Musical prodigal son
In paris, the "capital of art" in the 19th century,
All kinds of artistic trends are more active than ever,
A new school of art, Impressionism, emerged.
In the field of painting, many Impressionists emerged,
Monet, Renoir, Manet, Van Gogh stars shine,
Their works depict ordinary things in life,
It is full of nature's ever-changing lights and colors.
Van Gogh / Sunflower Monet / Impressions • Sunrise
And in the field of music in France at that time,
There was also a master of Impressionism,
He was Debussy.
What is the loneliness, and it is self-defeating.
Lonely
Debussy was born on August 22, 1862, on the outskirts of Paris, France, to a family that was not prominent and had nothing to do with music, but Debussy had a soft spot for music. After the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, they moved their family to their aunt's house in Cannes. His aunt discovered Debussy's musical talent and not only hired him as a piano teacher, but also sent him to the Conservatoire de Paris in 1873 to study.
In bustling Paris, the young Debussy is like a small goldfish thrown into the ocean, he is lonely and introverted, has no friends, is poor and depressed, and sends people under the fence, fortunately the family who stayed is very kind to him. At school, he spent a lot of time studying various timbre combinations, playing strings of strange chords, and was blamed by his teachers for this.
Debussy had an extremely sensitive sense of hearing and was always committed to the search for a new musical language and style with a strong desire to break the mold. He believed that every sound had a color, and when combined, the music would rush to the shore like waves. In 1884, the 22-year-old Debussy won the Rome Music Competition with a song "The Prodigal Son" and was given the opportunity to go to Rome for free, but he did not like life in Rome, where the rigid atmosphere made him breathless.
In 1889, Debussy returned to Paris again, empty-handed and accomplishing nothing, becoming the loneliest and most superfluous person in Paris. Fortunately, a seamstress took in Debussy, who fell in love with him, protected him, and gave him a simple place to live. Debussy was not interested in making friends with musicians at this time, but had a close personal relationship with poets, who talked about the ever-changing scenes and moods in poetry, and appreciated the bright light and shadow of Impressionist paintings, which had a subtle influence on his creation.
Thousands of waters, blowing away the wild sand.
Gold will shine everywhere
In his first year back in Paris, Debussy composed the Arabian Style Song, which featured a five-voice scale. This is a fixed category in classical music, which has nothing to do with Arabia, but the work still hides a gorgeous harmony with a very oriental atmosphere, and the large number of sliding triplets is like a mountain spring that beats and flows in the mountains, ethereal and clear.
The following year, Debussy composed a more oriental set of Bergamo Suite, of which the third song, Moonlight, was cool and quiet, and was particularly popular. The moonlight flows like a poem between the galaxies, permeated with a merciless chill, quite a lonely mood of "the sea rises and the moon rises". But he himself was not satisfied with this set of pieces, and it was repeatedly revised until 1905, when it was finally published.
During this period, Debussy also composed the orchestral song "Pastoral Afternoon Prelude" for the poetry of his friend Marame, and on the sunny afternoon, the Shepherd was confused into the unknown dream, and the happy mood drifted little by little, gradually blending the whole forest. The complex and delicate harmonies and exotic melodies make this orchestraile music like a long poem with a hazy mood.
These works finally brought glory and applause to Debussy, and the entire music scene was shaken. His music does not have the rigorous structure of classicism and the rich emotions of romanticism, only hazy fantasies and erratic melodies, which are very much in line with the style of Impressionism. As a result, Debussy was labeled "Impressionist", although he himself did not like it very much.
An elegy for the dead soul.
Just when Debussy's fame was rising and the spring breeze was triumphant, in 1905, Lily, the famous Parisian dancer who was ruthlessly abandoned by him, committed suicide by drinking a bullet, which caused a sensation in the entire literary circle. The seamstresses who had accompanied him and protected him before also tried to shoot himself after being abandoned by him, but fortunately did not die. People criticized this ruthless prodigal son, and many years of friends broke with him.
In order to escape the social unrest, Debussy had to take the new wife, the banker's wife Emma, to England to take shelter, and Emma was already pregnant with Debussy's child. After the birth of their daughter Xiuxiu, Debussy and Emma officially married, but life after marriage is not the pastoral they imagined, and Emma becomes more and more hysterical in the daily quarrels. So Debussy gave xiu xiu all his love.
Debussy often plays the piano to make Xiu Xiu happy, which is the softest corner of his heart; Debussy also takes Xiu Xiu to his favorite beach to play, and composes a piano solo song "The Girl with Flax Hair" for her.
The musical prodigal son who has been wandering all his life has finally found the ultimate peace of mind in his daughter. But the god of fate suddenly withdrew all his favors: in 1910, Debussy was diagnosed with cancer. In the last years of his life, his health deteriorated, but he continued to compose and perform. In 1918, debussy died amid the sound of German artillery attacks on Paris.
The following year, Diphtheria took Xiuxiu, who was only 14 years old, and she was buried next to her father, where she was buried in trees and birdsong ever since.
"Music is the art of freedom that is impassioned, the art of the outdoors,
Boundless like nature, like the wind, like the sky, like the ocean.
Music must not be shut in the house and become academic art. ”
Debussy incorporates his feelings about life into the notes and leaves them to us.