Claude Debussy: Examining His Life, Career, and Musical Contributions

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the life and career of Claude Debussy, a renowned composer of the Impressionist era. It examines his challenging childhood, marked by family issues and his father's traveling salesmanship, and his eventual rise as a music critic and composer. The essay delves into Debussy's musical style, highlighting his unique piano compositions, the use of melodies and harmonies to create dreamlike sequences, and his innovative use of whole-tone and pentatonic scales. It also discusses his diagnosis with colorectal cancer and his eventual death in 1918. The essay emphasizes Debussy's significant contributions to orchestral music, solidifying his status as a master in the field. The essay cites references like Debussy's Piano Music and Howat's French Music Since Berlioz.

Running head: CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Claude Debussy
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Claude Debussy is known among the readers to be one of the most famous and well-
known composers and musicians of the Impressionist era itself. He was known to reject the
term composer although he was known to be one of the most influential composers of the late
19th and the early 20th century itself. This essay will be discussing about the life and the
carrier of Claude Debussy himself. It will also try to find out the contributions Debussy made
to the field of music itself.
The purpose of this essay is to describe the life and the contributions made by
Claude Debussy himself
Claude Debussy did not seem to have an easy childhood himself because of the fact
that his father was a travelling salesman and his mother was a seamstress. In addition to this,
family problems were another reason for the musician facing a difficult childhood itself.
After getting married, he was said to have become a music critic of a musical journal called
La Revue Blanche itself. It was during this time that Debussy had started to involve himself
more and more in to the field of music itself. He started his career by writing exciting music
for the purpose of orchestra himself (Howat:222).
It must be noted that Debussy was becoming very popular during this time period as
his musical compositions were becoming very famous and he was attracting a large number
of audiences from the musical events which he was attending himself. In this regard, it is
worth noting that there have been several styles which have made Debussy famous for all
time itself. His piano music is said to have a lot varieties in itself (Howat:222). Debussy was
known to be a person who wrote wonderfully for the music itself. Thus, it can be said that he
had made the right kind of music for any rhythm which he was provided with. One common
feature of the music which he was known to use was the melodies and the harmonies which
was used by him to create a powerful dream like sequence for his listeners (Debussy:2013).

2CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Moreover, he was always known to use the concept of whole tone scale and the pentatonic
scale, which made his music hazy. This gave his musical quality more beautiful to hear itself.
In addition to it, the chords which he had used for composing the music was said to be of
unusual nature as they were not of church chords itself. However, he was diagnosed with
colorectal cancer and died in the year 1918, leading to a great loss in the world of music
itself.
Thus, from the above statements, it can be said that Debussy was indeed one of the
greatest musicians in the world. It is his music which have given a different aspect to the
concept of orchestra music. It is because of his contribution to the music that he is known as
one of the masters in the field of music itself.

3CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Reference List
Debussy, Claude. Claude Debussy Piano Music 1888-1905. Courier Corporation, 2013.
Howat, Roy. "Modernization: From Chabriere and Fauré to Debussy and Ravel." French
Music Since Berlioz. Routledge, 2017. 197-222.