How Symbolism art influenced on Debussy's music Essay

How Symbolism art influenced on Debussy's music - Essay Example Having had a number of romantic affairs which caused turbulence in his life reflected upon his creations and further dissatisfactions with original style led Debussy to adapt ‘symbolism’ or that which pertains to transitional period between late-Romantic and modernist music of the 20th century. Apparently, symbolism is not only confined to the definition of musical style, rather a movement which brought immense inspiration for Debussy to modify his compositions according to a ‘symbolist’ principle. In effect, symbolism became a culture that emerged for him to have profound involvement with and his choices of ‘libretti’ texts and themes had been derived almost exclusively from the symbolist canon. Among the distinguished artists of the period who bore ample aesthetic impact on Debussy’s masterpieces were Edgar Allan Poe, Stephane Mallarme, and James McNeill Whistler. Through them, Debussy managed to effectively utilized dissonant harmonies to evoke specific moods and images such as in the manner he composed the world-renowned ‘Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune’ which was chiefly inspired by Mallarme’s poem ‘Afternoon of a Faun’.