Most famous for writing ‘Clair de lune’ French composer Claude Debussy, is the subject of Jersey Stamps commemorative issue ‘Debussy in Jersey’, which is available from Thursday 25th July 2024.

Born in Paris in 1862, Claude Debussy is regarded today as being one of the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the age of ten, he joined the Conservatoire De Paris, a college of music and dance founded in 1795, where he developed his musical talents. When he was 22, Debussy was awarded one of France’s most prestigious musical awards in 1884, the Prix de Rome.

Due to his prestige, Debussy had a difficult time escaping rumour mills surrounding previous marriages, and in 1903 decided to take his new lover, Emma Bardac, to the Island of Jersey. Debussy spent the summer on the Island, allowing him to have quiet time to work on his orchestral pieces such as La Mer, L’isle Joyeuse, and Masques.

In a letter Debussy wrote regarding his time spent in Jersey, he commented: “But this country is a delight, I’m at peace which is better still, and I’m completely free to work, which hasn’t been the case for a long time . . . So, if anyone has plans to appoint me Connétable of St Helier – for such are the authorities called in these parts – then I’m quite ready for it. The sea has behaved beautifully towards me and shown me all her guises. I’m still in an absolute daze.”

During September 1903, Debussy wrote a letter to his friend André Messager in the letter Debussy mentioned his love of the sea ‘You may not know that I was destined for a sailor’s life and that it was quite by chance that fate led me in another direction. However, I have always retained a passionate love for her [the sea]. You will say that the ocean does not exactly wash the Burgundian hillsides . . . and my seascapes might be studio landscapes; but I have an endless store of memories and, to my mind, they are worth more than the reality, whose beauty often deadens thought.’ With one of the largest tidal ranges in the world, it’s easy to deduce the appeal Jersey had to Debussy and his work.

Local artist Will Bertram has illustrated the issue to incorporate elements of Debussy’s sheet music into the background of each stamp. The Portelet Bay stamp features L’isle Joyeuse and the pair of 98p stamps, Corbière and St Brelade’s Bay, feature La Mer. The Portelet Bay stamp features Estampes (Pagodes), Havre des Pas features L’isle Joyeus and Grand Hotel stamp, Claire de Lune.

The miniature sheet incorporates excerpts of the score for La Mer into the background. Additionally, the style of the wave featured on the miniature sheet and the ‘Debussy in Jersey La Corbiere’ 98p stamp, takes inspiration from Hokusai’s iconic ‘Under the Wave off Kanagawa’, also known as ‘the Great Wave’. Debussy collected a selection of Japanese artifacts during his time as a student of Rome between 1885 – 1887. One such artifact was a print of the ‘Great Wave’, which Debussy kept on his studio wall. Will Bertram was inspired by the woodwork design within the print and ensured to style the stamp issues artwork around it.