History of Claude Debussy in Timeline

Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a highly influential French composer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While often labeled an Impressionist composer, a term he disliked, his innovative harmonies and textures significantly impacted modern music. Debussy's works are characterized by their evocative atmospheres and departure from traditional harmonic structures, solidifying his legacy as a pivotal figure in musical history.

Sections (2)

Full Timeline Career & Achievements

1900: Focus for Les Apaches

From around 1900, Debussy's music became a focus and inspiration for an informal group called Les Apaches in Paris.

1901: Music critic of La Revue Blanche

For most of 1901, Debussy worked as the music critic of La Revue Blanche, adopting the pen name "Monsieur Croche".

1901: Sarabande from Pour le piano

In 1901, Debussy's Sarabande from Pour le piano showed that he knew Erik Satie's Trois Sarabandes.

1901: Pour le piano

In 1901, the suite Pour le piano (1894–1901) is, in Halford's view, one of the first examples of the mature Debussy as a composer for the piano: "a major landmark ... and an enlargement of the use of piano sonorities".

January 1902: Rehearsals for Pelléas et Mélisande began

In January 1902, rehearsals began at the Opéra-Comique for the opening of Pelléas et Mélisande, with Debussy attending almost daily for three months.

April 1902: Premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande

On 30 April 1902, Pelléas et Mélisande opened at the Opéra-Comique, and quickly became a success, making Debussy well-known.

1902: International fame with Pelléas et Mélisande

In 1902, Debussy achieved international fame at nearly 40 years old with his only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande.

1902: Pelléas et Mélisande Staged

In 1902, Pelléas et Mélisande (begun 1893, staged 1902) was staged.

1903: Publication of La mer

From 1903 to 1905, Debussy composed La mer as symphonic sketches.

1903: Debussy comments on Wagner

In 1903, Debussy commented that Wagner was "a beautiful sunset that was mistaken for a dawn", after being influenced by him briefly.

1903: Estampes for piano

In 1903, Debussy wrote Estampes for piano (1903) gives impressions of exotic locations, with further echoes of the gamelan in its pentatonic structures.

1903: Appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur

In 1903, Debussy's stature was publicly recognized when he was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

1903: Republishing of Ariettes oubliées

In 1903, after Debussy had become well known, his Verlaine cycle, Ariettes oubliées, was successfully republished after initially making little impact.

1903: La mer

La mer was composed between 1903 and 1905. It is one of the major works for which Debussy is best known.

July 1904: Affair with Emma Bardac

In July 1904, Debussy began an affair with Emma Bardac and left his wife, Lilly.

1904: Recordings with Mary Garden

In 1904, Debussy played the piano accompaniment for Mary Garden in recordings of four of his songs for the Compagnie française du Gramophone.

1904: Publication of orchestral score for Pelléas et Mélisande

In 1904, the full orchestral score for Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande was published.

May 1905: Bardacs' divorce

In May 1905, the Bardacs divorced, leading Debussy and Emma to leave Paris for England.

October 1905: Birth of Claude-Emma

In October 1905, Debussy's only child, Claude-Emma was born.

October 1905: Premiere of La mer

In October 1905, La mer premiered in Paris with a mixed reception.

1905: Images

Between 1905 and 1912, Images was composed. The former follows the tripartite form established in the Nocturnes and La mer, but differs in employing traditional British and French folk tunes, and in making the central movement, "Ibéria", far longer than the outer ones, and subdividing it into three parts, all inspired by scenes from Spanish life.

1905: Reflets dans l'eau

In 1905 Debussy wrote many piano pieces with titles evocative of nature like "Reflets dans l'eau".

1905: Debussy's minstrels at Eastbourne

In 1905 Lesure comments that Préludes range from the frolics of minstrels at Eastbourne.

1905: Publication of La mer

In 1905, Debussy published his symphonic sketches, La mer, which was his alternative to the classical symphony.

1907: Bartók First Encountered Debussy's Music

In 1907, Bartók first encountered Debussy's music. Bartók later said that Debussy's great service to music was to reawaken among all musicians an awareness of harmony and its possibilities.

1908: Marriage to Emma Bardac

In 1908, Debussy married Emma Bardac, and their troubled union lasted for the rest of his life.

1908: Golliwogg's Cakewalk

In 1908, the piano piece Golliwogg's Cakewalk, from the suite Children's Corner, contains a parody of music from the introduction to Tristan, in which Debussy escapes the shadow of the older composer.

April 1909: Debussy conducts in London

In April 1909, Debussy conducted Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune and the Nocturnes at the Queen's Hall in London.

1909: First book of Préludes

Between 1909–10 and 1911–13, Debussy composed two books of Préludes (1909–10, 1911–13), short pieces that depict a wide range of subjects.

1909: The Little Nigar

In 1909, Debussy wrote the piano piece The Little Nigar, featuring rag-time, evidencing his interest in the popular music of his time.

1910: Les Sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir

In 1910 Debussy wrote many piano pieces with titles evocative of nature like "Les Sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir".

1910: La Danse de Puck

In 1910, Debussy composed La Danse de Puck (Book 1) for piano, drawing on Shakespeare for inspiration.

1910: Mahler conducts Debussy in New York

In 1910, Gustav Mahler conducted Debussy's Nocturnes and Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune in New York.

1911: Second book of Préludes

Between 1909–10 and 1911–13, Debussy composed two books of Préludes (1909–10, 1911–13), short pieces that depict a wide range of subjects.

1911: Debussy's pantheistic eulogy to Nature

In 1911 Debussy expressed a pantheistic eulogy to Nature in an interview with Henry Malherbe.

1911: Trois Sarabandes Published

In 1911, Erik Satie's Trois Sarabandes were published. Debussy had known this piece before publication.

1911: Le Martyre de saint Sébastien

In 1911, Le Martyre de saint Sébastien was originally a five-act musical play to a text by Gabriele D'Annunzio that took nearly five hours in performance, was not a success.

1912: Images

1912: Publication of Images

In 1912, Debussy published Images, an orchestral work.

1912: Remarks on Ariane et Barbe-bleue

In 1912, Debussy remarked to his publisher that Paul Dukas' opera Ariane et Barbe-bleue was a masterpiece, but not a masterpiece of French music.

1912: Commission of Jeux

In 1912, Sergei Diaghilev commissioned Debussy to compose a new ballet score, Jeux.

March 1913: Premiere of Jeux

In March 1913, Sergei Diaghilev presented the first performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring which overshadowed the premiere of Debussy's Jeux which occurred two weeks prior.

1913: Brouillards

In 1913 Debussy wrote many piano pieces with titles evocative of nature like "Brouillards".

1913: La boîte à joujoux

In 1913 the ballets La boîte à joujoux was left with the orchestration incomplete, and were completed by Caplet, respectively.

1913: Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C.

In 1913, Debussy composed Hommage à S. Pickwick Esq. P.P.M.P.C. (Book 2) for piano, drawing on Dickens for inspiration.

1913: Piano Rolls for Welte-Mignon

In 1913, Debussy made a set of piano rolls for the Welte-Mignon company, containing fourteen of his pieces.

1914: Work on set of six sonatas

In 1914 Debussy started work on a planned set of six sonatas for various instruments.

1914: Debussy supervised the editing of Chopin's music

In 1914 the publisher A. Durand & fils began publishing scholarly new editions of the works of major composers, and Debussy undertook the supervision of the editing of Chopin's music.

1915: Ardently Patriotic Musical Opinions

In 1915, Debussy became ardently patriotic in his musical opinions during the First World War, criticizing foreign influences in French music and expressing concern over the destruction of French art.

1915: Colostomy operation

In 1915, Debussy underwent one of the earliest colostomy operations.

1915: En blanc et noir

In 1915, En blanc et noir (In white and black, 1915), a three-movement work for two pianos, is a predominantly sombre piece, reflecting the war and national danger. Also Debussy composed Études (1915) for piano and sonatas for cello and piano (1915), flute, viola and harp (1915).

September 1917: Debussy's final concert

On 14 September 1917, Debussy gave his final concert.

1917: Violin and piano

In 1917 the sonata for violin and piano was Debussy's last completed work.

March 1918: Death of Debussy

On 25 March 1918, Claude Debussy died in his home during the First World War, with Paris under bombardment.

1918: Bedridden in early 1918

Debussy became bedridden in early 1918, due to his declining health.

1918: Jean Cocteau's Criticism of Debussy's Music

In 1918, Jean Cocteau criticized Debussy's music, stating, "Enough of nuages, waves, aquariums, ondines and nocturnal perfumes,".

1919: Death of Claude-Emma

In 1919, Debussy's daughter, Claude-Emma, died from a diphtheria epidemic.

1920: Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments

In 1920, Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments was written as a memorial for Debussy.

1921: Janáček Studies Debussy's Word-Setting

In 1921, Leoš Janáček studied Debussy's style of word-setting in Pelléas et Mélisande while writing his opera Káťa Kabanová.

1958: Rudolph Reti summarized six features of Debussy's music

In 1958, the critic Rudolph Reti summarised six features of Debussy's music, which he asserted "established a new concept of tonality in European music".

1974: David Cox's Analysis of Debussy

In 1974, David Cox wrote that Debussy created a new world of music, lyrical and pantheistic, contemplative and objective, reaching out into all aspects of experience.

1977: Cataloguing by François Lesure

In 1977, Debussy's works were catalogued and indexed by the musicologist François Lesure.

1983: Book published by Roy Howat

In 1983, the pianist and scholar Roy Howat published a book contending that certain of Debussy's works are proportioned using mathematical models, even while using an apparent classical structure such as sonata form.

1988: Wilfrid Mellers wrote of Debussy

In 1988, the composer and scholar Wilfrid Mellers wrote of Debussy.

1994: Adams Orchestrates Baudelaire Songs

In 1994, John Adams created an orchestral version of four of Debussy's Baudelaire songs, titled Le Livre de Baudelaire.

1994: Book by Simon Trezise

In 1994, Simon Trezise finds the intrinsic evidence "remarkable" in his book Debussy: La Mer.

Debussy: La Mer (Cambridge Music Handbooks)

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2001: Matthews Orchestrates Books of Preludes

In 2001, Colin Matthews began his orchestration of both books of Debussy's Préludes, finishing in 2006.

2002: Holloway Orchestrates En blanc et noir

In 2002, Robin Holloway created an orchestral version of Debussy's En blanc et noir.

2003: Revision of Lesure's catalogue

In 2003, François Lesure's catalogue of Debussy's works was revised.

2004: Study by Mark DeVoto on Debussy's early works

In 2004, Mark DeVoto commented in a study that Debussy's early works are harmonically no more adventurous than existing music by Fauré.

2006: Matthews Orchestrates Books of Preludes

In 2006, Colin Matthews finished his orchestration of both books of Debussy's Préludes, having begun in 2001.

2007: Margery Halford's book on Debussy's piano works

In 2007, Margery Halford observed in a book about Debussy's piano works, that Two Arabesques (1888–1891) and "Rêverie" (1890) have "the fluidity and warmth of Debussy's later style" but are not harmonically innovative. Halford cites the popular "Clair de Lune" (1890), the third of the four movements of Suite Bergamasque, as a transitional work pointing towards the composer's mature style.

2012: Influence on Written on Skin

In 2012, the critic Rupert Christiansen detected the influence of Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande in George Benjamin's opera Written on Skin.

2018: Warner Classics 33-CD Set

In 2018, Warner Classics issued a 33-CD set to mark the centenary of Debussy's death, claiming to include all the music Debussy wrote.

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