Debussy : a painter in sound / Stephen Walsh.

Patron comment on 12/17/2018

An unconventional biography in the sense that is dwells more on Claude Debussy’s artistic development and influences rather than the primary events his life. This is an ambitious and well researched work. Stephen Walsh, a professor of music at Cardiff University, had already to his credit two acclaimed biographies of composers. Some parts of the book are quite technical, analysing Debussy’s works, but Walsh has made every effort to make these reasonably accessible to readers like myself who do not have formal training in music. One of the most interesting themes in the book is the movement by French composers away from the dominant German composers and style of the time, recognizing that the character of the French language in itself is subtler, more accentuated, nuanced and quieter, qualities that should be reflected in French music and was being achieved in Impressionist Art. The biography does include details on Debussy’s life, his loves and his contemporaries like Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel. He had an interesting life, but not an easy one as is reflected in a remark he made in a letter to his publisher, “In the end I live in memory and regret, as sad pair of companions! But they are more faithful than joy and happiness.”. Personally, I found this an engaging and enriching book. I was only familiar with a handful of the most popular of Debussy works before reading it. Beyond the book the Spotify music-streaming service has an excellent pre-compiled playlist of Debussy, titled ‘This is Debussy’, which includes movements from nearly all the works discussed in the book, complementing it and indicative of the composer’s diversity.