Outstanding ... Walsh discusses nearly every one of Debussy’s compositions and points out their innovations and their narratives, so to speak—and speak pertinently, for Debussy was as concerned with literature as any great musician ever has been.
Compelling ... Walsh insists on pulling Debussy’s compositions into the heart of this biography, treating them as the essential register of emotional and intellectual existence ... deploys a delightfully fluent prose to carry the general reader along in the right direction.
Squarely oriented on the music ... Walsh’s primary focus on the music means the biography is at times light on anecdote and psychological analysis, but it’s a fair trade-off. Walsh’s narrative, without neglecting how Debussy’s art chimes with its historical contemporaries is a bravura account of how the force of genius can in any age create the new and unforeseen.
