Debussy

His solfege teacher, Albert Lavignac wrote of him in 1876 "Perfect in sight-reading and diction; still feckless in theory, although he knows it well enough."" "This last phrase suggests that [Debussy] was not in agreement, or no longer in agreement, with the way the course was taught and that his instincts caused him to glimpse an unexplored path and leave behind the routine exercises of that creaking fortress, the Conservatoire- (Dietcschy 24). .
             The 19th century marked the beginning of a new era for the arts. Romanticism was still widely accepted, but artists like Monet, poets like Bourget and composers like Debussy had new ideas about how to express themselves. Paintings with tremendous detail, poetry merely about nationalism or for religious purposes and strict or "unmusical- music no longer satisfied these rebels. Debussy wrote in 1886 to his benefactor M. Vasnier of Wagner's aggressively nationalistic music, " there is no precedent so I am obliged to invent new forms. I could turn to Wagner, but I don't need to explain to you the folly of such an attempt- (Lesure 13). There was a strong desire of the French to turn away from the German nationalism and harshness associated with their arts, and to create a more languid and emotional expression of their own. Debussy looked at artists like Monet, Manet and Whistler for his own musical ideas about Impressionism (Knopf 81). They created art that looked less like a photograph and more like a quick glance. They utilized light and focused more on how it played upon an object and less upon the object, using different tints and shades to create a dreamy vagueness.
             During this time period, Debussy began to read and choose favorite poets, whom he would use throughout his composing career (Cobb 178). Among them were Bourget, Poe and Musset. On one visit to Fiumicino, Italy in 1885, he wrote "Primoli was in Paris and let me have his villa, which is quite delightful, like the descriptions Bourget gives of his favourite cottages' - (Lesure 11).