This noble bass instrument takes on, in chameleon fashion, the character of a violin, a flute, and even a mandolin. He traveled with her to her palatial residences throughout Europe during the long summer vacations at the Conservatory. Claude Debussy, in full Achille-Claude Debussy, (born August 22, 1862, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France—died March 25, 1918, Paris), French composer whose works were a seminal force in the music of the 20th century. Scopri Sonate Nr. Author of. Explorations, he maintained, were the essence of music; they were his musical bread and wine. Just three buttons to make a Pierrot; three buttons as white as the moon on the black cloak of night. It was in this spirit that Debussy wrote the symphonic poem Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894). Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In his seascape La Mer (1905) he was inspired by the ideas of the English painter J.M.W. His first wife, Rosalie (“Lily”) Texier, a dressmaker, whom he married in 1899, did in fact shoot herself, though not fatally, and, as is sometimes the case with artists of passionate intensity, Debussy himself was haunted by thoughts of suicide. Wagner’s conception of Gesamtkunstwerk (“total art work”) encouraged artists to refine upon their emotional responses and to exteriorize their hidden dream states, often in a shadowy, incomplete form; hence the more tenuous nature of the work of Wagner’s French disciples. The main musical influence in Debussy’s work was the work of Richard Wagner and the Russian composers Aleksandr Borodin and Modest Mussorgsky. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 1 for Piano and Cello "Pierrot Lunaire", L. 135: II. Title Six sonates pour divers instruments, No.1 Composer Debussy, Claude: Opus/Catalogue Number Op./Cat. The rhythmic language is full of surprising interjections, short bursts of accented notes, and sudden changes of tempo. Pierrot lunaire, bars 1-3 & 11-15, cello 3.2 Debussy’s Cello Sonata: Serenade, bars 9-12, cello 3.3 Debussy’s Cello Sonata: Finale, bars 151-3 3.4 . ICD 13 Movements/Sections Mov'ts/Sec's: 3 movements I. Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto II. Most composers who were granted this state scholarship, however, found life in this magnificent Renaissance palace irksome and longed to return to simpler and more familiar surroundings. Debussy could not have a public funeral because Paris was being heavily bombed at the end of World War I. Debussy started receiving piano lessons at age 7. Sérénade di Jean-Paul Dessy & Boyan Vodenicharov su Amazon Music. Claude Debussy was a gifted pianist by age nine. Pour les cinq doigts, opening 3.6 . He was almost overwhelmed by situations of great extremes, both material and emotional. CD 144 ; L.135 I-Catalogue Number I-Cat. Wagner fulfilled the sensuous ambitions not only of composers but also of the Symbolist poets and the Impressionist painters. Clair de lune. While living in a poverty-stricken suburb of Paris, he unexpectedly came under the patronage of a Russian millionaire. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Its instrumentation – flute , clarinet , violin , cello , and piano with standard doublings and in this case with the addition of a vocalist – is an important ensemble in 20th- and 21st-century classical music and is referred to as a Pierrot ensemble . Sonata for cello and piano The sonata for cello and piano, L. 135, was written in 1915, and is notable for its brevity, most performances not exceeding 11 minutes. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers … While living with his parents in a poverty-stricken suburb of Paris, he unexpectedly came under the patronage of a Russian millionairess, Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck, who engaged him to play duets with her and her children. Omissions? Pierrot lunaire is among Schoenberg's most celebrated and frequently performed works. from . Pour les sixtes, opening 3.9 . subtitle that Debussy allegedly gave his Cello Sonata from 1915 (see Chapter 3, Section 3.1), surveys the wartime music of these composers and their responses to the thrust of patriotism … Several other women, some of doubtful reputation, were also associated with him in his early years. At this time Debussy lived a life of extreme indulgence. His single completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande (1st perf. In Paris during this time he fell in love with a singer, Blanche Vasnier, the beautiful young wife of an architect; she inspired many of his early works. Debussy showed a gift as a pianist by the age of nine. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed, in many respects, the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers of his time aspired. For his daughter, nicknamed Chouchou, he wrote the piano suite Children’s Corner (1908). But later on, Debussy himself deleted this title, eliminating every explicit reference. Writer and broadcaster on music. Debussy’s spontaneity and the sensitive nature of his perception facilitated his acute insight into the child mind, an insight noticeable particularly in Children’s Corner, a French counterpart to Mussorgsky’s song cycle The Nursery; in the Douze Préludes, 2 books (1910, 1913; “Twelve Preludes”), for piano; and in the ballet La Boîte à joujoux (1st perf. In his work, as in his personal life, he was anxious to gather experience from every region that the imaginative mind could explore. It is clear that he was torn by influences from many directions; these stormy years, however, contributed to the sensitivity of his early style. Claude Debussy: Syrinx, Prélude à L’après-midi d’un faune (arranged by James Johnston) Francis Poulenc: Le Courte paille Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Cello Arnold Schoenberg, Pierrot Lunaire, opus 21 Proteus Ensemble: Jennifer Grim, flute, piccolo; Gilad Harel, clarinet, bass-clarinet; Yuko Naito, violin; James Johnston, piano He was encouraged by an associate of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin, and in 1873 he entered the Paris Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition. The Cello Sonata is the most unrefined, emotionally exposed of the three sonatas - maybe even of all Debussy's works. A few years later, the French composer Claude Debussy wrote the “Sonata for cello and piano” even though, originally, it was named after a painting by Watteau called “Pierrot faché avec la lune” ( Pierrot mad at the moon). Updates? Debussy was developing in this work ideas of an earlier period, those expressed in a youthful play he had written, Frères en art (Brothers in Art), where his challenging, indeed anarchical, ideas are discussed among musicians, painters, and poets. He developed a highly original system of harmony and musical structure that expressed in many respects the ideals to which the Impressionist and Symbolist painters and writers of his time aspired. In his later years, it is the pursuit of illusion that marks Debussy’s instrumental writing, especially the strange, other-worldly Cello Sonata. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Other early works by Debussy show his affinity with the English Pre-Raphaelite painters; the most notable of these works is La Damoiselle élue (1888), based on “The Blessed Damozel” (1850), a poem by the English poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti.