Debussy's works was abundant. Wagner's influence is evident in the cantata La madamoiselle Elue(1888) and the Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire(1889) but other songs of the period， notably the settings24 of Verlaine are in a more capricious style， as are parts of Minor String Quartet (1893)； in that work he used not only the Phrygian mode25 but also less standard modes， notably the whole-tone mode， to create the floating harmony he discovered through the work of contemporary writers： Mallarmé in the orchestral Prélude à"L'Après-midi d'un Faune" (1894) and Maeterlinck in the opera Pelléas et Mélisande， dating in large part from 1893~1895 but not completed until 1902.These works also brought forward a fluidity of rhythm and colour quite new to Western music.
Pelléas， with its rule of understatement and deceptively simple declamation， also brought an entirely new tone to opera--but an unrepeatable one. Debussy worked on other opera projects and left substantial sketches for two pieces after tales by Edgar Allan Poe26， but nothing was completed. Instead the main works were orchestral pieces， piano sets and songs.
The orchestral works include the three Nocturnes (1899)， characteristic studies27 of veiled harmony and texture Nuages， exuberant cross-cuttingFêtes and seductive whole-tone drift Sirènes. La Mer (1905) essays a more symphonic form， with a finale28 that works themes from the first movement29， though the centrepiece Jeux de Vagues proceeds much less directly and with more variety of colour. The three Images(1912) are more loosely linked， and the biggest， Ibéria， is itself a triptych30， a medley31 of Spanish allusions. Finally the ballet Jeux(1913) contains some of Debussy's strangest harmony and texture in a form that moves freely over its own field of it motivic32 connection. Other late stage works， including the ballets Khamma (1912) and La Boite à Joujoux (1913) and the mystery play Le Martyre de St. Sébastien (1911)， were not completely orchestrated33 by Debussy， though St. Sébastien is remarkable in sustaining an antique34 modal atmosphere that otherwise was touched only in relatively short piano pieces.
The important piano music begins with works which， Verlaine fashion35，look back at rococo decorousness36 with a modern cynicism and puzzlement(Suite Bergamasque， 1890； Pour le Piano， 1901) . But then， as in the orchestral pieces， Debussy began to associate his music with visual impressions of the East， Spain， landscapes etc.， in a sequence of sets of short pieces. His last volume of Etudes (1915) interprets similar varieties of style and texture purely as pianistic exercises and includes pieces that develop irregular form to an extreme as well as others influenced by the young Stravinsky37(a presence too in the suite En Blanc et Noir for two pianos， 1915). The rarefaction of these works is a feature of the last set of songs， the Trois Poèmes de Mallarmé(1913)， and of the Sonata for flute， viola and harp38(1915)， though the sonata and its companions also recapture39 the inquisitive Verlainian classicism40.
About 1910 Debussy developed cancer， which sapped41 his strength during his last years. His sadness during World War I hastened the deterioration of his health. Many projects were planned， such as an opera based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher， but few were completed. He died during the bombardment of Paris by German artillery in Paris on March 25， 1918， at the age of 56.
Debussy's influence on the music of the 20th century， from the concert hall and opera house to the world of jazz， has been immense. His finest works， including his orchestral masterpiece La Mer and many of his piano pieces， sound as original and effective today as they did a century ago.
有人稱德彪西是印象派作曲家，將他的音樂與莫奈(1840—1926)、雷諾阿(1841—1919)的畫作比較。也有人稱德彪西是象征派作曲家，運用聲音激發聽者心中的感受與情感，這正像象征派詩人如波德萊爾、魏爾蘭等運用文字的手法。不論世人如何詮釋德彪西的音樂，不可否認的事實是：他的音樂具有一種不可捉摸的神奇的想象力。
克洛德·德彪西1862年8月22日出生於法國聖傑曼安雷。他九歲便步入鋼琴課堂。1873年，德彪西進入巴黎音樂學院，師從安東尼·法朗西斯·馬蒙特爾學習鋼琴，師從厄尼斯特·吉羅德學習作曲。德彪西在校期間成績優異，曾贏得幾項作曲最高獎，其中合唱曲《浪子》摘取“羅馬獎”。他還是個叛逆者，常常坐在鋼琴旁彈奏一些完全違背教科書規則的曲子，令教授們大跌眼鏡。他正在開始探索一種新的音樂語言，他不急不躁、胸有成竹地找到了它。
他創作鋼琴曲的技法是前輩人未曾夢想過的：音符時而被捆紮在一起，時而被鑲嵌在鍵盤兩端；而且踏板被用來進行音符與和聲的換音和融合。吸引法國印象派畫家們的景象同樣也觸動了他的靈感——雲、雨、風、水、陽光，還有影子。由此產生了一個前所未有的神秘的音樂世界。這個世界激勵了幾代古典與爵士音樂家們。
德彪西年滿18歲的那年暑假，各種時尚聚會絡繹不絕，他被邀請去演奏鋼琴。最終他的名聲傳入一人耳中，她便是俄羅斯社交界名流納德茲達·凡·梅克夫人，即柴可夫斯基的資助人。這位天才的叛逆者曾經一度加入到她的音樂圈中。
從1887年開始，德彪西潛心致力於作曲，少有登台演奏。他與音樂家們來往不多，但與聚集在詩人斯特凡·馬拉美家中的那幫印象派的代表詩人與畫家之間卻交情甚篤。世人可以感受到他們對德彪西首部重要管弦樂作品《牧神午後前奏曲》(1892-1894)的影響。這部作品的靈感源自馬拉美的詩作《牧神午後》。作品奠定了印象派音樂的風格，標誌著德彪西幾乎長達20年的創作巔峰時期的到來。在這一時期，他還創作了管弦樂組曲《夢幻曲》(1893—1899)、《大海》(1903—1905)、《意象集》(1906—1909)。包括兩卷《前奏曲》(1910—1913)在內的大部分鋼琴曲也創作於這一時期。此外，還有《聖塞巴斯蒂安之殉教》的配樂(1911)、芭蕾舞曲《遊戲》(1912)、大量的歌曲與一些室內樂，以及一部以毛裏斯·梅特林克的戲劇為基礎創作的完整歌劇《佩列阿斯和梅麗桑德》(1892—1902)。