Achille-Claude Debussy (22nd August 1862 – 25th March 1918) was a French co… Read Full Bio ↴Achille-Claude Debussy (22nd August 1862 – 25th March 1918) was a French composer. He was one of the most important figures in music at the turn of the 20th century; his music represents the transition from late-romantic to 20th century classical.

Debussy's most dramatic contribution to music history was his disregard for traditional chord structures and tonality. He is one of the most important exponents of the whole tone scale in classical music history. His compositions flowed without a strict sense of metre or rhythm, and are considered the pioneering works of the Impressionist genre of classical music, named in comparison with the visual arts movement.

Debussy's impact was far reaching. His free use of harmony, which often altogether disregarded the concepts of tertian harmony, has been cited as an influence on the rise of Jazz music later in the 20th century.

Danse bohemienne
Claude Debussy Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by Claude Debussy:

My Reverie Our love is a dream, but in my reverie I can…
Reverie Our love is a dream, but in my reverie I can…
Suite bergamasque L. 75 No. 1: Prelude INSTRUMENTAL Let your power flow in this place Let your heal…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@AlbertoSegovia.

3y↑1

Hi! Before recordings we had only one method of preserving music: sheet music/score. It was a method evolved and devised through centuries, and made as accurate as possible with the introduction of the metronome, so that every composer could finally mark how fast a piece should be played. I can be confident that we have seen how metronome numbers are constantly ignored, never followed. Have you heard a Chopin Etude at speed? A Liszt piece in tempo? Mmm I wonder why. Do you? Do we remember Chopin’s writings about hating improper and uncalled-for rubato (which is a common abuse today), about how he liked, and everyone else, rhythmic regularity?

We cannot suppose that Debussy thought allegri are the same as presti, or that lenti are the same as gravi or even alegretti, because, in the end, why would these terms matter, because as many schools teach, those terms are nothing, whatever... just elevate the music by playing as fast as incomprehensible to your audience it can be! You are above them! Show ‘em true art! And you end up with art that does not ennoble no one, but creates anxiety. And then we wonder why music halls are empty and only full of snobbery. Let’s face it: everything in Classical Music has to be unfettered praise, even when we feel there is something wrong in our performance. I do have felt something odd in this endeared music.

Let’s just listen to the Arabesque No. 1 as played nowadays. Do we feel an Andantino con moto, each beat corresponding to a brisker walking step than an andante? No, I hear yet another anxiety-inducing show-off. (And just remember that ant recording by Deb or contemporaries was made way faster because the recording mediums had very limited durations, only for the recordings to be played slower by the machine!)

We are lacking education in heartbeat (the tempo ordinario), pendulum movements (which are the foundation to understand the metronome) and actual sheet music terminology understanding, traditions that every musician from the 18th and 19th centuries knew. Because if we do not try to, we end up playing, not that historically-informed “sacred music from these unquestionable gods of music” (not disparaging their genius, or our own genius) but nihilistic interpretations that put our egos first.

A question that we must ask: does sheet music and metronome numbers work as a medium to transmit music or not? Have these geniuses used it as a to-be-ignored paper or as the most advanced means to preserve their music?

All comments from YouTube:

@Dylonely42

39w↑4

French genius.

@Hameln1

3y↑20

Didn't know Debussy had ever written this kind of composition

@sheep6562

3y↑23

This is one of his earliest works

@na-kun2136

3y↑8

Listen his trio. It's good example of early work.

@daniellehamon8733

49w↑5

It’s maybe a surprise, but it’s his first piece at 17 years old

@pietrolandri6081

3y↑7

À la Chaminade....I think Debussy got inspired by Cécile for this "feuillet d'album" .....

@SCRIABINIST

1y↑6

Very Tchaikovsky like in both harmony and writing.

@williamsonah5667

10w

Ironically Tchaikovsky wasn't very fond of this piece

@Vinny_3041

2y↑10

This sounds like Chopin

@sosaysthelegend

2y↑7

Debussy's piano teacher apparently studied under Chopin, so that would make sense.

@XinhaoZheng

3y↑9

bruh I engraved this

@4grammaton

2y↑2

Sounds like one of Medtner's Skazki.

@AlbertoSegovia.

3y↑4

The sad thing about our confidence in subjectivity, is that we end up with a whole performance culture where a “dance” loses all meaning while thinking of ourselves as vicars of the composer, when in reality have murdered his intentions by playing at these mad speeds.

@MatheusKulik

3y↑15

What

@AlbertoSegovia.

3y↑1

@griffinhaltom8144

@@AlbertoSegovia. What is your opinion of the late Canadian classical pianist Glenn Gould?

@AlbertoSegovia.

@@griffinhaltom8144 I have not heard much of his recordings. But I think the “musical morality” he presents in his Inventions and WTC under Columbia Records, or certain recordings of the Pathtique, for example, are indicative that he was aware of this infectious phenomenon in classical music, which has been acknowledged by everyone but hardly ever addressed: the playing too fast. Even when there is ample evidence that points to a slower performance in that era, people are always confused by the famous Maelzel Metronome numbers, choose to set that topic aside and then continue with the status quo. The resulting problem is that the music is distorted from the original version. And the traditions I mentioned have been erased from music education, by natural causes, not necessarily by conspiracy; that is, trying to play faster and faster to gain popularity in an ever democratizing, globalizing and more competitive world. So if we are going to play the music from 100, 150, 250 years ago, we must learn everything we can about how this music was actually conceived. The funny thing is that by playing Bach’s first invention at lightning speed, we already have the intuition that it is too fast. But we are so ignorant that we need to see such performance as amazing, or at least valid, when sensation points to other reality. Some people even approve Gardiner’s or Zander’s “metronomical” readings of Beethoven’s symphonies… which, if we try to solve the problem, we actually see what’s wrong. So, Gould in those examples personifies an answer to that. We see some of that too in Harnoncourt or, more recently, Fedoseyev. There is something wrong going on in almost all performance… the key is to research, research, this legacy music, lest we lie, lie. 😛

@AlbertoSegovia.

@@griffinhaltom8144 and about Debussy here… he obviously is part of an evolved tradition distinct from Beethoven’s or Chopin’s. But we must be sure how this piece was intended to be played, as it’s one of his first. And I feel that the piece should be played slower and with much less rubato, being it a dance, and a particular type at that.

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