By Franois Lesure

Translated by Marie Rolf

English translation and revised edition of the most comprehensive and reliable biography of Claude Debussy.

Franois Lesures critical biography of Claude Debussy (Fayard, 2003) is widely recognized by scholars as the most comprehensive and reliable account of that composers life and career as well as of the artistic milieu in whichhe worked. This encyclopedic volume draws extensively on Debussys complete correspondence (at that time unpublished), a painstaking tracking of contemporary reviews and comments in the press, and an examination of other primary documents-including private diaries-that had not been available to previous biographers. As such, Lesures book presents a wealth of new information while debunking a number of myths that had developed over the years since the composers death in 1918.

The present English translation and revised edition, by Debussy authority Marie Rolf, augments Lesures numerous notes with several thousand new ones by Rolf, providing more precise information oncrucial and sometimes contentious points. It also reflects Debussy scholarship that has appeared since 2003, updating Lesures seminal work. Rolfs translation-the first ever-will make Lesures findings accessible to scholars, musicians, and music lovers in English-speaking lands and around the world.