The early music of Claude Debussy was influenced by the work of Wagner, for whom he had great admiration. However, soon Debussy's music became more experimental and individualistic, as is clear in his first mature work Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Debussy quickly moved away from traditional techniques and produced the pictures in sound that led his work to be described as "musical Impressionism." This new biography--the first in English in 30 years--offers new insights into the life of this enigmatic composer, revealing a figure more seminal and revolutionary than previously thought.
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'A short but searching new biography of Debussy by Roger Nichols is one of an admirable CUP series 'Musical Lives', authoritative texts aimed at a broader intelligent readership. That Nichols's far from superficial study is most stylishly written and approachable goes without saying, and indeed its very concision brings significant aspects of Debussy's life and work into sharper focus.' Musical Times
'Roger Nichols has absorbed this greatly expanded range of information and by skilful selection compressed it into less than 170 pages of text.' Times Literary Supplement
'The volume is written with a cool delicacy and precision apt to its subject.' The Times Higher Education Supplement
'The most revealing and engagingly written single-volume biography of Claude Debussy, by the doyen of French music experts.' Classic FM Magazine
'Roger Nichols has absorbed this greatly expanded range of information and by skilful selection compressed it into less than 170 pages of text.' Times Literary Supplement
'The volume is written with a cool delicacy and precision apt to its subject.' The Times Higher Education Supplement
'The most revealing and engagingly written single-volume biography of Claude Debussy, by the doyen of French music experts.' Classic FM Magazine
Book Description
'That great blue Sphinx', Debussy called the sea. Debussy himself was something of a Sphinx: in the early 1890s he was thinking of 'founding a society for musical esotericism', and although, on the surface, most of his music is instantly engaging and accessible, at a deeper level run currents that are dangerous, unpredictable, destructive. In this new biography, Roger Nichols considers the life and music of this seminal figure charting the currents and the whirlpools in which other humans were sometimes unlucky enough to get caught. Debussy's status is such that no modern composer has been able to ignore him, asking, as he does, any number of riddles to which late twentieth-century music is still searching answers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Depressed Composer,
By sherri bauer (lone tree, co USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Life of Debussy (Musical Lives) (Paperback)
C. Debussy seems to have led a tortured and beleaguered life. His ideas regarding music were in conflict with the French music establishment. This created problems for him both professionally and personally. Financially, he struggled all of his life. Coming from rather humble beginnings, C. Debussy had a particular vision of music early in his career. He was blunt and identified with the impressionistic painters as well as the symbolist poets. These artists were to become popular much later. Debussy died young at the age of 55 of cancer. This biography is a little choppy in it writing style, but it does offer many examples of his ideas on many subjects.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too Concise, Dry and Dull,
By
This review is from: The Life of Debussy (Musical Lives) (Paperback)
This is unfortunately, a 'too' concise biography of Debussy which never really gives a sense of what the man was like, or the impact of his music on the twentieth century. A disappointment after a good experience with another book in the Cambridge music series.
3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
too short for such a major musical figure,
By
This review is from: The Life of Debussy (Musical Lives) (Paperback)
It is unfortunate that there is not more available on Debussy in English. This book, at only 167 pages (including pictures) hardly does him justice. Because it is so short, the book jumps from topic to topic at an alarming pace, hardly giving any details. The author's convoluted writing style does not help matters either. Unlike many other musical (or otherwise) biographies I've read, this one did not leave me satisfied. Hopefully the out-of-print book department will have something more complete on Debussy.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
To understand something of the France into which Achille-Claude Debussy was born on 22 August 1862, we need to go back a few years-say, to 2 December 1851, when Louis-Napoleon dissolved the French Assembly and seized power in a coup d'etat. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
damoiselle elue, revue blanche Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prix de Rome, Chansons de Bilitis, Pierre Louÿs, Ambroise Thomas, François Lesure, Marie Vasnier, New Year, Claude Debussy, Mme Fuchs, Mme Vasnier, Villa Medici, Académie des Beaux-Arts, Cello Sonata, Gabriel Pierné, Jacques Durand, Madame von Meck, Mme de Saint-Marceaux, Mme Hébert, René Peter, Edward Lockspeiser, Gaby Dupont, Henry Wood, Mary Garden, New York, Raoul Bardac New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
To understand something of the France into which Achille-Claude Debussy was born on 22 August 1862, we need to go back a few years-say, to 2 December 1851, when Louis-Napoleon dissolved the French Assembly and seized power in a coup d'etat. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
damoiselle elue, revue blanche Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Prix de Rome, Chansons de Bilitis, Pierre Louÿs, Ambroise Thomas, François Lesure, Marie Vasnier, New Year, Claude Debussy, Mme Fuchs, Mme Vasnier, Villa Medici, Académie des Beaux-Arts, Cello Sonata, Gabriel Pierné, Jacques Durand, Madame von Meck, Mme de Saint-Marceaux, Mme Hébert, René Peter, Edward Lockspeiser, Gaby Dupont, Henry Wood, Mary Garden, New York, Raoul Bardac New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 38
books:
See all 38 books this book cites
11
books
cite this book:
See all 11 books citing this book
- Debussy on Music: The Critical Writings of the Great French Composer Claude Debussy (Cornell paperbacks) by Francois Lesure in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Debussy Remembered by Roger Nichols in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Debussy: Volume 1, 1862-1902: His Life and Mind (v. 1) by Edward Lockspeiser in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Claude Debussy and the Poets by Arthur Wenk in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by James M. Barrie on page 133, and Back Matter
See all 38 books this book cites
- The Cambridge Companion to Debussy (Cambridge Companions to Music) by Simon Trezise on 9 pages
- The Muse As Eros: Music, Erotic Fantasy And Male Creativity in the Romantic And Modern Imagination by Stephen Downes on 4 pages
- Exploring Twentieth-Century Music: Tradition and Innovation by Arnold Whittall on page 15, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Musical Composition in the Twentieth Century by Arnold Whittall on page 17, and Back Matter
- Debussy and the Fragment (Chiasma 18) by Linda Cummins on page 109, and Back Matter
See all 11 books citing this book
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