Visionary French composer Claude Debussy was quite vocal about abhorring the term "impressionism" as a descriptor of his music. And yet, that’s exactly what his revolutionary body of work achieved: vivid impressions of places, seasons and moods.
Debussy ignored the conceptual parameters that preceded him and liberated classical music in a daring aesthetic free-fall — forsaking structure and tonality etiquette. Like Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and the other impressionist painters of his generation, Debussy found ecstasy in nature and light. His mathematically inclined constructions — both for solo piano and lush symphony orchestra – grasped the elusive and ethereal. Footsteps in the snow. Reflections in the water. The sounds and fragrances swirling in the evening air.
Debussy lived only 56 years (1862-1918) and died at home just as Paris was being bombarded by German artillery. He is likely the most influential composer of the 20th century, and most movie music — notably the classic soundtrack work of John Williams — is imbued in Debussy’s orchestrations. Here are 10 essential works of Claude Debussy to discover and cherish.
"Beau Soir" (1891)
Debussy composed a number of exquisite songs using the words of writers such as Baudelaire and Gautier. The lovely "Beau soir" (Beautiful Evening) is one of the most famous – marked by a sinuous melody and a wistful description of sunset by Paul Bourget. Debussy’s nostalgic cosmovision was already in place, even in those early efforts.
"Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" (1894)
Think of this brief, languorous tone-poem about the erotic ruminations of a faun as the awakening of modern music — at least that’s what esteemed composer Pierre Boulez thought. Based on the poem of the same name by French symbolist Stéphane Mallarmé, "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" is dreamlike and hedonistic, with memorable touches of flute and harp.
"Nocturnes" (1899)
"Composers aren’t daring enough. They’re afraid of that sacred idol called common sense," Debussy wrote in August of 1894 to his friend, painter and amateur violinist Henri Lerolle. He was announcing the composition of a new orchestral work divided into three segments: "Clouds," "Festivals" and "Sirens."
The addition of a female chorus on the third movement — meant to impersonate the mysterious song of the sirens, swimming in the ocean under the moonlight — gives the ending a reckless quality, mournful and triumphant at the same time.
"Pelléas et Mélisande" (1902)
As early as 1881, Debussy was working on fragments of operas that remained unfinished. From 1893 until its much talked about premiere in 1902, he labored obsessively on the doomed love affair epic "Pelléas et Mélisande," adapted from a Maurice Maeterlinck play.
"I’ve been forcing myself to be Pelléas as well as Mélisande, and I’ve gone looking for music behind all the veils she wraps around herself," he wrote to fellow composer Ernest Chausson in October of 1893. Celebrated as one of the greatest of French operas, it forsakes show stopping melodies in favor of dense textures and a strangely addictive, shadowy mystique. A production led by acclaimed conductor James Conlon is running at LA Opera until April 16.
"Estampes" (1903)
Debussy’s radical innovations didn’t happen entirely on their own. He was always curious about the sounds from distant lands, and his interest in foreign harmonies are particularly transparent in this stunning three-part suite for solo piano.
"Pagodes" borrows from the Indonesian gamelan music that he heard at the Paris World Conference Exhibition in 1889. "La soirée dans Grenade" exudes the majestic tones of Spanish folk music, and may have been inspired by fellow impressionist Maurice Ravel. Back in familiar territory, the swooshing speed of "Jardins sous la pluie" (Gardens in the Rain) recaptures a violent rainstorm in the Normandie town of Orbec.
"La mer" (1905)
Rightfully considered to be his orchestral masterpiece, "La mer" really comes to life in a concert setting. Close your eyes and you can almost feel the ocean breeze touching your face, as Debussy conjures up a panoply of orchestral devices to impersonate the whimsical dialogue between the wind and the sea. He corrected the score while on vacation at the Victorian-styled Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, England.
"Suite bergamasque" (1905)
This legendary four-piece suite for piano is partially based on music that Debussy wrote as a young composer, and later rearranged. The third movement, "Clair de lune," is one of the most haunting standards of the classical repertoire.
Based on a poem by Paul Verlaine, it sums up Debussy’s vision in five glorious minutes of impossibly gorgeous, unrepentantly melancholy nocturnal atmospherics. It’s the kind of musical statement that defies words — it must be experienced to be believed.
"Children’s Corner" (1908)
One of Debussy’s most delightful and accessible compositions, the piano suite "Children’s Corner" was dedicated to his daughter Claude-Emma, affectionately known as Chouchou. These six miniatures are alternately tender — every single note counts on the spiraling "The Little Shepherd — and gently humorous, as in the rapid-fire verve of "Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum," which satirizes piano workbooks for finger independence. There is a tragic postscript to this charming collection: Chouchou died a year after her father, a victim of a 1919 diphtheria epidemic. She was 13.
Préludes, Book 1 (1909-10)
At the peak of his creative powers, Debussy composed the first of two books of piano preludes, loosely connected as a series of moods and impressions. "La fille aux cheveux de lin" (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair) is deceptively simple – its gorgeous melody known all over the world. "La cathédrale engloutie" (The Sunken Cathedral) is based on a Breton legend and swells up to a solemn crescendo.
"La sérénade interrompue" (The Interrupted Serenade) is the sonic equivalent of a Monet painting depicting the fuzzy colors of dusk. In 1953, German pianist Walter Gieseking recorded the definitive version of this cycle at Abbey Road studios in London.
"Les soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon" (1917)
By 1917, Debussy was nearly bedridden, suffering from cancer. As World War I raged on, a coal merchant managed the impossible task of providing the composer’s family with some scarce fuel during a particularly harsh winter. In gratitude, Debussy wrote this brief, yet beautiful piano piece about his evenings illuminated by the glow of burning coal.
It was discovered in 2001, and has since been recorded by a number of pianists, including a magical rendition by Alain Planés. Turns out even the lesser-known Debussy pieces are transcendent gems.
Listen: 50 Essential Songs By The Beach Boys Ahead Of "A GRAMMY Salute" To America's Band