This work investigates the evolution of Claude Debussy’s musical language and the specific stylistic shifts that defined his career. Roger Nichols, a noted scholar of French music, utilizes primary source documents and detailed score analysis to trace the composer's trajectory from his early influences to his mature, impressionistic works. The text argues that Debussy’s development was a deliberate departure from Germanic traditions toward a uniquely French aesthetic.

Experts recognize this volume as a concise and reliable introduction to Debussy’s compositional style. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which assumes a foundational knowledge of music theory.