Chapter 17 - Music Education and the Prix de Rome

Summary

This chapter explores the few opportunities for the education of a budding musician in Debussy’s France. These were primarily private teachers, especially piano teachers, and admission to the Paris Conservatoire (or regional conservatoires). The ultimate prize for the aspiring composer was the Prix de Rome, which could be crucial to the advancement of compositional careers. Debussy’s early education with a private piano teacher, Antoinette Mauté de Fleurville, was critical for his later development; indeed, he praised her playing and supported the claim that she was a pupil of Chopin. He went on to spend a decade at the Paris Conservatoire, where in many ways he trod water, at least until his success in the Prix de Rome. Even then, however, the winning of the coveted prize failed to launch his career in the way it helped others.