Nocturnes (Debussy)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"One of the earliest examples of crossover music is the music of French composer Claude Debussy. In 1889 the French government staged the great Paris Exposition, an event that was to have profound effects on many areas of western art and music. Debussy visited the exposition and it was here that he first heard gamelan music performed by Sundanese musicians. He was transfixed by the hypnotic, layered sound of the gamelan orchestra and reportedly returned to the Dutch East Indies pavilion over several days to listen to the Indonesian musicians perform and to study the structure and tuning of this novel musical form. His exposure to gamelan music had a direct influence on the composition of his famous Nocturnes for orchestra. "--Sholem Stein |
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Nocturnes is an orchestral composition in three movements by the French composer Claude Debussy. It was completed December 15, 1899. Debussy's exposure to gamelan music at the Paris Exposition, had a direct influence on this composition .