Debussy "first Piano Prelude" Creative Research

Debussy, one of the representatives of French impressionist music in early 20th century, plays an important role in the development history of European music in 20th century. Despite short prime time for impressionist music that was soon replaced by the more radical and variable modern music, it is attached great importance in the development history of European music as a bond linking the romantic music in the 19th century and the modern music in the 20th century.Piano music is a vital part of Debussy's composition. His major contribution to the piano field lies in the new advancement in terms of the skill of piano composition, especially the skill in the application of chord and harmony as well as the unique style characteristics in the piano works. Debussy's two-section Piano Prelude, composed in the mature period of his impressionist style, is the essence of his piano works and reflects the impressionist style. This paper has conducted an in-depth research into the composition technique of the 12 piano preludes in the first section in order to deepen the understanding of his impressionist piano music composition style.This paper is divided into three parts. The first part, also called the preface, contains the development course of piano prelude, life of Debussy and the introduction of Debussy's piano prelude. The second part includes detailed technical analysis of his representative works in the first section of Piano Prelude. The third part reaches a conclusion towards the skill and feature of his piano prelude regarding the chord, mode, musical form and structure as well as piano composition.