Composer Claude Achille Debussy was born on August 22, 1862, in the Yvelines department of France. He died on March 25, 1918.
He was the eldest of five children, born to his father, Manuel, who ran a ceramics shop, and his mother, Victorine, a seamstress. As a child, Debussy led a life unrelated to music, as his family's ceramics shop struggled financially.
In 1870, he evacuated to Cannes in the south of France to escape the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune. There, he met Italian violinist Jean Cerutti and learned piano from him. This was his first exposure to music, and it left a lasting impression on him, becoming a source of inspiration for his later works. The following year, Debussy's father, Manuel, a member of the Paris Commune, was arrested and imprisoned, plunging the family into the depths of tragedy. However, this event would later prove to be a turning point that would dramatically change Debussy's life. While in prison, Manuel met a young pianist named Charles de Sivry and received piano lessons from his mother, Madame Marie-Motet de Fleurville, who was rumored to have been a pupil of Chopin. She recognized Debussy's talent and tutored him personally. His piano skills improved rapidly, and on October 22, 1872, at the young age of 10, he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Debussy was one of only 33 students accepted. He enrolled in the piano department with the intention of becoming a pianist. On January 29, 1873, he performed Johann Sebastian Bach's "Toccata BWV 915," which was praised for his "attractive talent." This boosted his confidence and led him to pursue a career as a pianist. However, despite achieving good results in school competitions, he ultimately failed to win first prize, and he quickly abandoned his dream of becoming a pianist. Meanwhile, he also began composing, composing Debussy's earliest known work, "Fugue (without L number)," in 1878. In July 1880, at the age of 18, Debussy met Madame von Meck, a Russian patron of Tchaikovsky, and accompanied her on a trip as a pianist. This experience gave him the opportunity to experience the latest compositions of the time, including those by Tchaikovsky. He also competed for the prestigious Prix de Rome, winning the Grand Prize in 1984 for his cantata "The Prodigal Son (L. 57)." He studied in Rome for two years. However, at the time, he was infatuated with his mistress, Marie-Blanche Vanier, and immediately returned to Paris upon completion. He dedicated 27 of the 40 songs he wrote during this period to her, selecting 13 of them to compose the "Vanier Songs." In 1989, at the age of 27, Debussy joined the Société National de Musique. There, he met composer Ernest Chausson and others, solidifying his own career as a composer. He also composed the piano pieces "Double Arabesques" and "Suite Bergamasque." Later, in 1994, he composed his masterpiece, "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," inspired by the poet Stephane Mallarme's "Afternoon of a Faun." In the 1900s, he produced a succession of masterpieces, including the orchestral piece "Nocturnes," the piano piece "Prints," and the opera "Pelléas et Mélisande." Pelléas et Mélisande was a great success, and he was awarded the Légion d'honneur (fifth class) the year after its premiere. While continuing his composing career, Debussy also eloped with Emma Bardac, a wealthy banker's wife. They traveled together to Jersey, where he composed "L'Isle Joyeuse," expressing the sweet joy of love. Their daughter, Claude Emma, was born. Around this time, he released the piano collections "Images 1 & 2" and the piano suite for Emma, "Children's Corner." This was followed by the masterpiece "Preludes 1 & 2," which left its mark on the history of the modern piano. In 1914, around the start of World War I, Debussy was diagnosed with colon cancer. While battling illness, he produced piano pieces such as "12 Etudes," a collection of pieces deliberately without fingering, as well as "In Black and White" for two pianos and the "Cello Sonata." However, in early 2018, he finally became bedridden and passed away peacefully on the evening of March 25th. His opera adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher," which he had begun in 2016, was left unfinished. Two pianists who have beautifully preserved his piano masterpieces for future generations are French pianist Samson François and Italian pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. François, an old-fashioned artist with a penchant for alcohol and tobacco, delivered his own unique Debussy renditions with a distinctively French flair and a dry sound that only he could produce. Meanwhile, Michelangeli, renowned for his perfectionism, constructed Debussy's grand cathedrals with unparalleled precision and restraint. His performances of the Footage 1 and 2 and Preludes 1 and 2, combined with digital recording, produce exquisite, jewel-like sounds. Furthermore, his fine adjustments to keyboard touch and pedaling enhance Debussy's rich, fragrant acoustic world.

Debussy was an avid collector of Japanese art. His home was decorated with Buddhist statues and ukiyo-e prints by Kitagawa Utamaro, and he insisted on Japanese-made items for his personal belongings. The cover of his symphonic poem "The Sea," a representative example of Impressionist music, featured Katsushika Hokusai's "Behind the Waves Off Kanagawa."

In 2012, a variety of concerts and events were planned across Japan to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth. In Kyobashi, Tokyo, the exhibition "Debussy, Music and Art: Between Impressionism and Symbolism," jointly organized with the Musee d'Orsay and the Musee de l'Orangerie, was held. Approximately 40 pieces by Impressionists and Symbolists, including Monet and Renoir, were brought to Japan. Debussy is a composer who has had a profound influence on artists in painting, literature, and Japanese art, and continues to be revered by people all over the world.