Debussy, Arabesque #1, Piano Solo

First Arabesque, by Claude Debussy, performed by Stephen Malinowski, accompanied by an animated score.
" Many writers focus on his innovations in harmony and orchestral texture, but he changed much more. Simply put, Debussy invented music of a new, freer kind. You can trace some of his ideas to other composers, like Chopin, Wagner, and Franck, but none of these men reshaped music so comprehensively. To a large extent, Debussy "untethered" the basic elements of music: particularly harmony, phrase, and rhythm. Although Liszt and Wagner before him had come up with unusual harmonies, the progress from one chord to another was what the technicians call "functional." That is, the chord change somehow related to the key you were in. Debussy undermined this every which way, from his use of the old modes to his experiments with the whole-tone and octatonic scales. Debussy seemed to throw in whatever succession of chords he wanted, governed by his ear and his taste. He could even be in (or at least imply) more than one key at a time."  - -Classical Net