Robert Elston

Music Analysis

Dr. Hesterman

Major National and World Events During Debussy’s Lifetime

From 1862-1918 many things occurred in the world, and the nation that are incredibly significant from a historic sense. The most important of these events is the Impressionistic movement in France.

During the 1860’s and 1870’s artists like Monet, and Cezanne were deep into the impressionist movement. This was an incredibly important movement since it is the style that Debussy is known for. This style revolved around creating the general image of a scene or idea rather than its exact depiction. Impressionism can also be seen in the works of other composers such as Liszt, Chopin, Wagner, Mahler, Strauss, Chabrier, and Chausson. There are several other composers that came after Debussy that are said to have used impressionistic characteristics. These composers include Ravel, Bartok, Messian, Ligeti, and Crumb.

Aside from the impressionistic movement several world fairs took place all over the world. In 1893 the worlds fair was in Chicago, then Paris worlds 1900, and St. Louis in 1904.

Around this time the first World Series took place. The year was 1903, and it was Boston vs. Pittsburgh. Boston was from the American League, and Pittsburgh from the National League.

Other significant events in the United States during this time period include the civil. The civil war began due to the abolition of slavery disagreement between the Northern, and Southern states. The war occurred from 1861-1865, and President Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, thus freeing all slaves.

In 1912 the United States was once again at war, but this time the U.S. was involved in World War I. This war only lasted for roughly a year, and was less of a drain on the U.S.

There were many events that occurred throughout the world during Debussy’s time and these are just a few. The most significant of these is the impressionistic movement.