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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Kate Molleson

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Composer of the Week: Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Episode 1: Debussy and His Premier Trio

Music: Classical: Chamber & Recital

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Episode 1

Episode 1: Debussy and His Premier Trio

Debussy and His Premier Trio

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Claude Debussy (1862-1918), Debussy and His Premier Trio

Donald Macleod focuses on Debussy's entering the Paris Conservatoire.

Donald Macleod focuses on Debussy's entering the Paris Conservatoire, where reactions to his exceptional talent at the piano were not always positive.

He had a profound impact upon music and musicians in his day, and created new genres for the piano and orchestra, this week Donald Macleod explores Claude Debussy through his chamber music.

Debussy composed many lush and impressionistic scores, including La Mer and Iberia. We remember him today largely for his orchestral or solo piano music where he developed many new genres. This week, Donald Macleod will be exploring a less celebrated, but important, area of Debussy's output, his chamber works. Chamber music spans Debussy's entire musical career, including a Piano Trio composed in 1880, a String Quartet, examination pieces for clarinet and piano, and a number of sonatas for various instruments. Towards the end of his life, chamber music remained uppermost in his mind and Debussy planned to compose a further six sonatas, including works for wind instruments, and a second string quartet. With his death in 1918, he was never able to fully complete his plans.

As a student at the Paris Conservatoire, Debussy composed many works, including Danse bohémienne for solo piano, and his song, Madrid, a setting of Alfred de Musset evoking the "white city of serenades . Debussy studied piano at the Conservatoire but, although his exceptional talent was recognised, reactions to his playing weren't always positive; one person commented that "this budding Mozart is a regular devil".

Whilst a student, Debussy also worked as a pianist to earn money. He played the piano for Madame von Meck and accompanied her and her family on a tour across Europe. Debussy gave her children music lessons and also hoped to impress his employer by composing his Symphony for piano duet, which he never orchestrated. It was during this period that Debussy also composed his first significant chamber work, the Premier Trio in G major.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the chamber music of Claude Debussy

Donald Macleod explores a less celebrated, but important, area of Debussy's output - his chamber works

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Composer of the Week

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Episode 1: Debussy and His Premier Trio

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