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Claude Debussy

(Achille) Claude Debussy (French: [aʃil klod dəbysi]; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande.

Debussy's orchestral works include Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), Nocturnes (1897–1899) and Images (1905–1912). His music was to a considerable extent a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition. He regarded the classical symphony as obsolete and sought an alternative in his "symphonic sketches", La mer (1903–1905). His piano works include sets of 24 Préludes and 12 Études. Throughout his career he wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century. A small number of works, including the early La Damoiselle élue and the late Le Martyre de saint Sébastien have important parts for chorus. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments.

With early influences including Russian and Far Eastern music and works by Chopin, Debussy developed his own style of harmony and orchestral colouring, derided – and unsuccessfully resisted – by much of the musical establishment of the day. His works have strongly influenced a wide range of composers including Béla Bartók, Olivier Messiaen, George Benjamin, and the jazz pianist and composer Bill Evans. Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at the age of 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years.

Birth and Death Data: Born August 22, 1862 (Saint-Germain-en-Laye), Died March 25, 1918 (Paris)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1909 - 1950

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, orchestrator

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 361 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-27407 10-in. 1/16/1923 L'après-midi d'un faune : Prelude, part 1 Guy Maier ; Lee Pattison Piano duet composer  
Victor B-27408 10-in. 1/16/1923 L'après-midi d'un faune : Prelude, part 2; arranged Guy Maier ; Lee Pattison Piano duet composer  
Victor B-27773 10-in. 4/24/1923 Deux arabesque, no. 2 Julius L. Schendel Piano solo composer  
Victor B-29545 10-in. 2/26/1924 Petite suite : En bateau Jacques Thibaud Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor C-29624 12-in. 3/5/1924 En bateau Cecilia Hansen Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-29986 12-in. 12/11/1926 Reflections on the water Ignace Jan Paderewski Piano solo composer  
Victor C-29986 12-in. 5/12/1924 Reflections on the water Ignace Jan Paderewski Piano solo composer  
Victor C-30044 12-in. 5/5/1924 Moonlight Olga Samaroff Stokowski Piano solo composer  
Victor B-30239 10-in. 6/5/1924 Dr. Gradus Jeanne Behrend Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-31939 10-in. 8/28/1925 La fille aux cheveux de lin Fritz Kreisler Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-31939 10-in. 2/11/1925 La fille aux cheveux de lin Fritz Kreisler Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor BVE-31969 10-in. 4/3/1925 Menuet Pablo Casals Cello solo, with piano composer  
Victor B-31969 10-in. 2/18/1925 Menuet Pablo Casals Cello solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-34070 12-in. 12/29/1925 Waltz Jascha Heifetz Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-37290 12-in. 12/29/1926 La fille aux cheveux de lin Jascha Heifetz Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-37415 12-in. 1/13/1927 Deux arabesques Julius L. Schendel Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-39354 10-in. 10/11/1927 Festivals Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-39355 10-in. 10/11/1927 Festivals Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-40358 10-in. 1/12/1928 En bateau Fritz Kreisler Violin solo, with piano composer  
Victor BVE-43414 10-in. 3/26/1928 Serenade a la poupee Vladimir Horowitz Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-43617 10-in. 4/6/1928 Voici que le printemps Emilio de Gogorza Baritone vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-46478 12-in. 9/27/1928 Nuages (Clouds) Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-46479 12-in. 9/27/1928 Nuages (Clouds) (concluded) Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-49812 10-in. 1/30/1929 Prelude in A minor Isabelle Yalkovsky Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-51027 10-in. 3/12/1929 Golliwogg's cake-walk Hazel Gertrude Kinscella Piano solo composer  
(Results 26-50 of 361 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Debussy, Claude," accessed October 15, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102597.

Debussy, Claude. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 15, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102597.

"Debussy, Claude." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 15 October 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102597

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