Heard melodies are sweet — Keats and Debussy: A Talk at the Piano by Paul Roberts

One hundred years after John Keats was born, in 1795, Claude Debussy was barely known outside a small circle of connoisseurs. One hundred years after Keats’ death, in 1821, Debussy was among the most celebrated composers in the world. It took longer for Keats in his own very short lifetime to attain the status he has today, but over the years, as we all know, it came to be realised that he changed the course of English poetry—as Debussy did for music. But the connection between these two artists is more than a comparability of genius and influence. They had a similar artistic vision and sensibility, and they both worshiped nature and evoked its presence in their art. This lecture, with illustrations at the piano, explores this remarkable relationship across the distance of the century that separated them.