Book Description

Book Description
The early music of Claude Debussy was influenced by the work of Wagner, for whom he had great admiration. However, soon Debussy's music became more experimental and individualistic, as is clear in his first mature work Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Debussy quickly moved away from traditional techniques and produced the pictures in sound that led his work to be described as "musical Impressionism." This new biography--the first in English in 30 years--offers new insights into the life of this enigmatic composer, revealing a figure more seminal and revolutionary than previously thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Too Concise, Dry and Dull
This is unfortunately, a 'too' concise biography of Debussy which never really gives a sense of what the man was like, or the impact of his music on the twentieth century. A disappointment after a good experience with another book in the Cambridge music series.

too short for such a major musical figure
It is unfortunate that there is not more available on Debussy in English.This book, at only 167 pages (including pictures) hardly does him justice.Because it is so short, the book jumps from topic to topic at an alarming pace, hardly giving any details.The author's convoluted writing style does not help matters either.Unlike many other musical (or otherwise) biographies I've read, this one did not leave me satisfied.Hopefully the out-of-print book department will have something more complete on Debussy.

Depressed Composer
C. Debussy seems to have led a tortured and beleaguered life. His ideas regarding music were in conflict with the French music establishment. This created problems for him both professionally and personally. Financially,he struggled all of his life. Coming from rather humble beginnings, C.Debussy had a particular vision of music early in his career. He was bluntand identified with the impressionistic painters as well as the symbolistpoets. These artists were to become popular much later. Debussy died youngat the age of 55 of cancer. This biography is a little choppy in it writingstyle, but it does offer many examples of his ideas on many subjects. ... Read more

Product Description
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was a great harmonic innovator and one of the most original musical voices of the twentieth century. He created fresh, new tonal perspectives without abandoning tonality itself. With a revolutionary sense of instrumental color and a fleeting, atmospheric sound world, he is often described, rightly or wrongly, as an 'Impressionist' composer. This book presents a clear narrative history of Debussy s life, work, and cultural context along with essential reference material and striking illustrations, making it a vital purchase for anyone interested in the composer.


Claude Debussy is part of Phaidon's successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information. This edition of the book features a whimsical new cover by Jean-Jacques Sempé, the world-renowned illustrator and cartoonist. ... Read more

Book Description
An anthology of vivid and revealing memoirs, Debussy Remembered includes recollections from a wide range of Debussy's friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Highly recommended book on Debussy
Debussy and Ravel are my favorite composers. I think Debussy was one of the most original composers who ever lived and is on the same level as Bach, Mozart and Chopin. I've read a lot of technical books and well written biographies on Debussy but I never found a book that revealed so much of what he was like from a personal perspective. In Debussy Remembered, Nichols organized a series of statements by people that knew him both professionally and personally and through this series of interviews I got a real sense of his complexity and idiosyncratic nature. A must read for anyone interested in getting to understand the personal life of this brilliant composer.

I like amazon
It's faster to receive my product than I think.
And the protection is so great!
I will continue to buy stuffs at amazon!

It really brings the composer to life!
I've been researching Debussy's Piano Music as part of my degree and I found this book to be fascinating because it revealed the composer to me in a new light.

It's a completely enjoyable book to read; reliable andrelevant to his music ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Advanced piano solo by Claude Debussy. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
(Arabesques 1 & 2, Clair de Lune, Danse, L'Isle Joyeuse, Jardins sous la pluie, Prelude in A minor, Reflets dans l'eau, Soiree dans Grenade). ... Read more

Book Description
Arthur Hartmann (1881-1956), a celebrated violinist who performed over a thousand recitals throughout Europe and the United States, met Claude Debussy in 1908, after he had transcribed 'Il pleure dans mon coeur' for violin and piano. Their relationship developed into friendship, and in February 1914 Debussy accompanied Hartmann in a performance of three of Hartmann's transcriptions of Debussy's works. The two friends saw each other for the last time on the composer's birthday, 22 August 1914, shortly before Hartmann and his family fled Europe to escape the Great War. With the publication of Hartmann's memoir Claude Debussy as I Knew Him, along with the twenty-two known letters from Claude Debussy and the thirty-nine letters from Emma Debussy to Hartmann and his wife, the richness and importance of their relationship can be appreciated for the first time. The memoir covers the years 1908-1918. Debussy's letters to Hartmann span the years 1908-1916, and Emma (Mme) Debussy's letters span the years 1910-1932. Also included are the facsimile of Debussy's Minstrels manuscript transcription for violin and piano, three previously unpublished letters from Debussy to Pierre Louÿs, and and correspondece between Hartmann and Béla Bartók, Nina Grieg, Alexandre Guilmant, Charles Martin Loeffler, Marian MacDowell, Hans Richter, and Anton Webern, along with Hartmann's memoirs on Loeffler, Ysaÿe, Joachim and Grieg. Samuel Hsu is a pianist and professor of music at Philadelphia Biblical University.He completed his Ph.D. in historical musicology at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1972 with a dissertation on Debussy.Sidney Grolnic has been a librarian in the Music Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia for over twenty years and serves as curator of the library's Hartmann Collection.Mark A. Peters has recently received his Ph.D. in historical musicology at the University of Pittsburgh; his dissertation was on J. S. Bach's sacred cantatas to texts by Mariana von Ziegler. ... Read more

Book Description
This volume in our new series features 29 compositions by Claude Debussy, including such famous pieces as 'Clair de Lune,' 'Reverie,' 'The Girl with the Flaxen Hair,' 'Golliwogg's Cake Walk,' and others. It includes pieces from the French master's wealth of piano compositions, including the 'Arabesques,' PETITE SUITE, CHILDREN'S CORNER SUITE, both books of 'Preludes,' and individual pieces. A wide variety of music from the French impressionistic genius! 29 titles on 160 pages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

what a binding......
I'm studying music at university in hamilton ontario..
at the H.B.A level

well here is my opinion on this score....
the binding on this edition is lousy
it is simply glued in... and the glue is very cheap and the pages fall right out...
i had to spend an additional $10 to get the book put into a spiral binding..

it's not worth it... dover editions have sewn in bindings...

the selections in this edition are good, but it is close enough urtext so you're definitely on your own when it comes to fingering the right notes... especially the pieces like passapied.
the notation is an accurate size but dover is better since it is easier to read at the keyboard...

also dover editions usually are reprints of better more longlasting editions that have excellent points for page turning from my personal performing perspective, don't buy this get the dover......

it's cheaper and better....... i wish i knew about dover editionsbefore i bought this... p.s. if you enjoy music and theoretical topics i highly recommend [...] ... Read more

Book Description

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.

Product Description
Original piano scores for Clair De Lune, Arabesque Nos. 1 & 2, La Soiree Dans Grenade, Jardins Sous La Pluie, Reflets Dans L'Eau, Prelude In A Minor, L'Isle Joyeuse & Danse. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Paris at the turn of the 20th century was obsessed with the interrelations of the arts. It was a time when artists and writers spoke of poetry as music, sounds as colors, and paintings as symphonies. The music of Claude Debussy, with its unique textures and dazzling colors, was the perfect counterpart to the bold new styles of painting in France. Paul Roberts probes the sources of Debussy's artistic inspiration, relating the "impressionist" titles to the artistic and literary ferment of the time. He also draws on his own performing experience to touch on all the principal technical problems for a performer of Debussy's piano music. His many suggestions about interpreting the music will be particularly valuable to performers as well as listeners. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Chapters focus in depth upon Debussy's individual songs
Images: The Piano Music Of Claude Debussy Paul Roberts (professor of piano, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London) is a meaningful, superbly presented, in-depth analysis of the French piano music of artist and visionary Claude Debussy. Chapters focus in depth upon Debussy's individual songs and go into minute, deconstructive and comparative analysis, observing common threads in Debussy's work and that of other masters such as Chopin. A scholarly book deftly written at the college-graduate level, Images is highly recommended as the perfect companion book for a true connoisseur of Debussy's music. Two music CD's of Debussy's work, performed by Images author Paul Roberts, are intended as companions to Images but are sold separately.

A great book for pianists and listeners.
I would be able to write a more erudite review of this book if I had my copy beside me, citing examples of wonderful writing, interesting anecdotes and illuminating images.Unfortunately, I loaned it to my piano teacher,and she won't give it back!She has fallen in love with it.I think I mayhave to give her a copy as a gift if I ever want to see my copy again. PaulRoberts was here in Portland last June for the first Piano FestivalNorthwest.He gave a lecture, a master class and a piano recital.Hisabilities in all three areas are distilled into this book.He has studiedDebussy and the cultural "stew" of Paris during Debussy's life. He has studied Debussy's piano works and performs them sensitively.Andfinally he can explain all of this in a most entertaining manner, in personand in his writing. The book is not easy to read in a summertime-beachyway, but it is certainly not academic or pedantic.It is lively butthorough, engaging and thought provoking.It also contains many examplesand musical excerpts which can be studied with a view toward performance ofthe pieces.As an amatuer pianist, I can appreciate these sections withoutbeing able to perform the works, and my teacher takes the examples aspoints of departure or new interpretive ideas for works which she hasperformed in the past, but can now see in new ways.Of course, if you'venever heard of Debussy, I suppose you might have no use for this book. Otherwise, buy it. (I have no connection, family or business, with PaulRoberts.) ... Read more

Book Description
Text extracted from opening pages of book: CLAtJDE DEBUSSY HIS LIFE AND WORKS Translated from the French by MAIRE and GRACE O BRIEN OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS London : Humphrey Milford 1933 L ; ; PREFACE - * * & amp; lt; w & quot; * IN this book on Claude & quot; Debussy I have avoided all biographical details the publication of which, fefight be deemed premature and indiscreet. The secrets of his private life belong to those who shared it and who bear his name. For the purposes of this book I have made use only of such documents as were originally intended for publication or which have by chance become public property. To my mind, the really interesting points in the life of a musician are his works, his activities, and his influence on his contemporaries. The book which I published in 1928 under the title of The Theories of Claude Debussy, musicien franfais, supplements the present work, revealing as it does the composer s ideas on music given to the public between the years 1901 and 1916. I have made frequent use of Debussy s published correspon dence : his letters to Vasnier and Ernest Chausson ( Revue Musicale, December 1925 and May 1926) and to the publisher, Durand ( Paris, Durand, 1927). I have also drawn on the reminiscences published by the Revue Musicale, in May 1926 ( articles by: Raymond Bonheur, Paul Dukas, Robert Godet, Andre Messager, Gabriel Pierne, Henri de Regnier, Marguerite Vasnier, Paul Vidal). I have likewise utilized the recollections to which Maurice Emmanuel refers in his study on Telleas et Melisande ( Paris, Mellotte, 1926). CONTENTS I. CHILDHOOD. THE CONSERVATOIRE ( 1862-83) . i II. THE PRIX DE ROME ( 1883-4) 22 III. THE VILLA MEDICI ( 1885-7); THE ENVOIS DE ROME ( 1885-90) 32 IV. RETURN TO PARIS ( 1887). INFLUENCES . . 49 V. THE FIRST COMPOSITIONS ( 1888-93) . . 66 VI. BEFORE PELLfiAS : THE QUARTET AND THE PROSES LYRIQUES ( 1892-9) . . .80 VII. & amp; lt; L APRfiS-MIDI D UN FAUNE ; THE NOCTURNES ; CRITIQUES ( 1894-1901) . . . .101 VIII. PELLfiAS ET MfiLISANDE ( 1892-1902) DEBUS SYISM 121 IX. CHAMBER MUSIC. C LA MER ( 1902-7) . . 152 X. VARIOUS COMPOSITIONS. LE CAS DEBUSSY ( 1907-10) ...... 181 XL IMAGES FOR ORCHESTRA; PRELUDES AND SONGS ( 1910-13) . . . . - 195 XII. DRAMATIC MUSIC, VARIOUS PLANS. LE MAR TYRE DE SAINT-SfiBASTIEN ( 1911) . . 217 XIII. JEUX. LA BOlTE A JOUJOUX ( 1913) . . 235 XIV. THE WAR. LAST YEARS ( 1914-18) . . .251 APPENDIX A ....... 274 B 274 C . . . - . . - 275 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Achille-Claude Debussy ( in 1867) . . . facing p. 2 Achille-Claude Debussy, while at the Conservatoire ( about 1874) ........ 10 New Year s Greetings to Madame Vasnier ( on the music of Mandoline) . . . . ,, 18 Music Facsimile ( from Le Gladiateur) . between pp. 24 and 25 Villa Medici ( 1885) ..... facing p. 32 Debussy at the house of Ernest Chausson, 1893 . . ,, 62 A few pages from the note-book of Maurice Emmanuel .... between pp. 84 and 85 Claude Debussy ( about 1895) .... facing p. 90 Claude Debussy ( about 1895) . . . - ,, 101 Letter to Pierre Louys . . . . ,, no Debussy at the house of Pierre Louys ( about 1895) . 112 Debussy at the piano ( about 1898) . . ,, 116 Claude Debussy ( about 1900) . . . ,, 121 Debussy and his first wife, Rosalie Texier ( about 1902) . ,, 124 At the time of Telleas et Melisande 138 Debussy, photographed by Pierre Louys ( about 1900) * ,, 15 Debussy, by Jacques-fimile Blanche ( 1903) - * 54 Letter to Jacques Durand ( August 1903) . . - ,, * 57 Debussy and his first wife, Rosalie Texier, at Bichain ( about 1902) ..... 158 Debussy at Pourville ( September 1904) . . - ,, 168 Debussy outside his home ( about 1910). . 212 Letter to Andr6 Halle& quot; ( 27 August 1913) - 240 One of the 363 themes in Roman de Tristan* Debussy s note for the Fourth of a projected Series of Six ^ Sonatas ..... Opening of the Finale of the Violin Sonata CHAPTER I CHILDHOOD. THE CONSERVATOIRE ( 1862-83) IN the heart of the tle-de-France, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, tjte, birthplace of Louis XIV, was ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description