Person
Claude Debussy
Sain-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, France
(Achille) Claude Debussy was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influenti…
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(Achille) Claude Debussy was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande. Debussy's orchestral works include Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1894), Nocturnes (1897–1899) and Images (1905–1912). His music was to a considerable extent a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition. He regarded the classical symphony as obsolete and sought an alternative in his "symphonic sketches", La mer (1903–1905). His piano works include two books of Préludes and two of Études. Throughout his career he wrote mélodies based on a wide variety of poetry, including his own. He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century. A small number of works, including the early La Damoiselle élue and the late Le Martyre de saint Sébastien have important parts for chorus. In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments. With early influences including Russian and far-eastern music, Debussy developed his own style of harmony and orchestral colouring, derided – and unsuccessfully resisted – by much of the musical establishment of the day.
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2026
Daniele Gatti & Gautier Capuçon Wagner, Saint-Saëns, and Debussy
Movie Original Music Composer
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2025
Alice Sara Ott & Francesco Tristano Piano Duo
Movie Original Music Composer
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2025
Elements Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramovic
Movie Original Music Composer
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2025
Famous Orchestras - The world's finest orchestras : The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Movie Original Music Composer
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2025
Yuja Wang x David Hockney London Lightroom
Movie Original Music Composer
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2025
Cristian Măcelaru & Julia Fischer - Brahms, Debussy and Barraine
Movie Original Music Composer
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2024
Sunset Sonatina
Movie Music
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2024
Palácio das Memórias
Movie Original Music Composer
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2024
The Colors Within
Movie Music
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2024
Bar Avni conducts the Paris Mozart Orchestra @ La Maestra 2024
Movie Original Music Composer
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2024
Liubov Nosova conducts the Paris Mozart Orchestra @ La Maestra 2024
Movie Original Music Composer
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2024
Riccardo Minasi With Emmanuel Pahud
Movie Original Music Composer
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2023
Keys to the Heart
Movie Music
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2023
Made in the Cell
Movie Music
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2023
Klaus Mäkelä conducts Ravel With Yuja Wang and the Orchestre de Paris
Movie Original Music Composer
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2023
Compagnie Hervé Koubi @ Sur Mesure
Movie Original Music Composer
More credits
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2022
Aftersun
Movie Music
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2022
Olivier Messiaen: The Turangalîla-Symphonie Orchestre de Paris
Movie Original Music Composer
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2021
The Aura
Movie Music
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2021
Pasamontaña Quemado
Movie Music
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2021
Watching the Sun Rise
Movie Music
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2021
Grand Bal Symphonique With the Orchestre Nationale de France
Movie Original Music Composer
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2021
Radio France Choir and Orchestra Poulenc, Wagner, Debussy & Fauré
Movie Original Music Composer
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2021
John Eliot Gardiner Conducts Chabrier, Stravinsky and Debussy With Isabelle Faust
Movie Original Music Composer
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2019
Myst
Movie Music
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2018
Paris Opera Ballet: Tribute to Jerome Robbins 2
Movie Original Music Composer
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2018
four scenes from a village
Movie Music
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2018
Alice Sara Ott Live in Yellow Lounge: Nightfall
Movie Music
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2018
A New View of the Moon
Movie Music
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2017
Hudební perličky Pavla Šporcla
TV show Original Music Composer
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2017
Pelléas et Mélisande - Wiener Staatsoper
Movie Original Music Composer
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2017
Debussy: Suite Bergamasque
Movie Original Music Composer
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2016
a reflection of one's mind
Movie Music
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2016
Pelléas et Mélisande - Opernhaus Zürich
Movie Original Music Composer
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2016
Santiago's Theorem
Movie Music
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2015
Pelleas et Melisande
Movie Writer
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2015
This is Opera
TV show Original Music Composer
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2015
Andrea Bacchetti in Concert
Movie Original Music Composer
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2015
Scandal! Alice Sara Ott and Francesco Tristano
Movie Music
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2014
Your Lie in April
TV show Music
