Debussy Research

Looking into the life of Claude Debussy was surprisingly interesting. I never had any music lessons or anything as a kid so although I don't dislike classical music I've never really paid it much attention and knew practically nothing about it. So when I picked Debussy out of the bag to design business papers for I had a few pre-conceived ideas of what the guy would be like. The image of a severe, fusty old man with a gaunt face soon disappeared when I read about how he defied the establishment by producing music that subverted rigid conventions and earned him condemnation and dismissals as 'bizarre'.

The book Modern Music: A Concise History by Paul Griffiths opens with the sentence "if modern music may be said to have had a definite beginning then it started with the flute melody the opening of the Prelude a L'apres-midi d'un faune".

So far from being irrelevant and boring Debussy was a maverick and has had a big influence on music today. On Spotify I was listening to The Album Leaf (whilst researching Debussy), an solo-ambient rock project and read on the accompanying review for the album; In a Safe Place (The Album Leaf – In a Safe Place) in which the reviewer draws parallels between the project and Debussy (weird coincidence!).

I also read; An Illustrated Guide To Composers Of Classical Music by Peter Hammond which profiled Debussy, painting a portrait of an impulsive, brash ladies man who hated routine and dubbed himself as 'the French musician' (kind of as if he was the only French musician).

I listened to the music as well and made a Spotify playlist if you want to check it out; Debussy

I enjoyed it actually, it's relaxing, refreshing and reminded me that the music I listen to makes up a very narrow section of the variety of stuff out there.