Pelléas et Mélisande as symbolist opera

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) has more often than not been labelled an Impressionist, implying that his music parallels the art of the Impressionist painters; this is because in his work musical colour takes precedence over form and design (Jarocinski, 1976: 11). However, it has been documented that Pelléas et Mélisande is considered to be the masterpiece of French Symbolism (Lesure, 2001). This is the only opera that Debussy completed during his lifetime, and in it he succeeded in combining words and music in a way he could realise his musical ideals.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

College of Music

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Spies, Maria Margaretha

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• May, James

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8250

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8250