“Debussy on Music” translated by Richard Langham Smith

This is the last of the books that I picked up at the used bookstore. Debussy has been a favorite composer of mine for ages, in part because he was critical for introducing impressionism into the world of classical music. We take it for granted now, but the idea of dismissing many rules of harmony in favor of evoking a certain mood or experience was novel and controversial during his time.

As a result, a book compiling his thoughts on contemporary music during his time is pretty invaluable. His opinions on other composers of his time, as well as classic composers, come to the fore. He wrote a regular column in a couple of newspapers speaking about concerts happening in Paris, which are all collected here along with some essays and interviews. It’s a comprehensive look at his writings and at the music of France at the time.

What I found most fascinating was the figure of Monsieur Croche. This is a man that Debussy invents in order to express some of his more controversial opinions. Croche is a fascinating character, kind of a ornery old man type, but interestingly enough is discussed heavily in this collection while we never quite get a good glimpse of the man. I think in the introduction it is mentioned that the bulk of Debussy’s writings with Croche are collected elsewhere, the point of this is Debussy’s writings attributed to himself, but it would have been nice to see more about him.

What is insanely hilarious is reading Debussy insult Wagner and his followers over and over again. Apparently Debussy finds the leitmotiv tedious and restricting since every character is constantly followed around by their own melody. He is more in favor of flexibility and expression of the music accompanying certain characters. And he never fails to bring this up whenever a concert of Wagner is being put on in Paris, it’s great.

In general, the collection itself is very well organized. There is an index of minor characters so that the reader does not have to look up every single composer or performer that Debussy discusses. Most of them have largely fallen out of the public eye by now, so it’s great to have an explanation of who he is talking about. The writings are also broken up into chunks based on the publication that Debussy is writing for. Each section also has an introduction discussing the purpose of the publication and other aspects of note. For example, Debussy wrote a column in parallel with another music column, this one being written by a young girl. The editors make sure to include relevant points from her column in their discussions and notes on Debussy’s writings. The result is that we get a well-rounded image of the society and atmosphere that these works were being published in, instead of exclusively what Debussy stuck on the page with no context.

Overall I would call this an excellent and fascinating collection into the mind of a musical great. Reading these works gives you an image of his world and his thoughts all surrounding music.