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• Claude Debussy was a French composer during the Impressionist period at the turn of the twentieth century. Debussy was one of the central figures of the Impressionist movement (which came from France) along with Maurice Ravel. The movement, considered a reaction to the Romantic period that preceded it, is characterized by shorter pieces that featured less commonly-used scale systems (like whole tone and pentatonic as opposed to major and minor) and can be related to the concepts of Impressionism in art.

  Some of Debussy's most famous compositions include "Suite Bergamasque," (a suite that includes "Clair de Lune") "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," and "Nocturnes."

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: August 22, 1862
  2. Led a very turbulent life and fathered one child (Claude-Emma) who outlived her father by about a year
  3. Viewed (musically) as a radical in his own time
  4. Influenced many 20th century composers, e.g., Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass, as well as jazz musicians like Duke Ellington and Bill Evans
  5. Music has been featured in many modern day films, plays and television programs, including Giant and Ocean's Eleven
  6. Died: March 25, 1918 in Paris of colorectal cancer

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Ludwig van Beethoven | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Franz Schubert | Johann Sebastian Bach | Johannes Brahms | Robert Schumann | Franz Liszt | George Frideric Handel | Maurice Ravel | Giacomo Puccini

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