Debussy: Les Trois Sonates, The Late Works

Featuring

Isabelle Faust
Alexander Melnikov
Tanguy de Williencourt
Antoine Tamestit
Magali Mosnier
Xavier de Maistre

Jean-Guihen Queyras
Javier Perianes
Claude Debussy

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Composer Biography

Claude Debussy, known as 'Claude de France', passed away on March 25, 1918, after stating that all his music strove to be nothing but melody.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Debussy asked his publisher to imitate the title pages of 18th-century French harpsichord books and to print 'Claude Debussy, musicien français' on them, emphasizing his French identity.

Cultural Impact

Debussy's unique language and innate sense of timbre and harmony radically changed how music was heard and conceived, influencing generations of composers and even jazz.

Composer Biography

The outbreak of World War I in July 1914, combined with a battle with cancer, plunged Claude Debussy into deep distress, making it difficult for him to compose.

Composition History

Debussy contributed to the 'war effort' by composing the Berceuse héroïque for piano in 1914, requested by novelist Hall Caine for a tribute book to King Albert I of Belgium.

Composition History

Debussy's final piano work, Les Soirs illuminés par l'ardeur du charbon, was used as a bargaining chip to obtain bags of coal from a music and autograph connoisseur.

Composition History

Debussy planned to compose 'Six Sonates pour divers instruments' as a tribute to 18th-century French composers like Couperin and Rameau, but only completed three before his death.