The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Debussy, Claude Achille

DEBUSSY, Claude Achille, distinguished French composer: b. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 22 Aug 1862; d. 26 March 1918. He was educated at Paris Conservatoire. From the time he was 12 years old he attracted attention as possessing remarkable musical ability. In 1884 he won the Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata “L’Enfant Prodigue.” Later compositions brought rebuke instead of commendation, for their departure from established forms. After a sojourn in Russia, where he assimilated the modes of the native music, Debussy returned to Paris and gave himself up to composition; but it was not until 1893 that he began to see public recognition. In 1902 his opera ‘Pelleas and Melisande’ was produced in Paris, and from this time his fame and position were assured. Debussy had written profusely, not only dramatic music, but also a multitude of songs and pieces for piano and orchestra. While his work is refined, graceful and elegant to the highest degree, and his mastery of technique acknowledged to be perfect, it is claimed that his music is of the intellect rather than of the soul. It is also criticized as being too dependent for full interpretation upon the non-musical aid of the “programme.” Among his principal works are ‘La Mer’; ‘Printemps’; ‘Prelude à l’apres-midi d’un Faune’; ‘Petite Suite’; ‘Images’; ‘Ariettes oubliées’; ‘Trois Nocturnes’; ‘Cinq Poemes de Baudelaire’; ‘Proses Lyriques.’