| The great French composer, Achille-Claude Debussy, was born on August 22, 1862, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Debussy occupied a significant position in Western music. He challenged traditional compositional styles and tried to find new ways to write music, in terms of tonality, form, harmony and timbre, which broke up the conventional Western principle. His compositional style was influenced by both Symbolism, which was a literary style in French, and Impressionism, a novel trend in painting that was developed in the late nineteenth century. The composer was also deeply fascinated by wide range of Eastern sounds produced by Javanese Gamelan music, which he was first exposed to in 1889 at the Paris Universal Exposition. Estampes (Prints) almost including all excellent traits of Debussy's composition, which is one of the most famous piano works, becoming hugely popular all over the world.This dissertation will analyze the elements that influenced Debussy and the corresponding traits of Estampes. After the stating the background of this composition, I will begin by discussing the characteristics of Javanese Gamelan music, and how these were applied in the composition. Secondly, I will analyze the characteristics of Impressionism and Symbolism that can be found in Estampes, and finally, I will talk about the innovations of Debussy's composition in the piece. In addition to this, I will give performance suggestions of Estampes on the basis of the above"knowledge", through analyzing three pianists'recordings.
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