This is a thorough review of Claude Debussy's later works (1914-18), which today's performers and audiences often overlook. In examining these pieces, Wheeldon (Univ. of Texas, Austin) draws from many resources, including writings by Debussy himself and by various critics and composers (both contemporaneous and later). She reveals how recognition of his own mortality and of the cultural and political crisis in France during this period, i.e., WW I, affected Debussy's musical intentions. The author's background in music theory is evident in her insightful analyses of several compositions, e.g., Debussy's later piano études and chamber music song cycles. She provides music notation and helpful tables and figures explaining the basic elements of the music. Chapter conclusions offer clear summaries of the author's perspective. Readers with a sincere interest in Debussy and his music will most appreciate this study, but even moderate enthusiasts will find Wheeldon's prose easy to read and clearly organized. The book includes a few photographs and extensive endnotes but unfortunately no discography or recording recommendations. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
A. C. Shahriari
Choice
Marianne Wheeldon's recently relased IU Press book Debussy's Late Style explores composer Claude Debussy's musical responses to World War I. This period of compositions encompasses the duration of the war and the last four years of Debussy's life. The pieces from this time reflect wartime events and the composer's self-conscious desire to define his own musical legacy as he felt his life nearing its end. Debussy's complete wartime compositions comprise a small but significant body of works, some little known and some now acknowledged as among the masterpieces of his career. These include the Berceuse héroïque, En Blanc et noir, the Douze Études, the "Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons," and three instrumental sonatas (the Cello Sonata; the Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp; and the Violin Sonata). Through music analysis, musicology and cultural history, Wheeldon offers interpretive readings of Debussy's late works, focusing on how they reflect the unique cultural milieu of wartime Paris. Wheeldon is an associate professor of music theory at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include the late works of Claude Debussy, musical culture in fin-de-siècle Paris and Schenkerian analysis.
Steve Hinnefeld
IU News Room, Book Marks
This is a thorough review of Claude Debussy's later works . . . Wheeldon's prose [is] easy to read and clearly organized.May 2009
Choice
Debussy's Late Style is truly multidimensional as it successfully maps the semiotic goals and cultural terrain of Debussy's final works. . . . Wheeldon's study is compelling in the way that it assesses Debussy's negotiation of his historical and political moment with an acute awareness of historical context, structural strategy, and intertextual correspondences. Her book should open up new avenues of inquiry into the representational goals of Debussy's music and the continuous transformation of his postwar reputation.
Twentieth-Century Music
The overarching lesson of Debussy's Late Style is that today, especially, we should be delighted but certainly not puzzled by the rich variety of Debussy's invention during his last years. 66.2 Dec. 2009
Notes
Debussy's Late Style reads very easily, with elegant turns of phrase, clearly explained analyses, and generous use of examples. Readers will discover many insights that draw instructive parallels among the late works and lines of influence within them . . . all of which open new windows to comprehending Debussy's late style. Although, when all is said, these works remain atypical of the composer (at least to some degree), Marianne Wheeldon's book not only shows us why but gives us new ways to understand and appreciate them.
Music Reference Services Quarterly