Today is Claude Debussy's birthday. He was born August 22, 1862, and died March 25, 1918.
Debussy is arguably the most influential composer France has yet produced and ranks among the most important composers, period.
A lush, languorous wistfulness pervades his Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune; Claire de lune is likely his best-known composition (Victor Borge's translation into English - "Clear the Saloon" - isn't quite right). My favorite performance, by Leon Fleisher, is an act of heroism, as Fleisher's biography will attest.
Even in a landlocked desert, La Mer, which rolls on the air in a vast tide of sound, incites us to taste and smell the sea; the strings glisten, as if drenched. No small feat.
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