![]() He was engaged in 1894 to the singer Thérèse Roger, but the engagement was broken off in a way that cost Debussy his friendship with Chausson. He also became close friends with Ernest Chausson, a noted composer of French art songs. In a famous quote, Debussy remarked that Wagner was “a beautiful sunset that was mistaken for a dawn.” Indeed, many French composers of the time were searching for new direction contrary to the heavy Germanic influence of Wagner. Despite his admiration of Wagner, Debussy took a different path with his music. His admiration of Richard Wagner, in particular the opera Tristan and Isolde, led him to visit Bayreuth. He lived in poor circumstances after his return to France. He stayed in Italy, unhappily, for the two-year minimum period required and then returned to Paris where he remained for rest of his life. The prize required him to take up temporary residence in Italy. Then he entered the composition class of Ernest Guiraud and won first place in the prestigious competition known as Prix de Rome in 1883 with his cantata L’enfant prodigue. He developed into a serious virtuoso performer but gave up hopes of a performing career in 1879 when he failed to advance in the piano examination. ![]() In 1872, Debussy’s prodigious abilities on the piano earned him entry into the Paris Conservatory. Caught up in the revolutionary sentiments of the time, his father was imprisoned for revolutionary activities in 1871.ĭebussy studied piano with Mme Mauté, the mother-in-law of the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine. His parents ran a china shop Later, his father later a traveling salesman and clerk while his mother worked as a seamstress. Germain-en-Laye on the outskirts of Paris.
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