Debussy

When?

August 22 1862

March 25 1918, age 55

Where?

Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France

Debussy was a

Modern

composer.

Debussy is often called an Impressionist composer. In his music he tries to create the feeling you might get in a certain moment—like sunlight shining on a building or waves rolling and crashing.

Debussy was a composer who loved nature. He used notes and chords like painters use color to create a scene full of light and color.

One of his most famous pieces is called “Clair de Lune,” which means “moonlight.” The music sounds soft and gentle, like the moon shining on a quiet lake.

Debussy used his imagination to help him create a world he had never seen, for example a visit to the sea. Can you use your imagination to describe someplace you’ve never been? A country across the world? Or a visit to the moon?

Debussy wanted his music to sound like things you can see and feel. How do you feel when you see a sunset? Or watching a wave crash on the beach? This was different from previous composers who wrote structured music that didn’t represent a moment in nature.

Debussy often used unusual scales like the whole-tone scale and pentatonic, which gives his music a very different sound from traditional European harmony.

Fun Facts

Both Maestros

I Can't See the Sea!

Debussy wrote a piece called, “La Mer,” which means “the sea” in French. In it, he creates the play of the waves and the motion of the ocean, but when he began writing the piece, he had never even been to the sea!

Both Maestros

Cats Rule!

Debussy loved cats and even named one “Monsieur Croche,” which later became the name of a fictional critic he used in his writings.

Both Maestros

Always Trust Mother Nature

When he was just ten years old, Debussy was accepted into a famous music school called the Paris Conservatoire, but he didn’t like following the rules for composing. Nature didn’t seem to follow rules, so why should music?