August 22: French composer Claude Debussy was born on this day in 1862...

... he died from rectal cancer in Paris in March 1918.

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Debussy is among the most important of all French composers, and a central figure in European music of the turn of the 20th century. He was made Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 1903. His music virtually defines the transition from late-Romantic music to 20th century modernist music. In French literary circles, the style of this period was known as symbolism, a movement that directly inspired Debussy both as a composer and as an active cultural participant.

His music is noted for its sensory component and how it is not often formed around one key or pitch. Often Debussy's work reflected the activities or turbulence in his own life.

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