Talk:Claude Debussy

With respect to the recent revert
I believe that the article placed rather undue weight to Taruskin's 2010 interpretation that Debussy was anti-Semitic. It doesn't make it clear that other authors disagree with his view. As I added with a source, Rosen clearly thought otherwise in 2012, proposing an interpretation of the Dukas comment as anti-Wagnerism, and cites one of the editors of Debussy's collected letters for a statement that he was not anti-Semitic.

Marie Rolf's recent 2024 article in The Musical Quarterly, which I searched after this revert (so, I suppose, thanks for prompting me to look up what's most recently been written) puts things in greater context. She notes that There is little hint of any religious conviction or genuine political opinion held by Debussy, and that he was silent during the Dreyfus affair. On the other side, she also notes that no doubt, he occasionally let slip traces of the anti-Semitism that was more or less deep-rooted and rather widespread at the time, quoting a joke he made to Henry Lerolle. So it's not at all clear that his anti-Semitism extended beyond jokes or was beyond the usual standards of the time, as was for example true of Balakirev; and it's not at all clear that the comment he made about Dukas was anti-Semitic (Taruskin's interpretation) so much as anti-Wagnerian / anti-German (Rosen's interpretation).

There's also a scholarly dispute about Chopin's views about Jews, which the Chopin FA is incidentally completely silent about. But better that than only presenting one side, I feel. Double sharp (talk) 16:50, 14 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Since this might've been lost in your watchlist after the bot did its archiving. Double sharp (talk) 15:08, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
 * You have convinced me, at any rate. I have briefly checked biographies of Debussy by Abravanel, Barraqué, Koechlin, Laloy, Lederer, Lockspeiser, Nichols, Suarès and Vallas and found nothing about any antisemitism on Debussy's part. I hope others will express a view here. Meanwhile I suggest you leave the text as it is pending comments here from others. If there are none I'd vote for restoring your addition – though without the WP:CITEVAR violation please.   Tim riley  talk   16:01, 16 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Double sharp, I'd say ample time has elapsed for other editors to add their comments, and in the absence of any I suggest you restore your addition (with the citation style of the rest of the article, please.)  Tim riley  talk   10:46, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I'm currently away, but will do it in a week when I'm back. Double sharp (talk) 13:33, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * No rush. I'll do it myself if I have time.  Tim riley  talk   13:49, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
 * And now done.  Tim riley  talk   14:17, 24 April 2024 (UTC)

Debussy and Spain
I've been reading and hearing all my adult life how Debussy wrote some exquisitely Spanish-sounding music despite having never visited Spain, except for one very brief trip to San Sebastián in connection with a bullfight. (The details escape me.) San Sebastián is on the far west of the French-Spanish border. I've always taken that as gospel, but I've just been reading Patrice Chaplin's memoir The Portal (2010), in which she mentions numerous times Debussy's frequent visits to Girona, in the far north-eastern part of Spain. Not too far from the French border, but decidedly further into Spanish territory than San Sebastián.

Can this be verified, or debunked? -- Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  01:51, 24 May 2024 (UTC)


 * Thanks to the Internet Archive I have checked in biographies of Debussy by Jean Barraqué, Roderic Dunnett, Charles Koechlin, Louise Liebich, Edward Lockspeiser, Roger Nichols, Leonid Sabaneyev, André Suarès and Percy Young and also The Cambridge Companion to Debussy and there is not a single mention of Girona in any of them. Granted, that doesn't prove Chaplin's statement wrong but if Debussy had made "frequent visits" to Girona one might expect at least one of these biographers to have mentioned them. I don't know if it is any indication of Chaplin's general accuracy, but her own website sometimes spells the name of the city as "Gerona" and sometimes as "Girona". –  Tim riley  talk   07:08, 24 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, Girona-Gerona. Not to mention Salvidor [sic] Dali. Thanks for your research, Tim. -- Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  00:24, 26 May 2024 (UTC)