Debussy's Late Style.

Debussy's Late Style. * Debussy's Late Style, by Marianne Wheeldon. IndianaUniversity Press, 2009. www.iupress.indiana.edu; (800) 842-6796; 184pp.$34.95. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Did you know that Debussy wrote both words and music for a song,very popular in wartime France, about the struggles of orphans duringthe First World War? The song, Noel des enfants qui n'ont plus demaison (Noel for children who no longer have a home), was smuggled intoBelgium during the war, hidden among manuscripts of German music. Or didyou know that his last composition for piano, Les soirs illumines parl'ardeur du charbon (Evenings lit by the burning coals), written inMay 1917, was a girl to the man who supplied him with coal? BecauseDebussy had no money and no coal to heat his home during that winter, hewrote the composition and convinced the coal supplier to accept it aspayment. These are just two of the intriguing facts that Marianne Wheeldonpresents in her discussion of Debussy's late works, composedbetween 1914 and 1918. During those years Debussy was living through theGerman occupation of France and fighting his own battle against thecancer that eventually took his life. Wheeldon shows how his late worksreflect the political milieu of that time and also his concern for hisown legacy. The book is divided into five chapters. Chapter one focuses on theexternal circumstances surrounding Debussy's wartime compositions,and discusses which works suggest a wartime response and which show noevidence of wartime influence at all. The second chapter discusses those works that can be described asoccasional and, through complete analyses, examines how and if thatmusic addresses external events. Chapter three is a detailed analysis ofthe Debussy Etudes, their relationship to Chopin's Etudes, and theinfluence of Couperin in the music. In chapter four the author discussesand analyzes the three chamber sonatas, Debussy's concern for hisown French legacy, and Franck's influence on Debussy's music.The final chapter tells of how little posthumous attention was paid toDebussy's late works. A 1920 musical journal, La Revue Musicale,devoted an entire issue to Debussy, and included essays and compositionsby prominent Debussy contemporaries. The contributors made very littlemention of the late works and, according to Wheeldon, this may haveinfluenced later authors of studies and biographies to also neglectthem. The book has many musical illustrations that are helpful infollowing Wheeldon's in-depth musical analyses. Letters written toand by Debussy are translated in the text, but the original French isincluded in the extensive footnotes. A complete bibliography isincluded, showing the completeness of her research. This scholarly book,covering a period that has been neglected, is a wonderful addition tothe body of research of Debussy's music and style. --Reviewed byJanet Bass Smith, Bowling Green, Kentucky * The items marked with this symbol can be ordered via the MTNAwebsite through our affiliation with Amazon.com. Go to www.mma.org andchoose Member Services from the Membership option in the main menu barfor more information.