Inauguration of Debussy monument

On 17 June 1932 the Debussy monument was inaugurated with pomp and circumstance. In newspaper reports of the occasion there was no mention of Madame Emma Claude Debussy. There were many fulsome descriptions of the design by the Martel brothers and its position in the boulevard Lannes bordering the Bois de Boulogne. The concept was described as ingenious, particularly the significant presence of water mirroring the carvings. ‘Water! Water was Debussy's best friend. He loved water, painted water, glorified it,’ wrote Gabriel Astruc. Emma can be seen in press photographs, seated in the third row of onlookers, watching the luminaries process. These included the President of the Republic, Albert Lebrun, Jean Mistler, Under-secretary of the Beaux-Arts and the monument committee, Paul Léon, Chairman of the committee and Director-general of the Beaux-Arts, Raoul Bardac, Roger-Ducasse, Paul Dukas, D-.E. Inghelbrecht, Louis Laloy, E. Vuillermoz, Jean Messager, Robert Brussel and Gabriel Astruc. Several speeches were given in which the attempt was made to define Debussy's skill and the source of the unique attraction of his music, but his character was even more difficult to convey. How could anyone who knew the man agree with Paul Léon's dismissive statement, ‘Of the life of Debussy there is little to remember and less still to conclude. No fairy-tale existence. Thoughts but no events.’? Jean Mistler emphasised the beauty of what he called ‘musique de jardin’ (garden music) and this ‘musicien de plein air’ (musician of the open air) but, despite this, the occasion proved that such music is not really destined to be played outside. Only the band of the Garde Républicaine succeeded in making its fanfares resound clearly. They also lent weight to the finale of Le martyre de Saint Sébastien. Otherwise the voices of choirs evaporated into the air, as did the Trois Chansons de Charles Orléans conducted by Roger-Ducasse.

The inauguration was preceded the night before by a concert of chamber music with Ninon Vallin singing the Chansons de Bilitis, Cortot and Thibaud performing the Violin Sonata and the Kretily Quartet playing Debussy's String Quartet.