Artist
Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy appears 3 times in our Impressionism list, placing as high as No. 1. Hand-curated, with a reason for every pick.
- Ranked entries
- 3
- Appears on
- Impressionism
- Years
- 1894–1905
- Highest placing
- No. 1 in Impressionism
- Updated
- 2026-08-30
Appears on
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
1894
Ranked No. 1 in Impressionism
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.
La Mer
1905
Ranked No. 4 in Impressionism
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.
Clair de lune
1905
Ranked No. 7 in Impressionism
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.