Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • SUMMER 2017 • PAN PIPES 23 New York City's Metropolitan Opera House and another is outside the entrance of the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, my hometown. "What does a nude kneeling woman have to do with Debussy?" one may ask. According to a Sotheby's catalogue, "the sculpture evokes the calmness of Debussy's most famous compositions." While touring the museum in France, there was no audioguide with buttons to press for English commentary; in fact, there was no audioguide at all. Because written explanations were only in French (a language I have never studied), I didn't understand everything. I did manage to decipher several words thanks to the "clues" of nearby items and photos: Chronologie (Time Line); diapason (tuning fork); recontre avec Stravinsky (a meeting with Stravinsky); amity avec Pierre Loriys (friendship with Pierre Loriys—a poet whose words Claude put to music); parmi les pensionnaires de la villa Médicis å Rome (the composer and other residents at a Roman villa). He lived there for four years aer twice winning the Prix de Rome and getting a scholarship to attend the Académie des Beaux-Arts in the city. Previously, he had studied at the Paris Conservatoire, which he entered when he was only ten — obviously a very talented musician even as a youngster. On the other hand, some objects were self- explanatory and presented no language barrier: a lock of his hair as well as his death mask, a cane, composing pens, a metronome, and scores. e museum also has portraits of both of Debussy's wives. He was married to Marie Rosalie from 1899-1905; the couple had no children. He married his second wife, Emma Bardic in 1908; they had only one child, a daughter, Claude- Emma (nicknamed "Chou Chou"), to whom he fondly dedicated his composition Children's Corner Suite. Of the six pieces in that collection, I like Golliwogg's Cakewalk the best. In the second room, there was a large pink placard with white numbers and words identifying various displays. My favorite, #15, was a mannequin wearing the costume de chef d'orchestre et stole de Claude Debussy—his tails, long-sleeved white shirt, and black bow tie. Stretching diagonally on top of this apparel was the red sash he received in 1903 when he became Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. A pastel as well as photographs of the composer clearly portray him with his full dark mustache and beard. For an unforgettable moment in that room all by myself with a recording of La Mer playing soly in the background, I envisioned him—instead of the mannequin—standing there beside me, dressed in his fancy attire. Filled with joy, I smiled. en a few minutes before the clock struck six (not midnight), the magic was over. I went back downstairs to bid farewell to Melanie, the young woman working at the desk, and purchased two postcards I particularly liked: a young Debussy riding his tricycle in 1865 and Debussy in Rome at the Villa Médici twenty years later. Several years aer the composer's death, English admirers put a plaque outside the house, but the museum was only opened to the public in 1990. In 2013, Debussy's birthplace officially became "Maison des Illustres" ("House of an Illustrious Person"). It is one of the heritage places in the country honoring the memory of famous French men and women. Debussy's Clair de Lune (Moonlight), La fille aux cheveux de lin (Girl with the Flaxen Hair), and string quartet are well known. François Lesure, a leading scholar on Debussy, founded the Centre de Documentation Claude Debussy. However, because of political disputes, this collection is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale's music department in Paris instead of in the composer's birth house. is small little gem in Saint-Germain-en-Laye is the only Debussy museum in France. But it is not the only place in the world that honors him: in the faraway Antarctic is a mountain range — Debussy Heights. Jayne I. Hanlin is an initiate of Alpha Omicron and current member of the St. Louis Alumnae chapter. Mrs. Hanlin, the sister of famed pianist Malcolm Frager, is the co-author of Learning Latin Through Mythology (Cambridge University Press, 1991). A WORLD OF MUSIC FOR MORE INFORMATION on the Musée Claude-Debussy visit: http://bit.ly/2rSdtPL The interior of the museum. Below, the Monument to Debussy, the statue of a faun and goat by Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929).

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