Book contents
- Debussy in Context
- Composers in Context
- Debussy in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Preface
- Notes on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Part I Paris: City, Politics, and Society
- Part II The Arts
- Part III People and Milieu
- Chapter 12 Debussy and the Family in Third-Republic France
- Chapter 13 Romantic Relationships
- Chapter 14 Relationships with Poets and Other Literary Figures
- Chapter 15 Publishers
- Chapter 16 Composers with Whom Debussy Was Associated
- Chapter 17 Music Education and the Prix de Rome
- Part IV Musical Life: Infrastructure and Earning a Living
- Part V The Music of Debussy’s Time
- Part VI Performers, Reception, and Posterity
- Recommendations for Further Reading and Research
- Index
Chapter 14 - Relationships with Poets and Other Literary Figures
from Part III - People and Milieu
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 May 2024
- Debussy in Context
- Composers in Context
- Debussy in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Preface
- Notes on the Text
- Abbreviations
- Part I Paris: City, Politics, and Society
- Part II The Arts
- Part III People and Milieu
- Chapter 12 Debussy and the Family in Third-Republic France
- Chapter 13 Romantic Relationships
- Chapter 14 Relationships with Poets and Other Literary Figures
- Chapter 15 Publishers
- Chapter 16 Composers with Whom Debussy Was Associated
- Chapter 17 Music Education and the Prix de Rome
- Part IV Musical Life: Infrastructure and Earning a Living
- Part V The Music of Debussy’s Time
- Part VI Performers, Reception, and Posterity
- Recommendations for Further Reading and Research
- Index
Summary
Paul Dukas believed that the strongest influence that Debussy came under was that of writers, not composers. Writers were also prominent in his friendship circles, and this chapter outlines the importance of these circles to Debussy’s musical development. So many French composers have been influenced by artists of all types at least as much as by their musical peers, and Debussy was no exception to this. Perhaps surprisingly for someone so personally reserved, his face-to-face encounters with writers were at least as important to him as the time he spent reading their books. But as a collaborator, he was far better at discussing projects than actually completing them: Debussy’s list of projected theatrical works is considerably longer than his list of achievements in this sphere. His personal connections with writers started with the odd coincidence that Debussy’s first piano teacher was Paul Verlaine’s mother-in-law, Antoinette Mauté de Fleurville; her daughter, Mathilde, and the poet lived under her roof when the nine-year-old Debussy studied with her.
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- Debussy in Context , pp. 135 - 142Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024