. Some traumatizing events in his childhood caused him a
depression and he never spoke about his early years. Later he could not
compose without having his favorite porcelain frog.
Debussy's piano teacher, Mme. Maute, had been a student of
Frédéric Chopin. She sent Debussy to the
Paris Conservatory, where he studied from 1872-84 with
César Franck, Ernest Guiraud and others. He
lived at the castle of Nadezhda von Meck and taught her children. She
was a wealthy patroness of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and
eventually Debussy played all pieces by Tchaikovsky in addition to
other classical repertoire. She also took Debussy on trips to Venice,
Vienna and Moscow. In Vienna he heard "Tristan und Isolde" by
Richard Wagner and later admitted
that it had influenced him for a number of years.
Debussy won the Prix de Rome twice--in 1883 and 1884--and the money
covered his studies at the Villa de Medici in Rome for the next four
years. In Rome he met Franz Liszt and
Giuseppe Verdi and heard more of Wagner's
music, which made a strong impression on him. In 1888 and 1889 he went
to listen to yet more of Wagner's music at the Bayreuth Festspiehaus.
There he was very impressed by "Parsifal" and other of Wagner's works.
He used the Wagnerian chromaticism for upgrades to his own tonal
harmony in "Cinq poems de Baudelaire" (1889).
Debussy became influenced by the impressionist poets and artists in the
circle of Stéphane Mallarmé. In 1890
he wrote his most famous music collection for piano, "Suite
bergamasque", containing "Clair de Lune". His "Prelude to the Afternoon
of a Faun" (1892) continued the most productive 20-year period in his
life. He composed orchestral "Nocturnes", "La Mer", "Images"
(1899-1909), and the intricate ballet "Jeux" (1912) for "Ballets
Russes" of Sergei Diaghilev. He was
fascinated with
Maurice Maeterlinck's play "Pelleas
et Melisande", which inspired him to compose the eponymous symbolist
opera which was praised by Paul Dukas and
Maurice Ravel.
In 1908 Debussy married singer Emma Bardac after they had a daughter,
Claude-Emma. Debussy called her Chou-Chou and composed for her the
collection of piano pieces "Children's Corner Suite" (1909). His piano
masterpiece "Preludes" were composed in 1910-1913. The twelve preludes
of the first book are alluding to Frédéric Chopin, with more
provocative harmonies, especially the "La Cathedrale Engloutie". In the
second book of twelve preludes Debussy explored avant-garde, with
deliciously dissonant harmonies and mysterious images.
The beginning of WW I and the onset of cancer depressed Debussy. He
left unfinished opera, ballets and two pieces after stories by
Edgar Allan Poe that later were
completed by his assistants. He died on March 25, 1918, in Paris.