Monsieur Croche

Monsieur Croche is an imaginary name that the composer Claude Debussy came up with in the course of his work as a music critic . He is Debussy's "second self", his interlocutor, who was loved and hated because of his direct and sharp-tongued manner.

background

In 1901 Debussy was asked by the editor of the magazine "Revue Blanche" whether he was interested in working as a music critic. Since any source of financial income came in handy at the time, Debussy accepted the offer. His first review appeared on April 1 of the same year. However, Monsieur Croche first appeared in the July 1 review. The model for this character was Monsieur Teste by Paul Valéry , which the readership of "Revue Blanche" noticed with amusement. Debussy painted a very detailed picture of his Croche: a bizarre little man who is completely lacking in humor and who at most produces a smile that makes you feel cold. Croche calls his profession "antidilettant" . A constant companion is a cigar, which usually goes out during long monologues by Mr Croche.

Monsieur Croche's presence in the music world was initially short-lived, as Debussy stopped working for "Revue Blanche" at the end of the year. But in 1905 Louis Laloy , editor of the "Mercure musical", asked Debussy whether Debussy would like to contribute with music-critical articles. Debussy initially agreed:

"Give me a corner under the heading" Conversations with Monsieur Croche "."

Very soon, however, he didn't like working with the other reviewers. To Laloy he said:

"I really don't know what poor Monsieur Croche is going to do with so many snooty specialists. I have a good time reporting his death to you with the following report: Monsieur Croche, the anti-dilettante, rightly disgusted by the musical customs of the time fell asleep gently and entered into general indifference. You are asked to refrain from donating flowers and wreaths and, above all, not to make music. "

Debussy's first plans to bundle a selection of music reviews and publish them in a book apparently go back to 1906. For unexplained reasons, the project was postponed for years, Debussy was probably not entirely innocent himself. It was not until 1913 that a first manuscript was published that Debussy wanted to revise. The First World War broke out, so that there was another time delay. Shortly before his death in 1918, Debussy edited the texts. The volume "Monsieur Croche antidilettante" was only published in 1921 with an edition of 500 copies.

Monsieur Croche

About the audience

(...) Have you ever noticed the hostility of the audience in the concert hall? Have you ever looked at those faces, gray with boredom, indifference, even stupidity? They will never experience those pure dramas that take place in the symphonic conflict, where one suspects the possibility of ascending to the summit of the sound building and breathing the air of perfect beauty there. These people, sir, always seem like more or less well-behaved guests: They patiently fulfill their boring duty and only hold out because they want to be seen at the exit; otherwise why would they have come? (...)

About contemporary composers

(...) You see, some great men keep coming up with new things with downright stubborn stubbornness; many others, on the other hand, only do continuously and just as stubbornly what they once were successful with: their skill leaves me cold. They are praised as masters! But that's just a polite way to get rid of them, or to let them have their overly uniform tricks. In any case, I try to forget about popular music because it prevents me from hearing those that I don't know yet or will only know tomorrow. Why stick to what you know all too well? (...)

literature

Claude Debussy: Monsieur Croche - Complete Writings and Interviews, Reclam-Verlag Stuttgart 1982