According to Wikipedia, Debussy was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande.
Debussy's music was a reaction against the German musical tradition. "He regarded the classical symphony as obsolete and sought an alternative in his 'symphonic sketches'....His piano works include sets of 24 Préludes and 12 Études. Throughout his career, he wrote melodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own."
Wikipedia also stated that, "His works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers including Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and the jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at the age of 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years."
Olivia listened to four pieces by Claude Debussy and had comments about them while she listened to them. The songs are below.
Olivia's thoughts and comments:
- I don't think I've heard this one. I've played a couple of his pieces of his before, but this one doesn't sound familiar at all.
- It is a relaxing song.
- It's not sad, but it's not overly happy either.
- It's a very soft piece. The lower keys...the pedaling...it's flowy.
Olivia's thoughts and comments:
- I might have played this song. I'm guessing that it is either this one or the other one (Arabesque No. 2).
- He does a lot of flowy pieces. In terms of rhythm, they are much easier to play. You don't have to be right on the dot with it which is nice.
- This is definitely a harder version than what I played. I also think that the piece I played wasn't this long.
Olivia's thoughts and comments:
- He was the only composer who I know of who wrote the accents and some of his terms that you have in music in French. I believe it was him. Everything else is Italian-based.
- I feel like he does a lot of scale work. It makes it easy [to play] since you're only going up or down the scale.
- The chords do sound nice together starting at 3:21.
- You can always tell when the ending is coming up with his pieces. It's always a soft ending.
Olivia's thoughts and comments:
- It's like he is watching the girl from afar. Saying that out loud, it kind of sounds creepy.
- Soft ending.
- That's a short piece.
- I liked his music. It was nice. His stuff falls in the more contemporary area of music.
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