This story is part of a Monet Mondays series CPR Classical is airing every Monday through January 2020. Claude Debussy (1862–1918) was a 20th-century French composer and one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music. He said: “I am trying to do 'something different'...what the imbeciles call 'impressionism', a term which is as poorly used as possible, particularly by the critics.” Claude Debussy's taste for the arts, and for painting in particular, is well known. But Impressionism in music boils down to Debussy himself and some Ravel (1875-1937). Debussy and Ravel dominate the impressionist discussion. Instead, they inhabit a colorful, atmospheric dreamscape in which senses blend together in the ultimate synesthesia. Debussy’s music was a turning point from the Romantic music that had dominated the 19th century to the music of the 20th century. The music is dreamy and sensual. Symbolism led him to the Impressionism of painters like Claude Monet, and that helped lead him to applying Impressionist techniques to music. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Despite their descriptive, imaginal titles, Claude Debussy\'s three orchestral Nocturnes transcend the concrete and the literal. Claude Debussy. Debussy began piano lessons there at the age of seven with an Italian violinist in his early 40s named Cerutti; his aunt paid fo… Claude Debussy. He was born in a suburb of Paris, and it was his aunt who first noticed how musical he was. If you … Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). (So Art Nouveau and related literary movements may provide a better analogy than "Impressionism.") Debussy first gained recognition after he was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1884. Impressionism can be seen as a reaction against the rhetoric of Romanticism, disrupting the forward motion of standard harmonic progressions. Musical Impressionism Started With Claude Debussy’s ‘Prelude To The Afternoon Of A Faun’, Call to Mind Presents: Life’s Not On Hold — Teens Navigate Missed Milestones, News That Matters, Delivered To Your Inbox. (Find other ways to listen.). The family moved to Paris in 1867, but in 1870 Debussy’s pregnant mother fled with Claude to his paternal aunt’s home in Cannes to escape the Franco-Prussian War. Instead of painting realistic, lifelike paintings with hard outlines, Impressionists used thousands of dots, or many different shades of color to create … For a limited time, if you become a member of Colorado Public Radio, you'll receive "Music in Monet's Time," a custom CD of greatest Impressionist works created by CPR Classical in partnership with the Denver Art Museum. It was also described as impressionistic because it coincided with the new painting styles of artists like Claude Monet. This year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth (August 22, 2012). August 22, 1862 - March 25, 1918. Claude Debussy was born on 22 August 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the eldest of five children. A child prodigy and difficult personality, his innovations are seen as the beginnings of modernism in music. 98, sometimes Trois Nocturnes or Three Nocturnes, is an impressionist orchestral composition in three movements by the French composer Claude Debussy, who wrote it between 1892 and 1899. His birth name was Achille-Claude Debussy. Updates? Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... …composers and especially in the Impressionistic style represented in France by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Impressionism, in music, a style initiated by French composer Claude Debussy at the end of the 19th century. Late period. Life and Music Claude Debussy was born on the 22nd August 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. Embracing nontraditional scales and tonal structures, Claude Debussy is one of the most highly regarded composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is … Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862 in St.-Germain-en-Laye, France. Pleasure is the law.”. When he was only ten, Debussy started studying at the very strict Paris Conservatory. Claude Debussy was tired of writing the same type of music in the 1890s. There are no hard edges. 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