Where is claude debussy from

In Debussy visited Bayreuth and was exposed to the gargantuan cultural force of Wagnerian opera, which had a long-standing impact upon his work. Whilst attending the Exposition Universelle in Paris in , Debussy had his first contact with Javanese gamelan music, the scales, melodies, rhythms and ensemble textures of which he incorporated into some of his works, notably Pagodes from his piano collection Estampes.

He died on March 25th in his Paris home from cancer. His music is generally noted for its sensory content and somewhat unusual use of tonality, as well as the distinct influence of symbolist literature. This orchestra, with its variety of bells, gongs, and xylophones instruments made up of a series of wooden bars that sound different notes when struck with two small hammers , produced a series of soft effects and rhythms that Debussy loved. The years between and brought the elements of the gamelan into play with others already present in Debussy's style and produced a new kind of sound.

Debussy adds to this feeling with music that is largely quiet, with outbursts thrown in that reveal the underlying terror.

In Debussy left his wife of five years, Rosalie Texier, to live with Emma Bardac, a woman who had a decent amount of money and whom he would eventually marry. Debussy became more productive after he no longer had to worry about how he was going to earn money.

Debussy's pieces of the following years show certain changes in style. They have less immediate appeal and are more difficult to approach. The emergence of other composers also led to declining interest in his works. His ballet Jeux, his last and most complicated orchestral score, first performed on May 15, , was all but forgotten after Igor Stravinsky's — ballet Rite of Spring came out on May When Debussy composed these works, he was already suffering from terminal cancer.

He completed only three of a planned group of six pieces "for various instruments" —17 before dying in Paris on March 25, Dietschy, Marcel. A Portrait of Claude Debussy. Claude-Emma outlived her father by scarcely a year, succumbing to the diphtheria epidemic of after her doctor administered the wrong treatment. Debussy died of rectal cancer at his Paris home on 25 March , at the age of He had been diagnosed with the cancer in after experiencing haemorrhaging, and in December underwent one of the earliest colostomy operations ever performed.

The military situation in France was critical, and did not permit the honour of a public funeral with ceremonious graveside orations. One side argues that the term is a misnomer, an inappropriate label which Debussy himself opposed. It can be argued that he would have been pleased with application of the current definition of Impressionism to his music. In contrast to the enormous works of Wagner and other late-romantic composers, however, around this time Debussy chose to write in smaller, more accessible forms.

Suite bergamasque recalls rococo decorousness with a modern cynicism and puzzlement. In this work he used the Phrygian mode as well as less standard scales, such as the whole-tone, which creates a sense of floating, ethereal harmony. Debussy was beginning to employ a single, continuous theme and break away from the traditional A-B-A form, with its restatements and amplifications, which had been a mainstay of classical music since Haydn.

In contrast to the large orchestras so favoured by late-romanticism, Debussy wrote this piece for a smaller ensemble, emphasizing instrumental colour and timbre. It would be his only complete opera. Based on the play by Maurice Maeterlinck, the opera proved to be an immediate success and immensely influential to younger French composers, including Maurice Ravel.

These works brought a fluidity of rhythm and colour quite new to Western music. La mer — 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.

Again, the reviews were sharply divided. Some critics thought the treatment to be less subtle and less mysterious than his previous works and even a step backward. During this period Debussy wrote much for the piano. The set of pieces entitled Pour le piano uses rich harmonies and textures which would later prove important in jazz music.

The evocative Estampes for piano give impressions of exotic locations. Debussy came into contact with Javanese gamelan music during the Paris Exposition Universelle. Pagodes is the directly inspired result, aiming for an evocation of the pentatonic structures employed by the Javanese music. The Preludes are frequently compared to those of Chopin. Debussy wanted people to respond intuitively to these pieces so he placed the titles at the end of each one in the hope that listeners would not make stereotype images as they listened.

A lush and dramatic work, written in only two months, it is remarkable in sustaining a late antique modal atmosphere that otherwise was touched only in relatively short piano pieces. He was also an occasional music critic to supplement his conducting fees and piano lessons.

Unlike in his earlier work, he no longer hides discords in lush harmonies. The forms are far more irregular and fragmented. With the sonatas of —, there is a sudden shift in the style.

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