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Background:

• Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer, born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer and was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris. He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors.
• He took many years to develop his mature style, and was nearly 40 when he achieved international fame in 1902 with the only opera he completed, Pelléas et Mélisande. Five masterpieces by Debussy are listed below.
• String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (1893) is for two violins, viola and cello, where one theme transforms across all movements. This is Debussy’s only string quartet.
• Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, 1894) is a symphonic poem by Stephane Mallarme. It is considered the definitive beginning of modern 20th century music.
• Pelleas at Melisande (1902) is a five-act opera featuring dreamlike, understated vocal lines; Debussy’s only completed opera.
• La mer (The Sea, 1905) is an orchestral sketch in three movements, capturing the shifting moods, light, and motion of the ocean.
• Clair de lune (Moonlight, 1905) is a solo piano piece; the third movement of Debussy’s Suite bergamasque. It is a minimalist, atmospheric, and deeply emotional melody.

Recordings:

• Inferno: Czerny, Liszt, Debussy, Stravinsky, Brahms.
  Clair de lune.
  Behzod Abduraimov (piano).
  Alpha.
  Gramophone Magazine (2026): Editor’s Choice.
  Presto Recording of the Week (2026).

• Quatuors a cordes: Debussy, Dutilleux, Ravel.
  String Quartet in G minor Op. 10.
  Arcanto Quartett.
  Harmonia Mundi.
  Radio 3 Building a Library (2019): Recommended Recording.

• Debussy, Dutil String Quartet in G minor Op. 10leux, Ravel String Quartets.
  String Quartet in G minor Op. 10.
  Belcea Quartet.
  Warner Classics.
  Gramophone Magazine (2001): Winner Chamber.
  Radio 3 Building a Library (2004): First Choice.

• Reflections on Beauty: Bach, Liszt, Debussy, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Beethoven.
  Clair de lune.
  Gergely Boganyi (piano), Misi Boros (piano).
  Hunnia Records.

• Ravel, Debussy, Faure String Quartets.
  String Quartet in G minor Op. 10.
  Quatuor Ebene.
  Erato.
  Gramophone Magazine (2008): Editor’s Choice.
  BBC Music Magazine Awards (2009): Newcomer of the Year.
  Gramophone Awards (2009): recording of the Year.
  Gramophone Awards (2009): Winner Chamber.
  Presto Recording of the Week (2009).
  Radio 3 Building a Library (2009): First Choice.
  Radio 3 Building a Library (2019): Recommended.
  Radio 3 Building a Library (2020): recommended Recording.

• La mer, Iberia, Images Premier Livre, Six Epigraphes Antiques.
  Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg.
  Gustavo Gimeno.
  Pentatone.
  International Classical Music Awards (2019): Nominee Symphonic Music.

• French Classical Selections.
  La Mer II.
  Pelleas et Melisande, A Forest.
  Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.
  Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
  Gustavo Gimeno. Jonathan Nott.
  Pentatone.

• The Complete Works.
  Clair de lune.
  La Mer (for 2 pianos).
  La Mer (orchestral).
  Palleas et Melisande (opera).
  Pelleas et Melisande: Mes longs cheveux.
  Sidney Weiss (violin), Éric Tappy (tenor), Colette Alliot-Lugaz (soprano), Michel Brodard (bass), Rachel Yakar (soprano), Philippe Huttenlocher (baritone), Jocelyne Taillon (mezzo-soprano), François Loup (bass)
  Jean-Pierre Armengaud (piano), Olivier Chauzu (piano).
  Jean-Francois Heisser (piano), Georges Pludermacher (piano), Cecile Ousset (piano)..
  Claude Debussy (piano), Mary Garden (soprano).
  Philharmonia Orchestra.
  L’Orchestre National de l”Opera de Monte-Carlo.
  Carlo Maria Giulini.
  Armin Jordan.
  Warner Classics.
  Diapason d’Or de l’Annee (2018): Winner Archive.

• Trois Nocturnes, Jeux.
  La mer, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’lun faune.
  Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam.
  Bernard Haitink.
  Philips.

• ·La Mer, Le Martyre de saint Sebastien, Symphonic Fragments, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’lun faune.
  Philharmonia Orchestra.
  Pablo Heras-Casado.
  Harmonia Mundi.
  The Times Records of the Year (2018).

• Stravinsky Petrouchka, Debussy Jeux, Prelude a l’Apres-Midi d’un faune.
  Orchestre de Paris.
  Klaus Makela.
  Decca.
  BBC Music Magazine (2024): Orchestral Choice.
  Gramophone Magazine (2024): Editor’s Choice.

• Preludes du 2 Livre, La Mer (Transcribed by Debussy).
  Alexander Melnikov (piano), Olga Pashchenko (piano).
  Harmonia Mundi.
  BBC Music Magazine (2018): Instrumental Choice.
  Gramophone Magazine (2018): Editor’s Choice.
  Presto Editor’s Choice (2018).
  Presto Recordings of the Year (2018): Finalist.
  Radio 3 Record Review (2018): Recording of the Week.
  BBC Magazine Awards (2019): Finalist Instrumental.

• Prelude a l’apres-midi d’lun faune, Sonatas Pour Divers Instruments, String Quartet.
  String Quartet in G minor.
  The Nash Ensemble.
  Hyperion.
  BBC Music Magazine (2025): Chamber Choice.
  Gramophone Magazine (2025): Editor’s Choice.

• Debussy Pelleas & Melisande, Suite (arr. Jonathan Nott), Schoenberg Pelleas und Melisande.
  Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
  Jonathan Nott.
  Pentatone.
  Presto Recording of the Week( 2021).
  Presto Recordings of the Year (2021): Finalist.
  International Classical Music Awards (2023): Nominated Symphonic Music.

• Pelleas et Melisande.
  Magdalena Kozena, Christian Gerhaher, Gerald Finley, Bernarda Fink, Franz-Josef Selig, Elias Madler, Joshua Bloom.
  London Symphony Orchestra.
  Sir Simon Rattle.
  LSO.
  Gramophone Magazine (2017): Editor’s Choice.
  Presto Recording of the Week (2017).
  Presto Recordings of the Year (2017): Finalist.
  Gramophone Awards (2018): Finalist Opera.
  Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year (2018): Nominated Opera.
  Opus Klassik Awards (2018): Winner Opera Recording (20th/21st century).

• Jeux, Nocturnes, Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune.
  Les Siecles.
  Francois-Xavier Roth.
  Harmonia Mundi.
  Gramophone Magazine (2018): Editor’s Choice.
  Presto Recordings of the Year (2018): Winner.
  Radio 3 Record Review (2018): Disc of the Week.

• Pelleas et Melisande.
  Julien Behr, Vannina Santoni, Alexandre Duhamel, Marie-Ange Todorovitch, Jean Teitgen, Hadrien Joubert.
  Choeur de l’Opera de Lille.
  Les Siecles.
  Francois-Xavier Roth.
  Harmonia Mundi.
  Gramophone Magazine (2022): Critics’ Choice.
  Gramophone Awards (2022): Finalist Opera.
  Opera (2022): Disc of the Month.
  Presto Recording of the Week (2022).
  Presto Recordings of the Year - Clair de lune (2022): Finalist.
  The Guardian Classical Albums of the Year (2022).
  BBC Music Magazine Awards (2023): Nominated Opera.
  International Classical Music Awards (2023): Winner Opera.

• Oiseaux tristes: Couperin, Debussy, Ravel.
  Clair de lune.
  Fazil Say (piano).
  Warner Classics.
  Opus Klassik Awards (2025): Solo Instrumental.

About Coram Deo

Coram Deo — before the face of God. This blog reflects on Scripture, world events, science, music, psychology, and the human mind — always through the lens of Christian faith. All of life is lived before the face of God.