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1 results

  • 7 - Debussy’s Violin Sonata and the Legacy of J. S. Bach

  • from Part II - Analysis
  • Edited by Barbara L. Kelly, University of Leeds, David J. Code, University of Glasgow
  • Book:
    Debussy Studies 2
    Published online:
    15 November 2025
    Print publication:
    06 November 2025, pp 163-184

  • Summary

    The music of J. S. Bach clearly had a powerful impact on Claude Debussy. As a student, Debussy studied figured bass and fugue, and even performed several pieces by Bach, such as the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor and Toccata and Fugue in G minor. Later in his career, he signed a contract with Durand in April 1915 to edit several chamber works by Bach, completing one for the six sonatas for violin and keyboard (BWV 1014–1019) in April 1917 around the same time as his own Sonata for Violin and Piano. Although Debussy did not explicitly quote any material from Bach’s music in his Violin Sonata, this chapter examines some of the ways in which the former inspired him when composing the latter. These include favouring highly decorated melodic lines, creating complex contrapuntal textures, especially those involving parallel voice leading, and disguising the movement’s formal structure.