Claude Debussy (1862-1918) is one of the most enduring composers of all time. His music—typically is piano music—is often used in music to signal some sort of unarticulated malaise, which is appropriate for Debussy’s impressionist music. The French composer is known for his atmospheric music that transgresses traditional boundaries of pitch and key.

One of Debussy’s most influential pieces was his Nocturnes, an orchestral piece inspired by James Whistler’s series of impressionist painting of the same name. Premiered in Paris in 1900, the piece includes three parts including “Nuages” (“Clouds”), Fêtes (“Festivales”) and  Sirènes (Sirens).

The most famous movement of the three part series is arguably “Nuages.” Regarding the movement, “I also tried to obey a law of beauty that seems notably ignored when it comes to dramatic music: the characters of this opera try to sing like real people, and not in an arbitrary language made up of worn-out clichés.” Debussy says this, most specifically, in reference to Wagner. He doesn’t really bash Wagner—saying that he was truly a genius—but also says how Wagner’s operas were the end of an era. This statement seems to follow his ideals for composition. He does things because he thinks they’re beautiful, rather than doing what is traditional or correct. So this quotation follows that idea in the same way, he doesn’t follow this “arbitrary language” of traditional opera, but instead does what he wants to do. I also found this quote interesting because Debussy seems to be a composer who gets an idea in mind and then follows that idea through in his composition—in “Nuages” his music followed his idea of clouds and in this example his music follows the idea of characterization as a primary factor.

 

Debussy uses a lot of symbolism, or something that suggests a real thing in the world, but it only suggests it and is subject to the creator’s interpretation. Debussy does this in a way that is not like sound effect, but instead makes connections that could be interpreted as being symbolic if told what the particular part of the music was symbolizing, but would not necessarily be interpreted in that way without the given connotation. For example, Debussy suggests clouds in “Nuages.” He uses parallel ninth chords and undulating melodies to symbolize the moving and ominous clouds, but at listener would not necessarily know he wished to symbolize clouds without the title of the work.