During his youth, Debussy had been an admirer of Wagner, and his music. He was very inspired by Wagner's works. Despite this, he came off from Austro-German techniques in music, and created an innovative style of impressionism. Impressionism and Debussy are intertwined. Like the impressionist painters brought new theories of color or light, Debussy created new theories of, "light and color," in music. He tried to catch an impression or mood, tried to represent the exact essence of a thought. He was paying far more attention to his ideas, than to classical form.
In every respect, Debussy's tastes were unique. While musical Europe was worshiping Wagner, Debussy had a brief fling with the operas of this German master, and then fought Wagnerism for the rest of his life. As Debussy once said, "Having been an impassioned visitor to Bayreuth for several years, I began to doubt the Wagnerian formula- or, rather, it seemed to me it fitted only the particular genius of that composer, who was a great collector of of cliches that he summed up in a formula which seemed unusual only because people didn't know music well enough." Debussy concluded that he had to go beyond Wagner, rather than just follow his path. Calling himself the french musician, was a confirmation of his anti-Wagnerism. Later, it included his negative feeling towards Germany during the First World War. .
As a composer, Debussy's greatest achievement was perhaps the development of timber. Although tonality and harmonic content were of vital importance for him, and his contribution in developing those was considerable, Debussy revolutionized the area of pure, clear sound. He combined various music instruments, to create radically different and new textures. His beautifully combined tonal colors, had an impact on almost any composer that came after him. .
When Debussy saw Maurice Maeterlinck's play, "Pelleas et Melisande," he was enraptured.
