Debussy : musician of France / Victor I. Seroff.
| Author/creator | Seroff, Victor |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Putnam, ©1956. |
| Description | 367 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | At the Paris conservatory -- First amorous adventure -- Influences and first love affair -- Prix de Rome -- Bohemian period. Gaby ; Debussy's esthetics ; Erik Satie ; Pierre Louys ; The break with Gaby -- First marriage: Debussy a playwright -- Debussy a music critic: La Revue Blanche -- Pelleas et Melisande -- Paul-Jean Toulet: Debussy's reviews in Gil Blas -- A thunderbolt -- Debussy loses his friends -- Day of judgment -- Debussysm -- Illness -- Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien -- Ballets -- World War I -- Claude Debussy, Musicien Francais. |
| Abstract | There has never been anyone quite like Debussy as a musical iconoclast. The composer of Pelleas et Melisande and L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune has always been an enigmatic figure. His unconventionality as a musician was paralleled in his life. Few knew him well, and those who did often disagreed about his qualities. With impressive skill and after going back to the French sources of information, the author has written the most complete and impressive study of Debussy yet to be published in any language. He offers new theories on many controversial episodes in the life of the composer, discussing such questions as the identity of Debussy's real father; what became of Gaby, the companion of his student days; his somewhat complicated friendship with Pierre Louys; and the conditions under which he left his first wife to marry the rich Mme. Bardac. He also contributes some interesting new details on Debussy's youthful visit to Russia, where he lived for some time in the household of Mme. Von Meck, of Beloved Friend fame. Above all, the author explains how, in spite of his triumphs over musical conventionality, Debussy's creative output was affected by ostracism after his second marriage, by increasing ill health, and by the impact of World War I. It is both a moving and tragic story. This biography also discusses the principal compositions of Debussy's, their origins, reception by the public, and place in the canon of his works. The musical and artistic influences which helped to mold the composer are also fully analyzed. The author does not "debunk" Debussy. He shows him as he was, a man of the greatest sensibility, selfish, determined, unscrupulous, yet having the artistic integrity of genius. |
| General note | Includes index. |
| LCCN | 56006626 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML410.D28 S28 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |