He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born to a family of modest means and little cultural involvement, Debussy showed enough musical talent to be admitted at the age of ten to France's leading music college, the Conservatoire de Paris.
He originally studied the piano, but found his vocation in innovative composition, despite the disapproval of the Conservatoire's conservative professors. His music was to a considerable extent a reaction against Wagner and the German musical tradition.
He regarded the classical symphony as obsolete and sought an alternative in his "symphonic sketches", La mer β He was greatly influenced by the Symbolist poetic movement of the later 19th century.
In his final years, he focused on chamber music, completing three of six planned sonatas for different combinations of instruments. With early influences including Russian and Far Eastern music and works by Chopin , Debussy developed his own style of harmony and orchestral colouring, derided β and unsuccessfully resisted β by much of the musical establishment of the day.
Debussy died from cancer at his home in Paris at the age of 55 after a composing career of a little more than 30 years. Debussy senior ran a china shop and his wife was a seamstress. Manuel worked in a printing factory.
