Debussy has been one of the most influential composers in the 20th century. He helped turn a new page for the history of French music. Debussy adopted symbolism and impressionism to many of his works, and was willing to try different genres of music. When we listen to Debussy, we hear various music styles from different countries, and also his unique and creative composing skills.

The thesis can be divided into two parts. The first part examines Debussy’s own period, in order to analyze how social circumstances or wars at that time had influenced his composition and thoughts. In addition, through an overall understanding of Debussy’s life and experiences, this part explores Debussy’s musical inspirations and his unique composition style. The thesis then moves on to discuss features often used by the composer in his works. We could know from his composition techniques that each piece of Debussy’s work had undergone careful and deliberate arrangement.

The second part has two sections. The first half is targeted at introducing Debussy’s preludes, as well as examining history of these preludes; the latter half could be deemed as the main focus of this thesis. It briefly introduces the following preludes: “Danseuses de Delphes,” “Le vent dans la plaine,” “Ce qu'a vu le vent d'ouest,” “La fille aux cheveux de lin,” “Minstrels” in the first book of preludes, and “Bruyères” in the second book, analyzing the musical structure of these preludes. I hope through interpreting and understanding the background of these pieces, I am able to put into practice while playing Debussy’s preludes, and to make further impact upon my students in the future.