Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $9.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Debussy and His World
    Debussy and His World
    Debussy and His World
    Ebook408 pages8 hours

    Debussy and His World

    By Jane Fulcher

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Claude Debussy's Paris was factionalized, politicized, and litigious. It was against this background of ferment and change--which characterized French society and music from the Franco-Prussian War to World War I--that Debussy re-thought music. This book captures the complexity of the composer's restless personal and artistic identity within the new picture emerging of the musical, social, and political world of fin-de-siècle Paris.


    Debussy's setting did not simply mold his style. Rather, it challenged him to define a style and then to revamp it again and again as he situated himself simultaneously via the present and the past. These essays trace Debussy's perpetual reinvention, both social and creative, from his earliest to his last works. They explore tensions and contradictions in his best-known compositions and examine lesser-known pieces that reveal new aspects of Debussy's creative appropriation from poetry, painting, and non-Western music.


    The contributors reveal the extent to which Debussy's personal and professional lives were intertwined and sometimes in conflict. Belonging to no one group or class, but crossing many, Debussy abjured the orthodox. A maverick who reviled all convention and searched for a music that authentically reflected experience, Debussy balked at entering any situation--salons, musical societies, or factions--that would categorize and thus distort him. Because of this, music lovers still argue over the degree to which Debussy's music is Impressionist, symbolist, or even French. Aptly, the volume's editor reads Debussy's last works as a dialogue with himself that reflects his inherently pluralistic, paradoxical, negotiated, and ever-changing identity.


    William Austin's description of Debussy as ''one of the most original and adventurous musicians who ever lived'' is often repeated. This book illustrates how right Austin was and shows why Debussy's unclassifiable art continues to fascinate and perplex his historians even as it enthralls new listeners. The contributors are Leon Botstein, Christophe Charle, John Clevenger, Jane F. Fulcher, David Grayson, Brian Hart, Gail Hilson-Woldu, and Marie Rolf.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPrinceton University Press
    Release dateAug 6, 2001
    ISBN9781400831951
    Debussy and His World

    Related to Debussy and His World

    Titles in the series (26)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Music For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Felix Mendelssohn

      Mar 19, 2020

      Felix Mendelssohn
      6 min read

    • Article

      Unravelling Ravel

      Aug 5, 2021

      Unravelling Ravel
      7 min read

    • Article

      Grazyna Bacewicz

      Feb 20, 2020

      Grazyna Bacewicz
      5 min read

    • Article

      Turn It Down: Morton Feldman's Silent Revolution

      Sep 4, 2017

      If you've never heard For Bunita Marcus, pianist Marc-André Hamelin predicts it'll be either the most aggravating thing you've ever heard, or the best migraine medicine you've ever had.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Nothing Comes Easy

      Mar 18, 2022

      I recently attended a ‘hot ticket’ recital at Wigmore Hall: Martha Argerich and Sergei Babayan playing Mozart and Prokofiev on two pianos. It was the encore, though – the Barcarolle from Rachmaninov’s Suite No 1 – that had me spellbound. It sounded s

      2 min read

    • Article

      BRAHMS The Piano Teacher

      Mar 18, 2022

      BRAHMS The Piano Teacher
      6 min read

    • Article

      'Fryderyk Chopin' Already Qualifies As One Of The Best Biographies Of The Year

      Oct 18, 2018

      English-Canadian musicologist and university professor Alan Walker spent 10 years doing extensive research into vast archives of primary source material on Chopin, allowing him to produce this MRI-thorough biography.

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Ballet MASTER

      Oct 28, 2021

      The Ballet MASTER
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Late Bloomer

      Jan 20, 2023

      The Late Bloomer
      8 min read

    • Article

      Benjamin Britten

      Aug 9, 2022

      Benjamin Britten
      6 min read

    • Article

      Max Bruch

      Sep 3, 2020

      Max Bruch
      5 min read

    • Article

      Second Nature

      Sep 17, 2021

      Second Nature
      6 min read

    • Article

      Paul Hindemith

      Oct 29, 2020

      Paul Hindemith
      6 min read

    • Article

      Looping The Loop Ironing Out The Tricky Passages

      Sep 15, 2023

      There’s little doubt that finally playing through a piece at a level we’re happy with gives immense satisfaction – the sense of being under control, communicating what we feel the piece is ‘about’, and at the same time adding something of ourselves.

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Keys To Success

      Mar 17, 2022

      The Keys To Success
      1 min read

    • Article

      Fancy Footwork Pointers For Artistic Pedalling

      Jul 19, 2024

      When we play, we are not usually conscious of our pedalling. We go for the sound that we have in our imagination, relying on the direct line of communication we have formed between the ear, hand, and foot during practice. Occasionally, we might need

      5 min read

    • Article

      Poetry In Motion creative Scale Practice

      May 20, 2022

      Scale work is an ongoing process from the relatively beginning stages of piano study through to conservatory level and beyond. The advanced pianist will have mastered all major and minor scales in single as well as double notes, plus an array of diff

      6 min read

    • Article

      My favourite Beethoven

      Nov 11, 2020

      My favourite Beethoven
      3 min read

    • Article

      Carl Czerny

      Jul 9, 2020

      Carl Czerny
      5 min read

    • Article

      Vienna’s Hapless Missing Link

      Jun 24, 2021

      Vienna’s Hapless Missing Link
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Contemporary Sound

      Apr 9, 2022

      The Contemporary Sound
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Debussy and His World

    4/5

    2 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Debussy and His World - Jane Fulcher

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1