Claude Debussy (1862-1918), French composer, born, St Germain-en-Laye, studied at Paris Conservatoire from age of I1, under Lavignac, Marmontel and Guiraud. Under the tuition of Massenet, he won the Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata L'Enfant prodigue in 1884. During the obligatory years of study in Rome he tried to forget the cramping influence of the old formulas and to strike out new laws more adapted to his intuition.

One result was Printemps, an orchestral suite sent from Rome to the Institute, which appears to have shocked that body by its harmonic iconoclasm. He revitalized most forms of musical art, whether symphonic, dramatic, pianoforte or lyrical, by sheer technical skill combined with elusive originality, and an adroit use of overtones and of unusual chords. He came to some extent under the influence of Erik Satie, but had a much stronger creative force, and he added much of his own to the harmonic innovations of Chabrier and Faure. He was not an innovator by mere caprice. He appreciated the oneness of all art; and he saw that music must develop along lines parallel to those along which poetry or painting develop. His next productions, Ariettes oubliees, Cine Poemes d Baudelaire and Suite bergamasque, show the breakaway from romanticism towards the direct interpretation of feeling.

He composed his celebrated Prelude a I'apres-midi d'un faune under the inspiration of Mallarme's poem, a work as original as the Symphonie fantastique of Berlioz and baffling by the apparent simplicity with which it succeeds in reflecting the feelings, now ardent, now sensuous, now profound, which it is intended to express. His next masterpieces were Chansons de Billets for voice and piano, 1897, and Nocturnes for orchestra, 1899, all impressionist works; and in 1902 his one opera, Pelisse et Melisande, which frankly discards not only the old reputedly obsolete forms, but also the lyrical dramatic form of Wagner. It is regarded by some critics as exhibiting a perfect balance between poetry and music.

The only other works for the theatre he finished were the incidental music for d'An-nunzio's Martyre de Saint Sebastien and a ballet Jeux, composed for Diaghilev. Among his finest mature piano music are Estampes, 1903, 2 sets of Images, 1905-7, and 2 books of Preludes, 1910-13; and the greatest orchestral work is La Mer, 1903-5. He wrote many song settings of the finest French poetry. An early string Quartet, 1893, long remained his only chamber music, but in his last years, much troubled by a fatal illness, he began as set of sonatas for various instruments. which only 3 were completed.