Claude Debussy

by David J. Code

Overview

French composer Claude Debussy (1862–1918) created music that was revolutionary, with a distinctly modern sound that highlighted the intersection of art and life. Here, in this unique biography, David J. Code explores the important moments in the development of Debussy’s literary interests that shaped his music—and in the process brings to life Debussy’s sardonic personality.

            Claude Debussy presents an in-depth look at how Debussy’s love for poetry influenced his musical compositions. Code explores both Debussy’s earlier years, filled with student cantatas inspired by Verlaine and Baudelaire, as well as his later works, dominated by nationalistic pieces inspired by French Renaissance poets and composed in the lead-up to World War I. Along the way, Code looks at Debussy’s orchestral compositions and operas, inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé and Maurice Maeterlinck.   

This book will give readers a fresh way of listening to Debussy’s classic music by offering the most up-to-date critical analysis of the intersection of Debussy’s literary interests and musical compositions and will appeal to any reader with a love of Debussy, as well as modern music, literature, and the arts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781861897596
Publisher:	Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date:	08/15/2010
Series:	Critical Lives
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

David J. Code is lecturer in music at the University of Glasgow.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1 A Music that Clothes the Poetry
2 A Dream from Which One Draws Back the Veils
3 The Art of a Curious Savage
4 Something New, Which Surprises Even Ourselves

Epilogue
References
Select Bibliography
Select Discography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements