DEBUSSY, Claude
b St Cermain-en-Laye, 22 August 1862
d Paris, 25 March 1918, aged fifty-five
He had his first piano lesson when he visited an aunt in Cannes in 1871. The following year he entered the Paris Conservatory. He was fortunate in finding wealthy patronesses, and in 1882 he first appeared as a composer in a concert of his songs and violin pieces. In 1884 he won the Prix de Rome, which required him to stay in that city. He returned to Paris in 1887. For a time he was very short of money and gave a piano lesson on his wedding morning in 1899 in order to pay for the reception. Then his works gradually became more accepted; he was given the Legion d'honneur and was appointed to the advisory board of the Conservatory. Financially more secure, it was ironic that when he divorced and remarried in 1908 his new wife was wealthy. His health began to deteriorate in 1909 and progressively worsened until his death.
1887-9 (15-17)
Trio in G minor
1880 (18)
Danse bohemienne, for piano
Andante for piano
'La belle au bois dormant', song (1880-88)
1881 (19)
Fugue for piano
1882 (20)
Two Four-part Fugues for piano
Triomphe de Bacchus, for piano duet
Intermezzo, for orchestra
Printemps, for women's choir and orchestra
1883 (21)
Invocation, for male voice choir and orchestra
Le Gladiateur, cantata
1884 (22)
L'enfant prodigue, cantata
Diane au bois, for chorus
Divertissement No 1, for orchestra
Suite for orchestra, No 1
1885 (23)
Almanzor, for chorus
1887-8 (25-6)
The Blessed Damozel (La Damoiselle élue), cantata (on a French translation of Rossetti's poem)
1887-9 (25-7)
Cinq poemes de Baudelaire, songs
1888 (26)
Petite Suite, for piano (four hands):
'En bateau'; 'Cortege'; 'Menuet'; 'Ballet'
Arabesques I and II, for piano
Ariettes oubliées, songs
1889-90 (27-8)
Fantaisie, for piano and orchestra
1890 (28)
Suite Bergamasque, for piano:
'Prelude'
'Menuet'
'Clair de lune'
'Passepied' (1890-1905)
Tarentelle Styrienne (Danse), for piano
Ballade, for piano
Reverie, for piano
Valse romantique, for piano
1891 (29)
Mazurka, for piano
Marche ecossaise
Trois mélodies de Verlaine, songs
Deux romances, songs
Rodrigue et Chimene, opera in three acts (unfinished) (1891-2)
1892 (30)
Fetes galantes, songs (first series)
1893 (31)
String Quartet in G minor
Proses lyriques, songs
1894 (32)
Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune, for orchestra
1897 (35)
Chansons de Bilitis, songs
1900 (38)
Nocturnes, for orchestra
'Nuages'
'Fetes'
'Sirenes', with wordless female chorus
1901 (39)
Pour le piano: (possibly 1896)
'Prelude'
'Sarabande'
'Toccata'
1902 (40)
Pelléas et Melisande, opera
1903 (41)
Estampes, for piano:
'Pagodas'
'Soiree dans Grenade'
'Jardins sous la pluie'
Danse sacrée et danse profane, for harp and strings
D'un cahier d'esquisses, for piano
Le Diable dans le beffroi, libretto and musical sketches
1903-5 (41-3)
Rhapsodie, for saxophone, contralto and orchestra
1904 (42)
L'isle joyeuse, for piano
Trois chansons de France
Masques, for piano
La Mer, three symphonic sketches
Fetes galantes, songs (second series)
1905 (43)
Images, for piano, Book 1:
'Reflets dans l'eau'
'Hommage a Rameau'
'Mouvement'
1907 (45)
Images, for piano, Book II:
'Cloches a travers les feuilles'
'Et la June descend sur la temple qui fut'
'Poissons d'or'
1908 (46)
Children's Corner, for piano:
'Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum'
'Jumbo's Lullaby'
'Doll's Serenade'
'Snow is Dancing'
'Little Shepherd'
'Golliwog's Cake-walk'
Ibéria, (No 2 of Images for orchestra)
Trois chansons de Charles d'Orléans, for unaccompanied chorus
The Fall of the House of Usher (sketches for libretto and vocal score unfinished, 1909-10)
1909 (47)
Rondes de Printemps (No 3 of Images for orchestra)
Hommage a Haydn, for piano
1909-10 (47-8)
Preludes for piano, Book I (twelve preludes)
Trois ballades de Francois Villon, songs
Petite piece en Bb major, for clarinet and piano
La plus que lente, for piano
Le Promenoir des deux amants, three songs
Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra, No 1
1911 (49)
The Martyrdom of St Sebastian, incidental music to d'Annunzio's mystery-play
1912 (50)
Gigues (No 1 of Images for orchestra)
Jeux, poeme danse, for orchestra
Khamma, ballet
Syrinx, for solo flute
1913 (51)
La Boite 2 a Joujoux, ballet music for piano
Preludes for piano, Book II (twelve preludes)
Trois poemes de Stéphane Mallarmé, songs
1914 (52)
Berceuse héroique, for piano
1915 (53)
Cello Sonata in D minor
En blanc et noir, piano duet
Douze Etudes, for piano
Six epigraphes antiques, for piano
Noël des enfants, for chorus
1916 (54)
Sonata for flute, viola and harp, in G minor
Ode a la France, for chorus (1916-17)
1917 (55)
Violin Sonata in G minor and G major