Claude Debussy (1862 – 1918)

Claude Debussy's backstory is as fascinating as his music. He got admitted to the Conservatoire de Paris at the age of ten, despite coming from a poor neighborhood in Paris. As they say, the rest is history.

Debussy is regarded as the first impressionist composer in the world. It would have required a brave individual to tell him this, for he dubbed impressionism "imbecilic."

Whatever his feelings were, his music echoed the ideas of impressionist painters like Claude Monet at the time. Debussy's music, like Monet's paintings, blurs the lines and produces new harmonies in ways that give his music a dreamy, colorful, and atmospheric atmosphere.

It was essentially French and a reaction against the Romantic era's Germanic music, which was characterized by form and development.

Clair de Lune, the third movement from Suite bergamasque, is a favorite with listeners all across the world, and it exemplifies this. Its title, which translates as "moonlight" in French, is based on a poem by French author Paul Verlaine of the same name.

Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune, La Mer, and Images are among Debussy's numerous defining pieces. These give you an idea of what the great guy was capable of.

Nationality: Russian