{
  "slug": "claude-debussy",
  "name": "Claude Debussy",
  "description": "Claude Debussy appears 3 times in our Impressionism list, placing as high as No. 1. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.",
  "updated": "2026-08-30",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/claude-debussy/",
  "appearanceCount": 3,
  "distinctRecordings": 3,
  "years": {
    "first": 1894,
    "last": 1905
  },
  "highestPlacing": {
    "rank": 1,
    "list": "Impressionism"
  },
  "appearsOn": [
    {
      "kind": "genre",
      "slug": "impressionism",
      "name": "Impressionism",
      "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/impressionism/",
      "entries": 3
    }
  ],
  "tracks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "claude-debussy--prelude-a-lapres-midi-dun-faune",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/claude-debussy--prelude-a-lapres-midi-dun-faune/",
      "title": "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune",
      "year": 1894,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "A flute alone, drifting down a tritone with no key and no pulse to speak of. Boulez said modern music begins here, and for once that kind of claim is easy to defend.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Claude%20Debussy%20Pr%C3%A9lude%20%C3%A0%20l'apr%C3%A8s-midi%20d'un%20faune",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=bYyK922PsUw",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 1,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "impressionism",
        "name": "Impressionism",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/impressionism/"
      },
      "artist": "Claude Debussy"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "claude-debussy--la-mer",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/claude-debussy--la-mer/",
      "title": "La Mer",
      "year": 1905,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Three sketches rather than movements, orchestrated so that no section ever quite holds the foreground. Debussy hated being called an impressionist, and then wrote this.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Claude%20Debussy%20La%20Mer",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FOCucJw7iT8",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 4,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "impressionism",
        "name": "Impressionism",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/impressionism/"
      },
      "artist": "Claude Debussy"
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "claude-debussy--clair-de-lune",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/claude-debussy--clair-de-lune/",
      "title": "Clair de lune",
      "year": 1905,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The most-played piano piece of the century, and the reason a great many people found their way to any of the rest of this. Sentimental only if you play it that way.",
      "alsoOn": [],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Claude%20Debussy%20Clair%20de%20lune",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=WNcsUNKlAKw",
          "exact": true
        }
      },
      "rank": 7,
      "on": {
        "kind": "genre",
        "slug": "impressionism",
        "name": "Impressionism",
        "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/impressionism/"
      },
      "artist": "Claude Debussy"
    }
  ],
  "curates": null
}