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Claude Debussy

Want to know more about the classical composers? Today Claude Debussy!

Achille-Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions. A crucial figure in the transition to the modern era in Western music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His music is noted for its sensory component and frequent eschewing of tonality. Debussy's work usually reflected the activities or turbulence in his own life. In French literary circles, the style of this period was known as symbolism, a movement that directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.

Beginning in the 1890s, Debussy developed his own musical language largely independent of Wagner's style, collared in part from the dreamy, sometimes morbid romanticism of the Symbolist movement. The Deux Arabesques is an example of one of Debussy's earliest works, already developing his musical language. Influenced by Mallarmé, Debussy wrote one of his most famous works, the revolutionary Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, truly original in form and execution. In contrast to the large orchestras so favoured by late-romanticism, Debussy wrote this piece for a smaller ensemble, emphasizing instrumental colour and timbre. 

In his middle works highlight works as The three Nocturnes (1899), La mer (1903–1905) that essays a more symphonic form, with a finale that works themes from the first movement, although the middle movement, Jeux de vagues, proceeds much less directly and with more variety of colour and the popular La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)

Debussy's harmonies and chord progressions frequently exploit dissonances without any formal resolution. Unlike in his earlier work, he no longer hides discords in lush harmonies. The forms are far more irregular and fragmented. These chords that seemingly had no resolution were described by Debussy himself as "floating chords", and were used to set tone and mood in many of his works. The whole tone scale dominates much of Debussy's late music.

(by Wikipedia)

Here you can find the Debussy's section of our website with Debussy's orginial compositions and arrangements: http://olcbarcelonamusic.musicaneo.com/sheetmusic/?cat=106

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