Henri Bergson: “...the Music of Debussy is the Music of ‘la durée’ ”

Among Debussy’s contemporaries, who were interested in his music, Henri Bergson holds a special place. By approving the rights of psychological time, the philosopher reflect­ed the general tendencies of the epoch of the late 19^th to early 20^th century era. These ten­dencies were embodied both in philosophy and in science and art. Poets and painters of Symbolism were in search not only of eter­nity, but time and of life time of the mind — this time is equivalent to the phenomenon of Bergson’s duration (la durée). However, the philosopher chooses the music of De­bussy as a sounding incarnation of la durée. In this article the author attempts to identi­fy the possible reasons for such a compari­son, appealing to the characteristics of De­bussy’s sound world. Among Debussy’s contemporaries, who were interested in his music, Henri Bergson holds a special place. By approving the rights of psychological time, the philosopher reflect­ed the general tendencies of the epoch of the late 19^th to early 20^th century era. These ten­dencies were embodied both in philosophy and in science and art. Poets and painters of Symbolism were in search not only of eter­nity, but time and of life time of the mind — this time is equivalent to the phenomenon of Bergson’s duration (la durée). However, the philosopher chooses the music of De­bussy as a sounding incarnation of la durée. In this article the author attempts to identi­fy the possible reasons for such a compari­son, appealing to the characteristics of De­bussy’s sound world.