Debussy composed three of his planned Six Sonatas for Various Instruments between 1915 and 1917 before his death in 1918. In 2018, composers from across Europe and North America were invited to write music for the instrumentation of these three incomplete sonatas from Debussy’s grand project, for a concert to be held at the University of Glasgow Memorial Chapel. As a result, several original works were performed by the Chamber Group of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under the direction of Jon Hargreaves, alongside the completed Debussy sonatas.

This chapter presents the reflections of several of these composers, exploring how they confronted the specific question of Debussy’s influence and legacy, as well as trickier questions that arise from attempts to memorialise canonical precursors through contemporary creative practice. In what ways might Debussy’s music live on through the widely diverse imaginations of twenty-first-century composers?