Claude Debussy
Essays

As the official language of twenty-two nations, French is currently spoken by almost 200 million people worldwide and is considered as the official second language of such nations as Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Switzerland,…

The Life and Times of Claude Achille Debussy:

Orchestra: Houston Symphony, Hans Graf Conducting

George Gershwin was an American composer, songwriter, pianist and conductor. He was an insightful and adoring musician, who manufactured his musical formations between jazz and classical customs.

Pierre Schaeffer succeeded far beyond his expectations in that he not only was able to conceal the object sources of his musical compositions from the listener but simultaneously for a time, concealed the very primitive…

Claude Debussy's lyric drama, "Prelude de L'apres Midi d'un Faune" is a symphonic poem that captures the spirit of Debussy's innovative style. The piece is elusive, light, and dreamy.

An Idyll for the Misbegotten (Images III): George Crumb (b.1929)

CLASSICAL COMPOSERS & the IMPACT of ENVIRONMENT

Vienna and Paris in the Decade 1900-1910 If Vienna and Paris of 1900 – 1910 could be described in a single expression, it would be Art Nouveau. Vienna was a center of literary, cultural and artistic advancement in "middle" Europe, enjoying booming population and innovative developments in all those spheres, even as it endured the rising tide of anti-liberal, anti-Semitic Christian Social forces. In keeping with this innovation, Vienna's music enjoyed avant garde developments of Art Nouveau from Paris, notably represented in Vienna by the works of composers Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schönberg. As Vienna became the literary, cultural and artistic center of "middle" Europe, Paris became the literary, cultural and artistic center of the World during La Belle Epoque. Drawing exceptionally gifted people from the entire globe, Paris boasted the first Olympics to include women and the World's Fair of 1900. Reveling in its invention of Art Nouveau, Paris also exerted worldwide magnetism on artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, who already were or eventually became household artistic names. Parisian music also flourished during this time in the Art Nouveau-engendered form of "Impressionism," notably represented by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Reveling in their attraction of the exceptionally gifted in literary, cultural and artistic spheres, both cities became focal points of human endeavor and innovation. Predating the disturbing developments of World Wars, 1900-1910 were golden eras in the histories of both cities.

Claude Debussy after his CentenaryfootnoteRef:1], authors Francois Lesure and Denis Stevens review the legacy of Debussy's work and his life at the one hundred years anniversary of his birth.