Happy Debussy Day!

Today, 22nd August, is the birthday of one of the most influential French composers, who managed to single handedly bring about a change in composition and performance styles. Being born amidst crisis and having a life marred by wars, scandals and severe backlash against his style of music did have their effects on him but that did not stop him from creating a whole new genre of classical music. Persistent, experimenting and deviant was the composer, Achille-Claude Debussy.

Though raised in poverty since his birth in 1862, Debussy's gift for music was quite evident. His skills at playing the piano helped him get into the Paris Conservatory at age 11. With the prize amounts of the various awards he won, he finished his formal training in music and started composing. His music was often considered strange, not comporting to the rules of classical music that had been followed ever since Beethoven's time. But even as his tutors were offended by his creations, there were many who admired and loved those very pieces. His works were greatly influenced by Wagner, Ravel and various Russian composers from the long time that he had spent in Moscow.

Debussy had various scandals in his life, both professional and personal which included controversial statements, multiple affairs and a suicide attempt. Whatever happened though, his love for music never wavered and in fact, was amplified by all those experiences. The breaking of traditional rules and raw emotion were great factors in his style of composition, now known as musical impressionism. This form of music is extremely similar to the impressionism movement in art, where emotions and mental experiences are valued more than form and structure of the piece. They even coincided in their time period ( the art movement lasting from around 1860-1890 in France)

Debussy spent his last years in writing, performing world wide and spending quality time with his beloved daughter Claude-Emma. He passes away in 1918 of colon cancer, leaving a fortune in classical compositions which greatly enriched western classical repertoire and served as inspiration to many future composers.

Here are some of my favourite works of Claude Debussy

Clair de Lune (suite bergamasque, part 3)

Reverie

La Mer

Dances for harp and orchestra

Deux Arabesques

Symphony in B Minor