Chapter 29 - Performers and Performance

Summary

The separation of composer and performer that is now so common in musical performance was only slowly emerging in Debussy’s time. Debussy was a highly capable pianist and many might have and expected him to perform his music in. However, unlike most of his contemporaries, Debussy felt little inclination to perform, so there is a separation between his composing activities and the performance of his works. Singers played an intimate and important role in Debussy’s life, not just as executants of his music but also as lovers and for the last years of his life as his wife. His view of singers was telling, both in those he admired and those he disliked. Debussy also enjoyed close working relationships with a handful of instrumentalists and conductors some of whom came to consult with him or at least play for him. Discussion of Debussy’s attitude to performers reveals a composer who relied heavily on the innate musicality of his interpreters and who retained many aspects of the Romantic tradition in his approach to performance.