'Achilles' the rascal
Donald Macleod explores Debussy鈥檚 wayward youth, as the rebellious streak he adopted from his father leads to habits which will last a lifetime.
Donald Macleod explores Debussy鈥檚 wayward youth, as the rebellious streak he adopted from his father leads to habits which will last a lifetime.
In the music of Claude Debussy there have been said to run dangerous and destructive currents. His radical works did forge a path which would redefine music in the 20th century, but his beautiful music runs contrary to his shocking personal life. The Scottish soprano Mary Garden said of him, 鈥淚 honestly don鈥檛 know if he ever loved anybody really. He loved his music 鈥� and perhaps himself.鈥� The lies and duplicity, deception and debt left other unfortunate people in their wake, with Debussy unrepentant throughout. In the aftermath of these scandals, Debussy was disowned by his friends, and by most of Parisian society, but the notoriety he gained only seemed to heighten his appeal with audiences. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod tracks the scandalous life of Achille-Claude Debussy and tries to reconcile his appalling behaviour with his transcendent music.
Today we find Debussy breaking all the rules at the Paris Conservatoire, where his music was decried as 鈥渂izarre, incomprehensible and unperformable.鈥� We also follow the young Debussy as he spreads a trail of lies on his journeys across Europe. Donald tracks the rebellious streak present in Debussy鈥檚 own father, and learns how Debussy adopted a precarious financial existence, beginning a habit of borrowing money he couldn鈥檛 repay. Donald also tracks Debussy鈥檚 first real relationship of note, with an older, married woman. However, none of this scandalous behaviour stops the young composer from winning the Prix de Rome 鈥� a prize Debussy wasn鈥檛 at all pleased to win!
Suite Bergamasque 鈥� III. Claire de Lune
Samson Fran莽ois, piano
La Mer 鈥� II. Jeux de vagues
Philharmonia Orchestra
Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor
Ariettes Oubliee 鈥� No 5, Aquarelles I. Green
Sabine Devieilhe, soprano
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Images for Orchestra: II. Iberia
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Bernard Haitink, conductor
M茅lodies de Jeunesse - III. Les Papillons
Sandrine Piau, soprano
Jos van Immerseel, fortepiano
Recueil Vasnier, L 53: Romance 鈥� Silence ineffable
Veronique Dietschy, soprano
Emmanuel Strosser, piano
Printemps 鈥� II. Modere
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Vassily Petrenko, conductor
Produced by Sam Phillips for 主播大秀 Audio Wales and West
Last on
More episodes
Previous
You are at the first episode
Music Played
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
Suite Bergamasque (Clair de Lune)
Performer: Alice Sara Ott.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON : 4835187.
- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
- 1.
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
La Mer (No 2, Jeux de vagues)
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Pablo Heras鈥怌asado.- Harmonia Mundi : HMM902310.
- Harmonia Mundi.
- 7.
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
Ariettes Oubliees (No 5, Green)
Performer: Alexandre Tharaud. Singer: Sabine Devieilhe.- WARNER CLASSICS : 9029522427.
- WARNER CLASSICS.
- 26.
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
Iberia
Orchestra: Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.- PHILIPS : 464-697-2.
- PHILIPS.
- 8.
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
Les Papillons
Performer: Jos van Immerseel. Singer: Sandrine Piau.- DEBUSSY: Romance; almes dans le demi-jour - from Melodies de jeunesse.
- NAIVE RECORDS.
- 3.
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
Romance (Silence Ineffable)
Performer: Emmanuel Strosser. Singer: V茅ronique Dietschy.- ADES : 4722552.
- ADES.
- 6.
-
![]()
Claude Debussy
Le Printemps (Modere)
Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.- ONYX : ONYX-4182.
- ONYX.
- 2.
Broadcast
- Mon 29 Apr 2024 16:00主播大秀 Radio 3
Vaughan Williams Today
Programmes, concerts and features celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary.
Beethoven Unleashed 鈥� the box set
The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems
Composers A to Z
Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod鈥檚 best stories from the last 20 years
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time 鈥� why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.