Debussy: Music and the Arts Lecture and Concert

Alliance Française Wellington invites you to an afternoon of Debussy presented by French Lecturer Éric Lecler, with a concert given afterwards by Ingrid Culliford, flute, and Kris Zuelicke, piano in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s birth. The lecture will focus on the musical legacy of Debussy in contemporary music and his influence on composers such as Messiaen and Boulez and include examples from paintings, music and literature.

Debussy was one of the most prominent composers working in the field of impressionist music, who was inspired by the fields of contemporary poetry and visual arts. Very early in his career he took an interest in the most innovative artists; those who were most on the fringe of the academicism of the time.

The afternoon will start with a conference by Éric Lecler which will explain the relationships formed by Debussy with the musicians, artists and poets of his time, in particular through the works of writers and artists he admired such as Maurice Denis, Degas, Renoir, and Gauguin. Mr Lecler will also unveil some musical extracts of Debussy’s most secret compositions.

A 30-minute concert will follow this lecture with Ingrid Culliford, flute, and Kris Zuelicke, piano, playing some of Debussy’s works including Syrinx, Clair de Lune from Suite Bergamasque, No. 3 and The Girl with the Flaxen Hair.

Éric Lecler has published many articles about literature and music, in particular about Debussy, Wagner and Schönberg. The core of his first book, L’Opéra Symboliste (2007) is an analysis of Debussy and the symbolist writers and artists of his time. In the more recent L’Opéra Expressioniste (2010), he focussed on the influence of Debussy on Expressionist composers such as Berg. He also wrote fourteen articles in the recently published French encyclopaedia dedicated to Wagner, Dictionnaire Encyclopédique Wagner (2010).

Held in Te Marae, Level 4, Te Papa.