Claude Debussy Research Paper

Achille-Claude Debussy was born on the day of August 22, 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. He was the oldest of five children, and immediately showed an amazing artistic ability in music despite that his family had little money. He soon became a household name, traveling for inspiration for his music. He had many affairs, sometimes even working for the woman’s husband! He married twice, and had one child; he died of colon cancer in 1918 in Paris. His most well-known attribute is that he is considered the founder of impressionism. Impressionism is when a composer’s music like no other before by using different melodies and harmonies to contrast each other, forming wonderful pieces. Claude Debussy was an influential French composer who …show more content…
Translated from French to English it means moonlight. It became popular because it has complicated harmonies and it is all weaved together by musical harmony; it is also an easier movement/piece to play compared to pieces by Mozart, Haydn, etc. It has been used in many popular movies such as Twilight, American Hustle, and Ocean’s Thirteen. Another composition by Debussy that is popular is La mer (The Sea) and it is an orchestra composition and is one of his most performed orchestral works. It is influential to modern soundtrack composers because of the moody atmosphere it presents. Lastly, his Children’s Corner was his solo piano piece that he dedicated to his daughter, Claude-Emma. It is influential and important because Debussy incorporated childhood memories and feelings into the …show more content…
It’s cheerful and bouncy tones reminded me of snippets of music from the movie Fantasia 2000; full of life and no worries. It was overall very dissonant in all six movements, and seemed to each sound like a specific toy or adventure that the child was experiencing or playing with. For example, some of the movements sounded like a little girl playing with her doll (Movement 3) and others sounded like a lullaby but included some dark moments. Clair de lune is most surely a lullaby; the name fits perfectly as well. It makes you feel like you’re in a boat in France at night, and you can see the moon clear as day. The music tends to rise in sections of the music repeatedly and its dynamics are soft (piano) but sweet. Listening to it firsthand, you understand why it is famous and has been used in media. It also tends to be dissonant throughout the piece. Lastly, there is La mer, and all of these pieces have proven to exhibit their titles well, and this one is no exception. In the beginning, it sounds like a storm above the waves, overall very dark and mysterious. Then it slips away to reveal the warm weather, the happier tones of the sea which we hear in the music. The piece reminded me of music from the movie Pocahontas It is a full symphony piece, the flute, violin, clarinet and French horn being heard above the other instruments. This seems to repeat itself several times throughout