The second great composer we will meet this year is from France. His name is Claude-Achille Debussy (1862-1918) He was born in a city near Paris, Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Many see Debussy as the most important of all French composers. How important was he? His portrait has appeared on France's bank note!
Debussy studied piano at the Paris Conservatory of music but eventually deicided to be a composer instead of a performer. Instead of following the composition rules set by his teachers, Debussy liked experimenting with different kinds of music. As a result, he contributed to the creation of a new style of music! Debussy also liked writing about the nature; listen to the following two piano solo pieces, is about the moonlight another one is an Arabic style song, according to Debussy. (Certainly it sounds VERY different from REAL Arabic music)
Claire de lune (1890)
Arabesque #1 (1888)
So how would you describe Debussy's style - I think it is very dreamy and it somewhat , don't you think his style is very different from Beethoven's?
Other than his famous piano work, Debussy also compose for orchestras and voices. Click HERE to find a mermaid song by him.
