Debussy was soon recognized as a leading composer of early twentieth-century. Due to certain aspects of Debussy's style, his music is usually classified as a musical counterpart to the artistic movement known as impressionism. In debussy's music, clearly delineated harmonic progressions, melodies, and rhythms are purposely avoided to evoke mood and atmosphere rather than concrete images. It should be noted that it it took a while for the critics and the listening public to warm up to this new and bold experiment in harmonic freedom. You have merely to listen.
Pleasure is the law.
Debussy was fond of unusual scale patterns. Medieval church modes and numerous scales from the orient were used extensively. One such scale is the pentatonic scale . The whole-tone scale is another frequently encountered scale pattern in the music of Debussy. This scale consists of six different notes with no intervening half-steps.