Claude Debussy, who died 100 years ago, was a divisive figure who enjoyed a hectic love life. Pippa Cuckson reflects on his genius, his extravagance and his musical legacy
It’s hard for any festival programmer to think beyond the First World War this year, but the centenary of Claude Debussy’s death (1862–1918) is worthy of note. His composing career spanned barely three decades—not all them successful—but his innovation and unapologetic originality pointed the way for the next 100 years.
He loathed being dubbed the Monet of music and insisted he wasn’t an Impressionist, but, exactly as they did, he rejected the conventions of harmony and structure to suggest a scene or event in a delicious, single-movement wash of sound and iridescence.
Reflets dans l’Eau (1905), one of many pieces inspired by water still and turbulent, was composed originally as a piano solo for Images Book I. Debussy prophetically wrote to his publisher: ‘Without false pride, I feel these three pieces hold together well and will find their place in the literature of the piano.’
Debussy will be celebrated in six Proms, starting with a staged performance on July 17 of his largest-scale work, the ravishing opera Pélleas and Melisande, which took him six years to complete, and the cantata La damoiselle élue (July 26). the symphonic poem Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune arguably put Debussy on the map when it premiered at the société Nationale in 1894; it’s paired with Nocturnes on August 15.
Denne historien er fra July 11, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 11, 2018-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
