Claude Debussy Essay

Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862, in France. Debussy and his parents lived in a very poverty stricken suburb in Paris. By the age of nine, Claude’s gift of being a pianist began to show; and a female Russian millionaire, Nadezha Filaretovna von Meck, persuaded Debussy to play duets with her and her children. After accepting her offer, Claude Debussy began to travel with the woman all throughout Europe during the summer; time that he was not in school at the Conservatory. While in Paris during the time of travel, Debussy fell in love with a singer named Blanche Vasnier. Vasnier had such an emotional effect on Debussy, that she was the influence on many of his early works. Claude Debussy was very torn in his emotions, and they were the contributing factors of his early style. Claude Debussy’s early style led to one of the most known Debussy compositions: Claire de Lune. (Lockspeiser) Claude Debussy acquired the Prix de Rome with his talent, which was a scholarship for French art students in which the Roman government would pay for a student to live and study in Rome for …show more content…
In the orchestra, he thought that lyrical pieces should not be played in majority by string instruments. Also, he stated that woodwind instruments have a beautiful sound that could be widely used for something other than firework displays. As a result, we can see a lot of Debussy’s music incorporating woodwind, brass, and string sections in his orchestral music. He composed music for each of the sections of his conventional orchestra in a way that each section had their own “solo” because they were so distinct. Claude Debussy was first a pianist, so he spent the most amount of time on making unconventional uses of the piano. He stated that the notes, such as eighth and quarter notes, were an illusion of a whole note. He began to compose music with this mindset, creating some of the best piano works ever created.