Image Source: Wikipedia

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 51-75 of 361 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BVE-51031 10-in. 3/15/1929 Kaleidoscope : The hurdy-gurdy man Hazel Gertrude Kinscella Piano solo composer  
Victor CVE-51056 12-in. 3/21/1929 Clair de lune Harold Bauer Piano solo composer  
Victor CVE-56823 12-in. 4/14/1930 Gymnopedie no. 1 Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Serge Koussevitzky Orchestra orchestrator  
Victor CVE-56842 12-in. 4/30/1930 La cathédrale engloutie Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-56843 12-in. 4/30/1930 La cathédrale engloutie (concluded) Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-56879 12-in. 10/30/1930 Danse Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Serge Koussevitzky Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-56880 12-in. 10/30/1930 Sarabande Boston Symphony Orchestra ; Serge Koussevitzky Orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-57524 10-in. 11/4/1929 Beau soir Mary Garden Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-59552 12-in. 3/25/1930 La mort des amants Hubert Raidich Male vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor CVE-62617 12-in. 5/14/1930 Claire de lune Mrs. W. D. Shelly Piano solo composer  
Victor CVE-62657 12-in. 6/19/1930 La cathédrale engloutie Olga Samaroff Stokowski Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-64325 10-in. 10/13/1930 Dancing virgins of Delphi Ignace Jan Paderewski Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-64326 10-in. 10/13/1930 Veils Ignace Jan Paderewski Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-64327 10-in. 10/13/1930 The wind in the plain Ignace Jan Paderewski Piano solo composer  
Victor BVE-64328 10-in. 10/13/1930 Minstrels Ignace Jan Paderewski Piano solo composer  
Victor CVE-67717 12-in. 12/17/1930 First arabesque Joseph Goodman Piano solo composer  
Victor CVE-69002 12-in. 4/4/1931 Danses : Danse sacree Philadelphia Orchestra ; Edna Phillips ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-69003 12-in. 4/4/1931 Danses : Danse sacree (concluded) Philadelphia Orchestra ; Edna Phillips ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-69004 12-in. 4/4/1931 Danses : Danse profane (concluded) Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-72584 12-in. 5/16/1932 Reflets dans l'eau Kathleen Stewart Piano solo composer  
Victor CS-73083 12-in. 7/8/1932 Air de Lia Rose Bampton ; Wilfrid Pelletier Contralto vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor FRC-74826 35mm film 12/9/1932 The raven Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra, with recitation composer  
Victor FRC-74827 35mm film 12/9/1932 Nuages Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor FRC-74828 35mm film 12/9/1932 Fetes [from Nocturnes] Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
Victor FRC-74834 35mm film 12/10/1932 Nuages [from Nocturnes] Philadelphia Orchestra ; Leopold Stokowski Orchestra composer  
(Results 51-75 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

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.