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Debussy

  • Writer: Carlos Alencar
    Carlos Alencar
  • Jul 1
  • 10 min read

Introduction:

As one of the greatest names in French music, Debussy is an extraordinarily unique master in his character, his style, and his history. Although commonly associated with the select group of the Impressionist movement, the composer never identified himself as such, preferring his music to be seen through his own filter. During his lifetime, he broke with various artistic conventions, clashing with musical authorities who preferred to preserve tradition. Moreover, he was one of the most interconnected musicians of his time, being influenced by both poets and visual artists.

Childhood, Youth, and the Paris Conservatory:

Achille-Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862, in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, on the outskirts of Paris, France. Although from a non-musical family, he began piano lessons at the age of seven with the Italian musician Jean Cerutti, and it did not take long for his future to appear promising. However, it would be a tragic event that would connect Debussy with his first great mentor: in 1871, Manuel-Achille Debussy— his father — was imprisoned for involvement in the Paris Commune. In prison, Manuel met a man whose connections managed to take his son to Antoinette Maury, a former student of Chopin.


Debussy studied with Madame Maury for nine months, by the end of which he had already become a sufficiently competent musician to enter the Paris Conservatory at the age of ten. At the Conservatory, he began his studies in the composition course, where he started to demonstrate, more evidently, the first signs of his discontent with tradition and his drive to create something unique, that followed his own rules and was, intrinsically, beautiful. It would not take long for the young genius to be capable of such feats.


During his years as a student at the Conservatory, Debussy was honored with various awards and accolades from the institution. From 1874 to 1876, he won third, second, and first place, respectively, in Solfège. In the year following his triumph in the Solfège category, he won second place in the piano prize and still had many prizes to win. In his performances, he was already capable of playing difficult pieces, such as Chopin's ballades. In 1875, for example, he received a certificate of merit for his interpretation of the Ballade in F minor (Op. 38).


During these years of his life, Debussy met some women who were very important for his youthful trajectory. The first of them was Madame Wilson-Pelouze; through her, he had his first contact with truly wealthy, powerful, and cultured women. It was Madame Pelouze who properly introduced him to the work of Richard Wagner. The second of these women was the Russian Nadezhda von Meck. Through his connection with Madame von Meck, he became more familiar with the work of Tchaikovsky, of whom Nadezhda was a great patron. Additionally, during the summers he spent with the von Meck family, Debussy traveled through various European territories, gaining fame wherever he went.


Debussy, now 18 years old, began working as an assistant to a singing teacher. Among this teacher's students, one stood out: Marie Vasnier. When Claude met her, she was 32 years old, married, and had two children. Despite all the differences and obstacles, an attraction arose between them, which did not take long to be cultivated and elevated to the status of passion. From this forbidden passion emerged a collection of Songs for Vasnier, a small collection of songs that serve as interesting material for the analysis of the young Debussy.


In 1884, Debussy won the prestigious Prix de Rome. The winner of this prize was funded for three years on a study trip to Italy, where the student was expected to contribute by sending new compositions. To win the competition, Claude had to abstain from his own compositional style and create something in the line of the old masters. Although he did so to win the prize, he did not do so in the compositions he sent and was somewhat ungrateful regarding the prize, frequently returning to Paris, both to be with Marie and to remain in the Parisian artistic circle. Despite having neglected it, the trip was by no means unfruitful. During his time in Rome, Debussy had the supreme fortune of meeting the elderly Franz Liszt, already 75 years old, shortly before his death. Liszt introduced Debussy to the work of Giovanni Palestrina, a Renaissance composer. Despite his efforts to maintain his relationship with Marie, after his return from Italy, they grew apart..

Bohemian Life, Influences, Years of Struggle and Gold:

Now begins Debussy's life. After returning to Paris, it would still take two years for him to leave his parents' house; the delayed departure was mainly due to financial difficulties and other insecurities. During this time, he found inspiration for his music in the poetic works of Paul Verlaine and Charles Baudelaire. Another influence from this period had its roots in the East: during the Paris Universal Exposition, Debussy witnessed the exotic performance of a gamelan group, originating from Indonesia. From this point onward, the composer began to explore more intensely the scales, harmonies, and rhythms of Eastern music.


Throughout his life, Debussy had an enormous number of lovers; however, some of them stand out. His relationship with Gabrielle Dupont was particularly long-lasting, totaling eight years. During this time, although musically productive, he was substantially poor and bohemian, spending much of his time playing in the less noble areas of Paris and frequently needing loans from his friends. It was during this bohemian period that he met the French composer Erik Satie, another essential figure in shaping the identity of French music at the beginning of the 20th century. His relationship with Gabrielle Dupont kept him, to some extent, in line, helping him remain financially viable and emotionally balanced.


Although capable of preventing Debussy from destroying himself completely, Dupont could not stop the reckless spirit of Claude's heart from falling in love once again. In January 1894, Debussy announced his intention to marry Thérèse Roger, a singer from the aristocracy. She was a respectable girl with whom, unlike Gabrielle Dupont, one could marry without becoming the subject of gossip in the city. Despite his attempt to finally establish himself as a married man, it became public knowledge that he had already lived with Dupont for many years, and the whole matter turned into a first-class scandal, causing him to lose friends, opportunities, Thérèse, and also Dupont. The years that followed these events were extremely difficult, reaching a point where Debussy may have considered giving up everything.


His definitive separation from Dupont in 1898 was a cruel blow of fate that would lead him to make a hasty decision. Still emotionally shaken by the breakup, in October of the following year, Debussy married Lilly Texier, a respectable and beautiful girl who, however, had no musical knowledge and was not very educated. His life, from this point onward, would change substantially, in a more comfortable and prosperous direction. In 1902, his opera Pelléas et Mélisande (L. 88) — written on the libretto by Maurice Maeterlinck — premiered in Paris, granting him great fame and recognition as one of the greatest musical geniuses of his time. The previous year, he had become a music critic for the magazine La Revue Blanche; he wrote his reviews under the pseudonym Monsieur Croche. In his writings, he praised the avant-garde and viewed tradition with disdain. Working as a critic helped him supplement his income.


It is with the arrival of the 20th century that Debussy begins to dedicate himself more intensely to the keyboard. Between 1903 and 1915, he completed and published his most famous works for solo piano: the Suite Bergamasque (L. 75), Estampes (L. 100), Children's Corner (L. 113), his books of Préludes (L. 117 and L. 123), and, finally, his Études (L. 136). It was also at the beginning of the century that Debussy began to grow closer to Maurice Ravel, another great revolutionary of modern-period music. Despite the creative boom and the relative stability achieved, it did not take long for Debussy's unfaithful tendencies to enter his path once again.


In 1904, Debussy met a certain lady named Emma Bardac, a singer of the same age as himself. She was Jewish, married to a wealthy banker, and already had two children. Being much more educated than Lilly and musically trained, she and Claude had much to talk about. It did not take long for Claude to start spending more time with Bardac than was appropriate. In an act of desperation, Lilly shot herself in the chest after Debussy and Emma returned from a long romantic trip. The nearly successful suicide attempt ruined Debussy's reputation before the public and among his friends. The new scandal would ruin some premieres, make public performances difficult, and render him persona non grata to much of society for some time.


Despite the setbacks, Claude, after all, obtained a divorce and moved into a huge mansion in central Paris, where he lived with Emma, who had also divorced. To pay for the new living expenses, efforts were necessary. Considering the difficulties he had in securing conductors for his works, Debussy decided to become a conductor himself, achieving great success in this role. Before the end of 1905, the couple's daughter, Claude-Emma, was born. In 1908, the couple officially married. By this time, Debussy had secured a contract with his publisher Durand, which provided him with a good annual income in exchange for his works.


Debussy now approaches his final years. To support himself, he made various trips as a conductor, performing in places such as London, Vienna, Amsterdam, The Hague, Budapest, Rome, Turin, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg. In his home, Emma's two children lived for a long time, with whom Debussy was affectionate and maintained good relations. The greatest joy of this time was his daughter, Claude-Emma, better known by her nickname Chouchou. In 1910, his marriage threatened to collapse after Emma discovered a possible new affair of her husband's; however, things settled, and he never strayed again. It was also in 1910 that the first signs of the illness that would claim his life appeared.

World War I and Cancer:

The end of Debussy's life was not easy at all. Various projects were initiated and, yet, never came to fruition. In July 1914, Debussy gave his last performance in London; the outbreak of World War I and his declining health would no longer allow him to undertake such excursions. With the discovery of the nature of his colorectal cancer, Debussy became deeply depressed, often saying he had lost all meaning and lived only to the extent of his love for Chouchou. In December 1915, Debussy underwent surgery in an attempt to cure him; the surgery was followed by various treatments with high doses of radiation and opioids.


After two months of struggle, Debussy finally gave up on treatment. His last public performance was in September 1917, where he presented to the public his last composition, the Sonata for Violin and Piano (L. 140). Achille-Claude Debussy passed away, due to cancer, on March 25, 1918, during a prolonged and torturous bombardment. Due to the attacks, a public ceremony could not be held, and his burial had to be improvised. Debussy was a bold master, who did not conform to tradition, who did not conform to aesthetics. From his most sublime pieces to his most dissonant and indigestible ones, Debussy wrote with genius and confidence, paving the way for various modern composers.

Essential Works:

Préludes

Debussy wrote a total of 24 individual Préludes for solo piano. To a classical ear, most of the preludes — like most of Debussy's work — sound very strange and nonsensical, with only a few exceptions. Within the context of modern music, however, they stand out as a collection worthy of renown and full of innovations. The collection is divided into two books of preludes, one from 1910 (L. 117) and one from 1913 (L. 123). The most famous of these preludes is undoubtedly La fille aux cheveux de lin, the eighth prelude of the first book.

Études L. 136

This is his last great collection for piano. Even stranger than his preludes, the études present a decidedly modern character. Twelve études were written, equally divided between two books, both contained in L. 136. In some of the études, most evidently in the first one, Debussy mocks great masters of the past who made their name through writing études; in this case, Czerny. Although they offer interesting technical training, Debussy's preludes are not very musical in the traditional sense and are reserved for more advanced pianists.

Suite Bergamasque L. 75

Written between 1890 and 1905, this is a splendid work, standing out as one of the highest points in his repertoire. Using this most traditional form, Debussy was able to unite his passion for the unexpected and eccentric harmonies with the art bequeathed to him by the centuries. It is a work rich in innovative textures, moving through slow moments in pianissimo and also through fast passages of relative intensity and vivacity. Its most famous movement is undoubtedly the third, Clair de Lune, widely used in films, series, and other cultural manifestations. Both the name of the suite, Bergamasque, and the name Clair de Lune come from a poem by Paul Verlaine, homonymous with the third movement.


The piece is divided into four movements: Prélude, Menuet, Clair de Lune, Passepied. Thus, the Suite Bergamasque begins with the natural prelude, followed by a — also natural — minuet. The interesting part comes in the third movement. Here, Debussy deviates from the expected classical or baroque suite form by writing a section that is not a dance but a free-character piece, a sort of ternary-form fantasy on the most sublime melodies. To conclude the suite, Debussy returns to the expected model, ending the sequence with the Passepied, a traditional French dance.

Arabesques L. 66

Written by the young Debussy, these small pieces contrast significantly in their character and quality. The most famous of them is the first, calmer and more flowing. The second, in contrast, is more agitated, rhythmic, and motivically repetitive. The title Arabesque refers to the traditional ornaments of Islamic art. They are pieces easily accessible to intermediate pianists, with the first one being a classic for Debussy students.

Rêverie L. 68

Rêverie was composed in 1890, in the manner of an impromptu or a fantasy. In it, clear indications of a Debussy in formation can be found, a Debussy exploring innovative harmonies that evoke the characteristic feeling of suspension present in his most beautiful works. The piece lasts around five minutes, depending on the interpreter, and presents no excessively complex technical challenges; it is an accessible piece, like the aforementioned Arabesques.

Other Pieces

As always, the composer's work extends far beyond what has been mentioned above. Here are some other noteworthy works:


  • Images: Small suites for solo piano in three movements. Debussy wrote three sets of Images: L. 110, L. 111, and Images Oubliées (L. 87).


  • Estampes (L. 100): Similar to Images in form; a suite in three movements. It evokes Eastern music in various passages. Completed in 1903.


  • Children's Corner (L. 113): Like both aforementioned works, a suite; this time with six movements. It was dedicated to and inspired by his daughter, Chouchou.

Gallery:


Further Reading and References:


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